Quantifying Public Interest in Police Reforms by Mining Internet Search Data Following George Floyd's Death

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Quantifying Public Interest in Police Reforms by Mining Internet Search Data Following George Floyd's Death JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH Ayers et al Original Paper Quantifying Public Interest in Police Reforms by Mining Internet Search Data Following George Floyd's Death John W Ayers1, PhD; Benjamin M Althouse2, PhD; Adam Poliak3, PhD; Eric C Leas1, PhD; Alicia L Nobles1, PhD; Mark Dredze4, PhD; Davey Smith1, MD 1University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States 2Institute for Disease Modeling, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, United States 3Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States 4Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States Corresponding Author: John W Ayers, PhD University of California San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive #333 CRSF La Jolla, CA, 92093 United States Phone: 1 619 371 1846 Email: [email protected] Abstract Background: The death of George Floyd while in police custody has resurfaced serious questions about police conduct that result in the deaths of unarmed persons. Objective: Data-driven strategies that identify and prioritize the public's needs may engender a public health response to improve policing. We assessed how internet searches indicative of interest in police reform changed after Mr Floyd's death. Methods: We monitored daily Google searches (per 10 million total searches) that included the terms ªpoliceº and ªreform(s)º (eg, ªreform the police,º ªbest police reforms,º etc) originating from the United States between January 1, 2010, through July 5, 2020. We also monitored searches containing the term ªpoliceº with ªtraining,º ªunion(s),º ªmilitarization,º or ªimmunityº as markers of interest in the corresponding reform topics. Results: The 41 days following Mr Floyd's death corresponded with the greatest number of police ªreform(s)º searches ever recorded, with 1,350,000 total searches nationally. Searches increased significantly in all 50 states and Washington DC. By reform topic, nationally there were 1,220,000 total searches for ªpoliceº and ªunion(s)º; 820,000 for ªtrainingº; 360,000 for ªimmunityº; and 72,000 for ªmilitarization.º In terms of searches for all policy topics by state, 33 states searched the most for ªtraining,º 16 for ªunion(s),º and 2 for ªimmunity.º States typically in the southeast had fewer queries related to any police reform topic than other states. States that had a greater percentage of votes for President Donald Trump during the 2016 election searched more often for police ªunion(s)º while states favoring Secretary Hillary Clinton searched more for police ªtraining.º Conclusions: The United States is at a historical juncture, with record interest in topics related to police reform with variability in search terms across states. Policy makers can respond to searches by considering the policies their constituencies are searching for online, notably police training and unions. Public health leaders can respond by engaging in the subject of policing and advocating for evidence-based policy reforms. (J Med Internet Res 2020;22(10):e22574) doi: 10.2196/22574 KEYWORDS policing; digital health, bioinformatics; public health; public interest; data mining; internet; search; trend; Google Trends http://www.jmir.org/2020/10/e22574/ J Med Internet Res 2020 | vol. 22 | iss. 10 | e22574 | p. 1 (page number not for citation purposes) XSL·FO RenderX JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH Ayers et al ªimmunityº), we forecasted a counterfactual scenario of Introduction expected search rates had Mr Floyd's death not occurred on The death of George Floyd at the hands of police has resurfaced May 25, 2020. The expected search rates were forecasted using serious questions about police conduct in the United States that an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, has resulted in 1001 deaths of unarmed persons from 2013 selected by Hyndman and Khandakar's algorithm [17], fit to through 2019 [1]. Despite widespread protests, public interest the historical search rates using all available data January 1, in police reform following George Floyd's death has not been 2010, through May 24, 2020. The forecasted search rates were quantified. compared to observed search rates from May 25, 2020, through July 5, 2020, including computing the ratio of observed and Data-driven strategies that identify and prioritize the needs of expected search rates with bootstrap confidence intervals by the public may engender a public health response to improve day and cumulatively for the entire post period. policing [2,3]. We argue tracking changes in aggregate internet searches is one such strategy, where the content of searches Do Search Rates for Specific Police Reform Topics reflects the thoughts and behaviors of the public, the volume of Differ Across States? searches reflect their priority, and the location of the search First, to assess which states had the greatest number of searches reflects the community [4-6]. This strategy has informed rapid for any policy topic, we