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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Are white people more likely to be shot to death by the police than Black people?

By Lisa Freedland
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NO

Per capita, Black people are more likely to be shot to death by the police than white people.

Black people are overrepresented in fatal police shooting statistics relative to their population size. Statista, using data from The Washington Post, reported that 3,839 people in the U.S. were shot to death by police between 2017 and 2021 (excluding shootings of unknown race). Black people accounted for more than 27% (1,047) of these deaths while making up 13.4% of the population. In contrast, white people accounted for about 50% (1,917) of deaths while making up 76.3% of the population.

Research published by the medical journal BMJ similarly found that between 2015 and 2020, Black people were more than 2.5 times more likely to be shot to death by the police than white people.

Statista listed 20 police shooting fatalities among white people and 14 among Black people this year as of April 1, 2022.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Statista People shot to death by U.S. police, by race 2022
US Census United States Census Data
The BMJ Fatal police shootings of unarmed Black people in US more than 3 times as high as in Whites
Washington Post Police shootings database 2015-2022
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Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.