Injuries Caused By Police Projectiles
During the week of May 30, 2020, 12 people, including protesters, journalists and bystanders, were partially blinded after being struck with police projectiles. By June 21, at least 20 people had suffered serious eye injuries. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has called on police departments to stop using rubber bullets for crowd control, writing in a statement that “Americans have the right to speak and congregate publicly and should be able to exercise that right without the fear of blindness.”
A Comprehensive List Of Police Officers Injured Or Killed In Us Riots
As protests erupt across the US over the death of George Floyd, numerous law enforcement officers have been attacked or killed during the riots.
While most protests in the country have been lawful and peaceful, those seeking to take advantage of the unrest have resorted to looting, property damage and attacking men and women in uniform.
Here is a list of officers who have been attacked or killed during the ongoing US riots, according to Fox News.
Albany, N.Y.: Officer sent to the hospital after protester throws a brick at him
Atlanta: Officer Maximilian Brewer underwent surgery after a protester hit him with an ATV
Brockton, Mass.: One state trooper and a few local Brockton police officers suffered minor injuries
Buffalo, N.Y.: Two police officers are hit by a vehicle and one other has his leg broken and pelvis shattered after protesters run him over
Champaign, Ill: Several police officers suffered minor injuries after allegedly being assaulted
Cincinnati, Ohio: Officer narrowly escaped death after a bullet struck his ballistic helmet
Columbia, S.C.: 15 law enforcement personnel injured during a Saturday riot
Chicago: 132 Chicago Police Department officers injured in violent riots in the city
Davenport, Iowa: A plainclothes police officer injured after an individual opened fire on his vehicle
Denver: Three city police officers sent to the hospital after a hit-and-run that also injured a bystander
Los Angeles: 27 LAPD officers injured during weekend rioting
Memorials Protests And Other Reactions
The area near the location where Floyd was murdered became a makeshift memorial throughout May 26, with many placards paying tribute to him and referencing the Black Lives Matter movement. As the day progressed, more people came to demonstrate against Floyd’s murder. Hundreds of people, then marched to the 3rd Precinct of the Minneapolis Police. Participants used posters and slogans with phrases such as “Justice for George”, “I can’t breathe“, and “Black Lives Matter”. On September 18, the Minneapolis City Council approved designating the section of Chicago Avenue between 37th and 39th Streets as George Perry Floyd Jr. Place, with a marker at the intersection with 38th Street where the incident took place. The intersection has been closed and occupied by demonstrators who said they won’t leave until their demands regarding anti-racism and property tax are met.
While peaceful protests continued, others again became violent after sundown, with the pattern repeating for several days. More than 1,500 businesses were vandalized or destroyed in the MinneapolisSaint Paul area, including 67 destroyed by fire.
The length of time that Chauvin was originally reported to have had his knee on Floyd’s neck, 8:46, was widely commemorated as a “moment of silence” to honor Floyd. It was also used in chants, protest signs, and messages, as were the words “I can’t breathe”.
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Officer Deaths Tied To Covid
Coronavirus infections were the leading cause of death for police officers last year, according to reports. In 2020, 295 officers in total died, with at least 182 dying from COVID-19, according to the memorial fund.
That marked a 300% increase in a cause of death unrelated to firearms or car crashes, the organization said.
The memorial fund marks “other causes,” which account for illnesses or medical emergencies such as heart attacks or strokes at work, for resulting in the death of 88 police officers so far this year.
From 2010 to 2019, the leading cause of line-of-duty law enforcement officer deaths was fatal shootings, according to the memorial fund. A reported 528 men and women police officers were shot and killed during those years.
Perception Of Pervasiveness Of Violence
A December 2020 poll found 47% of Americans believed that the majority of the protests were violent, and 16% were unsure. An estimated 93%96.3% of demonstrations were peaceful and nondestructive according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, involving no injuries or no property damage. However, police made arrests in about 5% of protest events 3.7% of protest events were associated with property damage or vandalism and protesters or bystanders were injured or killed in 1.6% of events.
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Leos Killed In The Line Of Duty In 2020
2020 was the deadliest year for law enforcement officers since 1974
A total of 264 officers died in the line of duty in 2020, according to new data released Monday by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund . Thats a 96% increase over 2019 which saw 135 duty deaths and makes 2020 the deadliest year for law enforcement since 1974.
According to the press release, the COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for the spike. The category for other causes of death, which includes COVID-19, was up 300% over 2019.
Firearms-related fatalities claimed the lives of 48 officers in 2020, a 6% decrease compared to the 51 officers killed in firearms-related incidents in 2019. Of the 48 officer deaths, 11 were investigating a suspicious person or activity, seven were killed responding to domestic disturbance calls, six deaths each were attempting an arrest and ambush attacks on officers, three were in tactical situations, and three others were responding to various disturbance calls. Four officers died responding to a robbery or burglary in-progress call while three were feloniously killed during traffic stops. Two officers were killed during the year serving warrants, two others were killed by inadvertent gunfire and one officer was killed by firearms responding to a mental health call.