estimated the cumulative search rates public health responses across many domains, including by state for each policy topic, by summing the fraction of responses to demand for unproven therapies during the searches per 10 million for the entire post period (May 25, 2020, COVID-19 pandemic [7], demand for HIV testing following through July 5, 2020) and ranking states accordingly. Second, Charlie Sheen's public HIV+ disclosure [8], interest in sexual to identify which specific policy topics had the greater interest harassment prevention and training following the #MeToo within each state, we estimated each state©s total searches for movement [9], and increased suicidal ideation during the initial any reform topic, by scaling the cumulative search volumes for airing of Netflix's 13 Reasons Why drama [10], to name a few. each specific policy topic by the total cumulative search volume Moreover, once traditional data became availableÐin some for all policy topics and ranking states accordingly. For each cases years laterÐthese example findings were confirmed search query outcome, we contrasted any single state with the [11,12], underscoring the validity of mining search histories. mean for all states and compared any two single or group of Similarly, public health leaders can survey internet search trends states by these percentages. to rapidly detect public interest in and priorities for police reform. Does Political Culture Impact Searches for Police Reform Policy Topics? Herein, we assess public interest in police reforms by mining aggregate internet searches and discovering the types of reforms Given the political implications in policy making, we evaluated being searched for by the public, both on the national and US how political culture impacted searches for specific policy state level (including Washington DC). Such reforms include topics, by comparing cumulative search rates by state for each police training, police unions, police militarization, and the policy topic against their percent vote share for President Donald qualified immunity doctrine that reduces the liability police Trump during the 2016 election. While crude, the presidential officers face for potential misconduct [13]. To translate these percent vote share is often used as an indicator of the political trends into potential policy making, we quantified the police culture of states, reflecting the strength of support or opposition reforms most searched for by each state (including DC) and to conservative or liberal policies [18]. For each, we estimated how each state's political culture reflected by results from the the breakdown of searches for police reform policy topics by 2016 presidential election explained differences in searches. states voting for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to evaluate any absolute relationships. Secondarily, we evaluated how more Methods support of Trump predicts searches for police reform policy topics by plotting states by their search volume post Mr Floyd's We monitored the fraction of daily Google searches (per 10 death and percent vote share for Trump, and estimated the best million searches) that included the terms ªpoliceº and fitting line including the slope of this line. All analyses were ªreform(s)º originating from the United States between January performed using R, version 3.5.1 (The R Project for Statistical 1, 2010, through July 5, 2020. This strategy would capture Computing). ªreform the police,º ªbest police reforms,º etc as markers for general interest in policing reforms. We also monitored searches Results containing the term ªpoliceº with ªtraining,º ªunion(s),º ªmilitarization,º or ªimmunity.º These searches were selected Internet Searches for Police ªReform(s)º because they have been frequently cited by experts as avenues The 41 days following Mr Floyd's death corresponded with the for reforms [14-16], and represent public prioritization of greatest number of police ªreform(s)º searches ever recorded, specific policing reform topics. Search rates were monitored with the highest daily fraction of all searches for ªreform(s)º both at the national and state (including DC) level. eclipsing the past high by over 150-fold (Figure 1). In absolute terms, this translated into about 1,350,000 total searches for Quantifying the Impact of Mr Floyd's Death police ªreform(s).º Using historical search rates for each outcome (ªpolice,º ªreform[s],º ªtraining,º ªunion[s],º ªmilitarization,º or http://www.jmir.org/2020/10/e22574/ J Med Internet Res 2020 | vol. 22 | iss. 10 | e22574 | p. 2 (page number not for citation purposes) XSL·FO RenderX JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH Ayers et al Figure 1. Internet searches for ªpoliceº and ªreform(s)º following the death of George Floyd. Queries included all searches with the terms ªpoliceº and ªreform(s).º Top panel shows the historic trends of reform searches in comparison to after Mr Floyd's death. Middle panels show the percent increases in searches after Mr Floyd's death (vertical dashed line is the day of the killing, May 25, 2020), and the bottom map shows the cumulative query fraction by state, including Washington DC, for the entire period following Mr Floyd's death (May 25, 2020, through July 5, 2020).
