Raw Data: How Many Unarmed Victims Do Police Shoot Each Year?

membership ticker

Autocratic forces are ascendant.

Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against an autocrat’s unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought, bent, or broken. Depend on it, and please stand with us.

Autocratic forces are ascendant in America. But truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against the unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought or broken. Please stand with us.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Via Bob Somerby, here’s some raw data from the Washington Post’s ongoing analysis of police shootings in America:

According to the Post, about 16 percent of the victims weren’t carrying a deadly weapon at the time they were killed. That breaks down like this:

26 blacks out of 132, or about 20 percent.
35 whites out of 253, or about 14 percent.
17 Hispanics out of 83, or about 20 percent.

These percentages are roughly similar across races, but don’t account for total population. When you account for that, unarmed blacks are killed at about 4x the rate of whites and 2x the rate of Hispanics.