See below for the full 2020 law enforcement fatalities report.
Deadliest Year For Police
2020 was the year of George Floyd, massive civil unrest, and anti-police sentiment stoked by radical activists, politicians, and the media. But worst of all, 2020 was the year of the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic emergency. While organizations who track line of duty deaths each year have come up with different figures, 2020 was the deadliest year for Police in many years by far. And Covid-19 is largely to blame.
According to a report issued by the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, as of December 31, 2020, 264 federal, state, military, tribal, and local law enforcement officers died in the line-of-duty in 2020. This represents an increase of 96% over the 135 officers killed in the line of duty the year before. Of these tragic deaths, the organization links Covid-19 as the confirmed cause of death in 145 cases.
The Officer Down Memorial Page tracks similar numbers, but in their accounting 2020 resulted in even more Covid-19 related deaths than the numbers tracked by the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. According to the Officer Down count, 343 officers died in the line of duty in 2020, and 222 of them died of Covid-19.
However, it is important to note that this reduction in gun related police deaths do not tell the entire story. On December 30th, the National Fraternal Order of Police posted disturbing statistics on the dramatic rise of Police Officers shot and injured in the line of duty, with 311 officers shot overall in 2020 alone.
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Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty 2020
More Than 250 Police Officers Made the Ultimate Sacrifice in 2020
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund , 264 federal, state, military, tribal, and local law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in 2020 an increase of 96% from 2019 and the highest number since 1974.
At least 145 of those deaths are attributed to COVID-19, which continues to wreak havoc on the law enforcement community. Even though life has gone back to normal for many Americans, the pandemic is still very much a reality for police officers who need to take extra measures to keep themselves safe while keeping our communities safe.
NLEOMF also reports that there were 48 firearms-related fatalities in 2020, making it the second-largest cause of death on the job for police officers. However, this number is down slightly from 51 fatalities in 2019. Those deaths came from investigating a suspicious person or activity, responding to domestic disturbance calls, attempting to make arrests, and responding to other calls and tactical situations.
While the number of firearms-related deaths has gone down, even one police officer lost is too many. We all need to do our part to make sure police have the support they need to remain safe on the job.
For more information about law enforcement fatalities in 2020, read the full report from NLEOMF.
Impact On Brand Marketing
In reaction to the higher sensitivity by customers for racial issues in the aftermath of Floyd’s murder, multiple companies decided to rebrand some products. The brands Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, and Fair & Lovely made adaptations to eliminate racial stereotypes. In sports, the NFL football team in Washington, D.C. dropped the “Redskins” nickname and the MLB baseball team in Cleveland said it would discontinue the “Indians” nickname after the 2021 season and adopt the “Guardians” nickname. In June 2020, Disney announced that their theme park attraction Splash Mountain, which had been themed to the 1946 film Song of the South, controversial for its depiction of African-Americans, would be re-themed based on the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog, which had Disney’s first depiction of a black princess.
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Chauvin Kneels On Floyd’s Neck
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| Witness video showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck on YouTube |
While Floyd lay on his chest with his cheek to the ground, Chauvin knelt on his neck. Floyd stopped moving around 8:20, though he was still conscious.:4:10Multiple witnesses began to film the encounter, and their videos were circulated widely on the internet.:4:06 At 8:20, a witness across the street began recording video showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, Kueng applying pressure to Floyd’s torso, and Lane applying pressure to Floyd’s legs, while Thao stood nearby.:4:13:4:11 This witness stopped filming when one of the officers ordered him to leave.:4:35 Also at 8:20, a second person, standing near the entrance of Cup Foods, began recording the incident.:4:26:5:08 Floyd can be heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”, “Please”, and “Mama” :4:44:4:28 Lane then asked for an ambulance for Floyd, “for one bleeding from the mouth”. Floyd repeated at least 16 times that he could not breathe.:5:46 At one point a witness said: “You got him down. Let him breathe.” After Floyd said, “I’m about to die”, Chauvin told him to “relax”. An officer asked Floyd, “What do you want?” Floyd answered, “Please, the knee in my neck, I can’t breathe.”
Police Have Killed Over 1000 People So Far This Year
Police have killed more than 1,000 people so far in 2020, according to the Mapping Police Violence project.
The research group’s database reveals that officers have killed 1,039 people in the U.S. as of December 8including 21 people who were aged 18 or under.
According to Mapping Police Violence, by the end of November, there had only been 17 days in the year when police officers did not kill someone.