Recommended publications
  • The Divided Beliefs Behind a Seemingly United Movement an Ipsos POV in Diversity & Inclusion
    I CAN’T BREATHE: The Divided Beliefs Behind a Seemingly United Movement An Ipsos POV in Diversity & Inclusion By Marie Lemay, James Diamond, and Nina Seminara May 25 marks the one-year anniversary of the killing of George Floyd, an event that sparked outrage against police brutality—particularly toward Black people—in Floyd’s hometown of Minneapolis. Soon after, Americans in over 2,000 cities across all 50 states began organizing demonstrations, with protests extending beyond America’s borders to all corners of the world. Though most of the protests were peaceful, there were instances of violence, vandalism, destruction and death in several cities, provoking escalated police intervention, curfews and in some cases, the mobilization of the National Guard. The nationwide engagement with the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the 2020 protests, and data from a survey conducted nearly a year later showing 71% of Americans believed Chauvin is guilty of murder, paint the picture of a seem- ingly united people. ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS MADE IT CLEAR THAT MANY AMERICANS ACROSS THE NATION ARE NO LONGER WILLING TO TOLERATE RACIAL INJUSTICE. Key Takeaways: • However, major gaps in perception exist when comparing how Black and White Americans understood and perceived the 2020 protests. • Ipsos conducted several national surveys throughout the duration of the Black Lives Matter protests to gain a sense of Americans’ attitudes and opinions towards the events that unfolded. Here’s what we found. 2 IPSOS | I CAN’T BREATHE: THE DIVIDED BELIEFS BEHIND A SEEMINGLY UNITED MOVEMENT What is your personal view on the Do you support or oppose the protests circumstances around the death and demonstrations taking place of George Floyd in Minneapolis? across the country following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis? % It was murder.
    [Show full text]
  • Police Defunding and Reform : What Changes Are Needed? / by Olivia Ghafoerkhan
    ® About the Authors Olivia Ghafoerkhan is a nonfiction writer who lives in northern Virginia. She is the author of several nonfiction books for teens and young readers. She also teaches college composition. Hal Marcovitz is a former newspaper reporter and columnist who has written more than two hundred books for young readers. He makes his home in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. © 2021 ReferencePoint Press, Inc. Printed in the United States For more information, contact: ReferencePoint Press, Inc. PO Box 27779 San Diego, CA 92198 www.ReferencePointPress.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. Picture Credits: Cover: ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock.com 28: katz/Shutterstock.com 6: Justin Berken/Shutterstock.com 33: Vic Hinterlang/Shutterstock.com 10: Leonard Zhukovsky/Shutterstock.com 37: Maury Aaseng 14: Associated Press 41: Associated Press 17: Imagespace/ZUMA Press/Newscom 47: Tippman98x/Shutterstock.com 23: Associated Press 51: Stan Godlewski/ZUMA Press/Newscom LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING- IN- PUBLICATION DATA Names: Ghafoerkhan, Olivia, 1982- author. Title: Police defunding and reform : what changes are needed? / by Olivia Ghafoerkhan. Description: San Diego, CA : ReferencePoint Press, 2021. | Series: Being Black in America | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020048103 (print) | LCCN 2020048104 (ebook) | ISBN 9781678200268 (library binding) | ISBN 9781678200275 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Police administration--United States--Juvenile literature. | Police brutality--United States--Juvenile literature. | Discrimination in law enforcement--United States--Juvenile literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Blacklivesmatter—Getting from Contemporary Social Movements to Structural Change
    Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2021 #BlackLivesMatter—Getting from Contemporary Social Movements to Structural Change Jamillah Bowman Williams Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] Naomi Mezey Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] Lisa O. Singh Georgetown University, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2387 https://ssrn.com/abstract=3860435 California Law Review Online, Vol. 12, Reckoning and Reformation symposium. This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Law and Race Commons, and the Law and Society Commons #BlackLivesMatter— Getting from Contemporary Social Movements to Structural Change Jamillah Bowman Williams*, Naomi Mezey**, and Lisa Singh*** Introduction ................................................................................................. 2 I. Methodology ............................................................................................ 5 II. BLM: From Contemporary Social Movement to Structural Change ..... 6 A. Black Lives Matter as a Social Media Powerhouse ................. 6 B. Tweets and Streets: The Dynamic Relationship between Online and Offline Activism ................................................. 12 C. A Theory of How to Move from Social Media
    [Show full text]
  • Resources on Racial Justice June 8, 2020
