A study has found 93 percent of all Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in the United States were peaceful, according to a non-profit research organisation report.
After being pinned to the ground by a police officer in May, the death of African-American man George Floyd sparked a protest movement against police brutality and systemic racism in the US.
In a report released Thursday, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) analysed over 7750 BLM demonstrations in the US between May 26 and August 22.
The vast majority were reported as "peaceful" while fewer than 220 protests were reported as "violent demonstrations".
Violent demonstrations included protesters targeting other individuals or property, fighting back against police, vandalism, property destruction, looting, road-blocking, burning materials or toppling statues of colonial figures.
Despite the report's "overwhelmingly peaceful" findings, a recent Morning Consult poll found many people continue to believe the BLM protests are largely violent.
Forty-two percent of respondents believe most BLM protestors were "trying to incite violence or destroy property".
In the report, ACLED highlighted the Morning Consult poll and suggested the results were due to "biased media framing" and "political orientation".
"These data reveal that the United States is in crisis," the authors said. "It faces a multitude of concurrent, overlapping risks - from police abuse and racial injustice, to pandemic-related unrest and beyond."
The report concluded that the risks are likely to intensify as the upcoming US election approaches.
The authors of the report criticised the "violent government response" in which police "use force more often than not", disproportionately using force against protests involved with the BLM movement.
Nearly one in 10 BLM protests was met with government intervention, compared to 3 percent of all other demonstrations.
"Authorities have used force - such as firing less-lethal weapons like tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray or beating demonstrators with batons - in over 54 percent of the demonstrations in which they have engaged."
ACLED has long tracked political violence and demonstration events across the world, funded by the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German Federal Foreign Office, Tableau Foundation, International Organization for Migration and The University of Texas at Austin.
