About 93 percent of the racial-justice protests that swept the United States this summer remained peaceful and nondestructive, according to a report released Thursday, with the violence and property damage that has dominated political discourse constituting only a minute portion of the thousands of demonstrations that followed the killing of George Floyd in May.

 

The report, produced by the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, also concluded that an escalation in the government response to protests and a sharp uptick in extremist activity means the United States faces a growing risk of “political violence and instability” ahead of the 2020 election.

ACLED, which monitors war zones and political upheaval around the world, launched the US Crisis Monitor report with Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative. Using media accounts and other public information, the report identified 7,750 protests from May 26 through Aug. 22 that were linked to the Black Lives Matter movement. The protests took place in 2,400 locations across all 50 states and the District.

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