    Resources on Racial Justice June 8, 2020 1 7 Anti-Racist Books Recommended by Educators and Activists from the New York Magazine https://nymag.com/strategist/article/anti-racist-reading- list.html?utm_source=insta&utm_medium=s1&utm_campaign=strategist By The Editors of NY Magazine With protests across the country calling for systemic change and justice for the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade, many people are asking themselves what they can do to help. Joining protests and making donations to organizations like Know Your Rights Camp, the ACLU, or the National Bail Fund Network are good steps, but many anti-racist educators and activists say that to truly be anti-racist, we have to commit ourselves to the ongoing fight against racism — in the world and in us. To help you get started, we’ve compiled the following list of books suggested by anti-racist organizations, educators, and black- owned bookstores (which we recommend visiting online to purchase these books). They cover the history of racism in America, identifying white privilege, and looking at the intersection of racism and misogyny. We’ve also collected a list of recommended books to help parents raise anti-racist children here. Hard Conversations: Intro to Racism - Patti Digh's Strong Offer This is a month-long online seminar program hosted by authors, speakers, and social justice activists Patti Digh and Victor Lee Lewis, who was featured in the documentary film, The Color of Fear, with help from a community of people who want and are willing to help us understand the reality of racism by telling their stories and sharing their resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Final List George Floyd
    The below collection of data is one of three key elements in Mapping a Moment, a project created by the Cleveland based musical duo the Baker’s Basement. Mapping a Moment was crafted after a long journey across America and beyond in the weeks immediately following the murder of George Floyd. The full presentation includes these 3 parts: 1. A written reflection on the response of Americans in public spaces during a time of crisis 2. A five and a half minute video illustrating this reflection through song, image, and an animated map displaying the occurrence of demonstrations across America 3. The below spreadsheet containing data on over 1600 public demonstrations that occurred from May 25, 2020 to June 13, 2020 in the United States and throughout the international community. To see all three parts of Mapping a Moment, go here: www.thebakersbasement.com/mapping-a-moment To see the full video of the murder of George Floyd, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaGmz4DPlJw&app=desktop&bpctr=1596415559 Summary of Data: The spreadsheet below contains data on a large portion of the public demonstrations held in response to the murder of George Floyd in the weeks immediately following his death (From May 25, 2020 to June 13, 2020). It was collected to help provide a wider understanding of how people in the United States and the international community initially reacted through a variety of public demonstrations. This data was used to construct the animated map presented in the video & song portion of Mapping a Moment - Youtube. This is not to be considered a complete list of the demonstrations that occurred during that time period, but an effort to create a fuller picture of how the USA and the international community reacted in public spaces.
    [Show full text]
  • Struggle for Power: the Ongoing Persecution of Black Movement the by U.S
    STRUGGLE FOR POWER T H E ONGOING PERSECUTION O F B L A C K M O V E M E N T BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT In the fight for Black self-determination, power, and freedom in the United States, one institution’s relentless determination to destroy Black movement is unrivaled— the United States federal government. Black resistance and power-building threaten the economic interests and white supremacist agenda that uphold the existing social order. Throughout history, when Black social movements attract the nation’s or world’s attention, or we fight our way onto the nation’s political agenda as we have today, we experience violent repression. We’re disparaged and persecuted; cast as villains in the story of American prosperity; and forced to defend ourselves and our communities against police, anti-Black policymakers, and U.S. armed forces. Last summer, on the heels of the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, millions of people mobilized to form the largest mass movement against police violence and racial injustice in U.S. history. Collective outrage spurred decentral- ized uprisings in defense of Black lives in all 50 states, with a demand to defund police and invest in Black communities. This brought global attention to aboli- tionist arguments that the only way to prevent deaths such as Mr. Floyd’s and Ms. Taylor’s is to take power and funding away from police. At the same time, the U.S federal government, in a flagrant abuse of power and at the express direction of disgraced former President Donald Trump and disgraced former Attorney General William Barr, deliberately targeted supporters of the movement to defend Black lives in order to disrupt and discourage the movement.
