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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 If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.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

Were most Black Lives Matter protests peaceful?

By Lisa Freedland
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YES

Data collected from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests throughout the U.S. suggest that the overwhelming majority of such protests were peaceful, marked neither by interpersonal violence nor property destruction.

Analyzing data from 7,305 BLM protests occurring in May and June of 2020, Harvard University researchers found that 96.3% of the protests involved "no property damage or police injuries,” and 97.7% of them resulted in no injuries at all.

Similarly, an Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project study found that approximately 93% of the 7,750 BLM protests they tracked between May and August 2020 involved no violence or destructive activity.

Despite this, 42% of respondents in a June 2020 poll reported beliefs that most BLM protesters were trying to "incite violence or destroy property." A Washington Post study suggests that this disparity may be due to "biased media framing" and "disproportionate coverage of violent demonstrations."

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University Black Lives Matter Protesters Were Overwhelmingly Peaceful, Our Research Finds
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project Demonstrations and Political Violence in America: New Data for Summer 2020
FiveThirtyEight How Americans Feel About George Floyd’s Death And The Protests
Washington Post Are Black Lives Matter protesters peaceful or violent? Depends on whom you ask.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
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.