And in a year that saw a nationwide reckoning on race following the police killings of George Floyd and other Black people, the database reveals that 28 percent of those killed by police in 2020 were Blackdespite Black people only making up 13 percent of the U.S. population.
Floyd, who was unarmed, died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes while he gasped for air on May 25. That day, a total of seven police killings took place in the U.S.
The vast majority of the victims were men, according to the database.
Forty women were killed by police this year, including Breonna Taylor, and two victims were listed as transgender.
Taylor’s name became a rallying cry after the unarmed Black emergency medical technician was shot multiple times on March 13 by Louisville officers serving a narcotics warrant on her home.
This article has been updated with a statement from Ben Crump.
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A. No. Once all U.S. troops have left the country, the Afghan government must stand on its own. President Biden said the United States will monitor terrorists threats, reorganize counterterrorism capabilities and keep substantial assets in the region to respond to threats to the United States emerging from Afghanistan.
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A. No. The Democratic Party is a political party, not a medical provider.
Q. When will they bring criminal charges against President Trump for inciting a riot on Jan. 6?
A. Michael Sherwin, the departing acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, said in March that the former president was still under investigation over the January insurrection. But many Washington insiders say it is extremely unlikely Trump will be prosecuted.
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A. The state of Iowa will pay $400,000 to design and build a wrought iron fence around the historic Des Moines mansion used as the residence for Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Associated Press reported. The taxpayers will foot the bill, from the budget of the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
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A. In Waterloo, call 779-8707.
Federal Civil Rights Trial Chauvin’s Guilty Plea
The federal civil rights trial was initially scheduled to included all four officersChauvin, Kueng, Lane, and Thaoand begin in Jannuary 2022 with U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson presiding. The four officers were charged federally with abusing their positions as police officers and depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights to be “free from the use of unreasonable force”. All four officers pled not guilty to the charges at a September 14, 2021, arraignment hearing. Chauvin faced an additional federal charge for a 2017 arrest incident of a 14-year old in Minneapolis that he initially pled not guilty to. In late 2020, prior to the trial, lawyers for Thao, Lane, and Kueng had sought to sever their case from Chauvin’s. In a hearing on November 29, 2021, Magnuson ruled that all four officers would stand trial together.
The federal civil rights trial of Kueng, Lane, and Thao begins on January 20, 2022, at a courtroom in the Warren E. Burger Federal Building in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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Gravest Threats To Law Enforcement In 2020
While Covid-19 and gun violence were the two gravest threats to law enforcement in 2020, they were not the only ones, according to the National Law Enforcement Memorial report. 44 officers were killed in Traffic Related Fatalities, which also represented an increase over 2019, where there were 43 such fatalities. Crashes with another vehicle was the leading subset of these fatalities, with 18 reported deaths, and the second leading cause within this grouping was struck on side of road, with 15 such deaths.
Finally, there were other minor contributors to 2020s statistics. These include medical incidents such as heart attacks, of which Officer Down reported 6 such fatalities, in addition to 4 drownings, and 1 heatstroke. And sadly, the tragedy of 9/11 continues to play a role in police officer fatalities, with 7 September 11th related cancer deaths.
Being a police officer or law enforcement agent will forever be a dangerous job. But 2020 marked a disturbing shift in the number of officers being killed in this country.
While on one hand, we expect the Covid-19 pandemic to come under control, the ever-shifting goalposts for when that will happen, or when the government will be able to provide vaccines and emergency funding means that it may indeed continue to disproportionately take officers lives in the days ahead. But one day in the future, it will end.
Medical Response And Death
At 8:27 pm, a Hennepin County ambulance arrived.:5:56:7:11 Shortly thereafter, a young relative of the owner of Cup Foods attempted to intervene, but was pushed back by Thao.:6:03Emergency medical technicians checked Floyd’s pulse.:7:17 Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost a minute after the ambulance arrived, despite Floyd being silent and motionless.:7:21
Around 8:29, Floyd was lifted by paramedics onto a stretcher,then loaded into an ambulance.:7:43 Lane boarded the ambulance and checked Floyd’s pulse at his neck, and a medic instructed him to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A medical device was placed on Floyd’s chest to provide mechanical chest compressions, and the ambulance departed for Hennepin County Medical Center.:6:35:7:43
En route, the ambulance requested assistance from the Minneapolis Fire Department.:6:35:7:43 At 8:32, firefighters arrived at Cup Foods :6:56:7:56 according to their report, the police officers gave no clear information regarding Floyd’s condition or whereabouts, which delayed their ability to find the ambulance.:7:56 Meanwhile, the ambulance reported that Floyd was entering cardiac arrest and again requested assistance, asking firefighters to meet them at the corner of 36th Street and Park Avenue. Five minutes later, the fire department reached the ambulance :8:10 two fire department medics who boarded the ambulance found Floyd unresponsive and pulseless.:6:56
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