    [Show full text]
  • What Happened to George Floyd?
    Why are there huge protests around the world? Despite people’s fears of coming out of lockdown due to coronavirus, there have been several nights of protests and violent clashes between police and protesters as demonstrations have swept mostly across cities in the US. The protests in Minneapolis began in reaction to the death of a man named George Floyd after he was stopped by police officers. Four officers were sacked and have been charged in connection with his death. The protests spread across the country to cities including New York, LA, Chicago and Philadelphia. While many protests have been peaceful, many places have seen rioting, looting and violence and President Trump has said he will call in the army if things aren't brought back under control. So why is this happening? Here's what you need to know. What happened to George Floyd? George Floyd was an African-American man who died after being held in police custody on 25 May. Officers said he was suspected of using fake money and they stopped him and held him down by kneeling on his neck. Despite saying he couldn't breathe, he wasn't released and soon afterwards he died. Four police officers have been sacked. One of them, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder. Three others, Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, face charges of aiding and abetting. What happened to Mr Floyd has again raised the issue of racism in American society and the unfair treatment that many African-American communities feel they face in the US, particularly when it comes to the police.
    [Show full text]
  • Getting Police Reform Right: a Blueprint for Understanding the Present Moment
    Getting Police Reform Right: A Blueprint for Understanding the Present Moment By Bill De La Rosa August 2020 Getting Police Reform Right: A Blueprint for Understanding the Present Moment By Bill De La Rosa August 2020 Cover Design: Bill De La Rosa Photo: Pima County Communications Office Foreword Policing in America has been under a spotlight since the gruesome murder of George Floyd. The late civil rights icon John Lewis—in an essay published on the day of his funeral—wrote, “Emmet Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor.” Certainly, for many, George Floyd’s death has illuminated an injustice that continues to resurface time and again. However, unlike before, public opinion on police reform has shifted dramatically with majority of Americans supporting change. More importantly, governments across the United States are responding to this moment. As of July 17 2020, nearly 30 states have introduced more than 350 bills to revise their approaches to policing. Indeed, the time to act is now. In this whitepaper, I do not present a panacea for the problems facing law enforcement. Instead, I make the case for what I think police reformers must fundamentally consider. For the past three months, I have spoken to multiple individuals—professionals who work in the criminal justice system from police chiefs to criminal defense attorneys, as well as community leaders and activists who are pushing to make law enforcement more accountable and transparent. I have listened to people’s concerns and learned about the communities they serve. Today, as I reflect on the conversations I had, I remain resolute in my belief that questions of public safety, accountability, and cultural sensitivity are not mutually exclusive.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Evaluation of the City of Columbus' Response to the 2020
    Research Evaluation of the City of Columbus’ Response to the 2020 Summer Protests Trevor L. Brown, Ph.D. Carter M. Stewart, J.D. John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University Table of Contents 1 Overview 5 Executive Summary of Findings and Recommendations 11 Context: Systemic Racism, Policing and Protests 17 Columbus Context and Timeline of Key Events 25 Chapter 1: Citizen-Police Relations and the Protests; Community Member Trauma 32 Chapter 2: City and Columbus Division of Police Leadership and Incident Command 41 Chapter 3: Policy and Training 52 Chapter 4: Officer Wellness and Morale 57 Chapter 5: Mutual Aid 61 Chapter 6: Transparency, Accountability, Public Communication, and Social Media 67 Conclusion 69 Works Cited 80 Appendix A: Recommendations and Findings 92 Appendix B: Research Design, Methods, and Data 99 Appendix C: Columbus Police After Action Review Team 109 Appendix D: List of Acronyms Acknowledgements The research presented in this report benefitted from a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, disciplinary expertise, and professional experience. In particular, the lead researchers are indebted to the National Police Foundation, the primary subcontractor on this project. The National Police Foundation’s staff, notably Frank Straub and Ben Gorban, harnessed their expertise of policing across the United States and around the globe to ensure that the findings and recommendations aligned with the evolving knowledge base of policing best practice. We are grateful to the array of investigators and interviewers who volunteered their time, energy and expertise to conduct over 170 interviews in the midst of a global pandemic. Our Advisory Board also volunteered their time to guide the research and offer insights from a variety of disciplines that inform the as- sessment of protest behavior and police response.
