AP-NORC poll: Majority of Americans support police protests
Source: AP
By AARON MORRISON and HANNAH FINGERHUT
NEW YORK (AP) — Ahead of the Juneteenth holiday weekend’s demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality, a majority of Americans say they approve of recent protests around the country. Many think they’ll bring positive change.
And despite the headline-making standoffs between law enforcement and protesters in cities nationwide, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds a majority of Americans think law enforcement officers have generally responded to the protests appropriately. Somewhat fewer say the officers used excessive force.
The findings follow weeks of peaceful protests and unrest in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died pleading for air on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes. A dramatic change in public opinion on race and policing has followed, with more Americans today than five years ago calling police violence a very serious problem that unequally targets black Americans.
Bill Ardren, a 75-year-old retired resident of Maple Grove, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, said he supports the protests. He blames protesters and law enforcement equally for why some Floyd demonstrations turned into ugly clashes that were scarred by looting and arson.
George Floyd's name is written on the windshield as John Coy wears a shirt that reads Black Lives Matter and stands through his sunroof with his fist in the air at 16th Street Northwest renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, Friday, June 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Read more: https://apnews.com/cd6606b8875809d6b5b5300eb80af4fd
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