Black Lives Matter activists confront a woman at a D.C. restaurant Aug. 24, 2020 (video screenshot)
Contrary to the media narrative, up to 95% of this summer's riots in response to the death of George Floyd are linked to Black Lives Matter activism, according to data collected by a non-profit that tracks conflict worldwide.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project found nearly 6% of protests involved rioting, looting and similar violence, including 47 fatalities, The Federalist reported.
The project documented 12,045 incidents of civil unrest from May 26, the day after Floyd died, to Sept. 5. The study found 633 incidents were coded as riots. The perpetrators' identities were not listed in 51 incidents.
For riots in which there is information about the perpetrators, BLM activists were involved in 95%.
The Federalist said it's estimated the 2020 riots will cost more than the 1992 Rodney King riots, which, adjusted for inflation, were pegged at $1.2 billion.
The riots have not only plagued cities such as Portland, Oregon, but also smaller towns such as Wichita, Kansas, and Gilbert, Arizona.
The Federalist noted the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project charged that the deployment of federal authorities in Portland "re-escalated tensions."
"Prior to the deployment, over 83% of demonstrations in Oregon were non-violent. Post-deployment, the percentage of violent demonstrations has risen from under 17% to over 42% … suggesting that the federal response has only aggravated unrest," the conflict monitor said.
The Federalist's Joy Pullmann insisted the claim is "just plain false," arguing correlation is not causation.
"Rather than assigning responsibility for violence to those who engage in it, the report constantly pushes the criminal victimization narrative that the rioters are not to blame for their rioting," she wrote. "This is abuser psychology 101: The abuser is never responsible for his or her abuse. The people who might object to it are. This is also false and manipulative."
The conflict monitor found that of the 12,045 incidents it recorded, 1,143, about 10%, "involved violence of some sort: rioting, looting, clashes with police, cars rammed into crowds, bystanders pepper-sprayed, armed attacks," Pullmann wrote.
Of these violent incidents, 84% involved BLM.
She also pointed out that the report "goes on amazingly to suggest that police standing behind barricades using tear gas and rubber bullets is a disproportionate use of force against rioting in Portland that has included the use of blinding lasers, rushes at barricades with clubs, destruction of public buildings, bomb-throwing, arson, and murder."
"In some contexts, like Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon … the heavy-handed police response appears to have inflamed tensions and increased the risk of violent escalation," the ACLED report says.
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