    [Show full text]
  • George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What Do We Tell Our Children?
    George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children? Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY Published 7:45 a.m. CT May 31, 2020 Should we tell the children? How? Those are among the many questions parents are asking after the recent deaths of George Floyd (/story/news/2020/05/28/george-floyd-remembered- gentle-giant-family-calls-death-murder/5265668002/), Ahmaud Arbery (/story/news/2020/05/15/ahmaud-arbery-shooting-mother-friend-run-with- maud/5183628002/) and Breonna Taylor (/story/news/nation/2020/05/14/breonna-taylor-what-know-louisville-emt-killed-police/5189743002/). Many white parents wonder whether to talk with their kids at all, while parents of color swallow their grief and fear to have "the talk" once again. These deaths are part of a more complex story, one some parents have been telling for generations, and others have long felt they've had the luxury to ignore. But experts in child psychology and race-based stress say these conversations are essential for all parents to have, and they underscore that there are developmentally appropriate ways to talk to children of all ages about racism and police brutality. George Floyd protests: How did we get here? (https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/05/29/george-floyd-protests-how-did-we-get- here/5283225002/) "Silence will not protect you or them," said Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist and author of, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race. "Avoiding the topic is not a solution." Racism persists, experts say, because many parents avoid difficult conversations.
    [Show full text]
  • UN Special Rapporteur Aug. 8 2020
    September 10, 2020 Via E-mail Mr. Clément Nyaletsossi Voule Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Assembly and of Association Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland [email protected] [email protected] Re: Human Rights Violations against Peaceful Protesters Dear Mr. Voule: On behalf of Access Now and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic (USC IHRC), with the support of the international law firm Foley Hoag LLP, we are writing to call your attention to the intensifying human rights violations committed by the United States Government against peaceful demonstrators in the United States. Access Now is a non-governmental organization that works to defend the digital rights of users at risk around the world through policy, advocacy, and technology support, grants, and convenings like RightsCon. The USC IHRC engages in advocacy projects to confront some of the most pressing human rights concerns in the U.S. and globally. I. Introduction Over the past few months, the United States Government has responded to peaceful demonstrations by deploying militarized police forces into communities without State or local official invitation or authorization. These forces have arbitrarily detained protesters in unarmed vehicles and generally suppressed the freedoms of expression, press, and assembly in major U.S. cities. Such conduct by federal officials implicate major human rights obligations, including the rights of: freedom of expression, press, and access to information;1 1 See International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 1; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19.
    [Show full text]
  • After the Killing of George Floyd, U of M Researchers and Alumni Grapple with the Racism in Our Midst
    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION FALL 2020 WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? After the killing of George Floyd, U of M researchers and alumni grapple with the racism in our midst. The pillars senior living Life as it should be At the Pillars of Prospect Park, care and compassion have no bounds. proud partnership with NOW OPEN | SCHEDULE A VIRTUAL TOUR TODAY 612-623-7000 | PILLARSSENIORLIVING.COM/PROSPECTPARK Made possible by members of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association since 1901 | Volume 120, Number 1 Fall 2020 4 Editor’s Note A Hard Conversation 5 Letters Feedback on recent stories 6 Up Front Med school fights COVID-19 misinformation on social media, record patents for U of M, and more 12 Discoveries Safe Voting During Covid-19 By George Beck Plus: Short research updates 15 From the President Lessons from John Lewis By Joan Gabel 18 Where Do We Go From Here? 8 After the killing of George Floyd, researchers and alumni reflect on what comes next. 2 0 The Minnesota Paradox: Are there two Minnesotas, one for whites and one for people of color? By Elizabeth Foy Larsen About the cover At the memorial site for 3 0 When Racism Makes You Sick: Examining disparities George Floyd on 38th and in health outcomes linked to race By Susan Maas Chicago in Minneapolis, 3 4 We Need to Talk: Cochairs of the Black Alumni Network Indigenous artist, educator share their thoughts. By Adora Land and Ernest Comer III and activist Mari Mansfield, left, created the 36 Taking a Stand: Read excerpts of the letter that Mourning Passage led to the U of M cutting some ties with the MPD.
    [Show full text]