Over the past four years, police violence against minorities has been a heavily-covered topic by media outlets. Whether scrolling through Facebook, or reading the New York Times, the topic of racism in the justice system frequently occurs. Following the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, groups such as Black Lives Matter have formed to place a spotlight on the discrepancy of police homicides between races. Claims of racism being the primary factor in the deaths of Michael Brown and others has led to many protests, creating a strong division between the police and minorities, most notably the African American community. While Black Lives Matter has dominated media headlines, hashtag trends such as #AllLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter have risen to support the police community. The concept that one must either support the police force or the African American community has divided the nation, causing reconciliation between these groups to be desperately needed. In order to mend race relations, a mutual understanding between both sides of the spectrum must occur, as well as media integrity.

The narrative of rampant racism in the police force began to gain traction in the summer of 2014, following the death of Michael Brown. After the decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the man who shot Brown, chaos erupted in Ferguson. Protestors flooded the streets in Ferguson the night of the acquittal, resulting 25 businesses being burned to the ground, two police cars being burned, and over 80 arrests (Carasik). The events in Ferguson also led to a strong divide in the support of both the police and the African American community. Tensions between each side has increased over the recent years, due to the deaths of Keith Scott, Philando Castille, and Alton Sterling among others. Ranging from peaceful civilian protest, to social media movements, to violent action; millions of civilians have voiced their displeasure over the police department. 

The premise of the Black Lives Matter movement is based on the belief that African Americans are targeted, disproportionately, by the police compared to white citizens. James Buehler, a journalist for the American Journal of Public Health, observed the statistical evidence of lethal force used by police from 2010-2014 against Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic citizens in the United States. The report presented, that when adjusted for population, African American men are 2.8 times more likely to be fatally shot by police than Caucasians, while men of Hispanic descent are 1.7 times more likely to suffer fatalities than white men (Buehler 296). From 2010-2014, police homicide reports show that police officers fatally wounded roughly 2,181 males. Of those fatally wounded, 1,091 were white, 554 African American, 447 Hispanic, and 89 that classified as other. Approximately 2.5 out of one million white males fall victim to police homicide per year, while 6.8 black and 4.1 Hispanic men face the same fate (Buehler 296). For perspective, that means that approximately 0.00025% of white men died at the hands of an officer while 0.00068% of black men lost their life each year. These numbers do not suggest that men of any race should fear for their lives when encountering police, but the fact that African Americans are 2.8 times more likely to suffer fatal shootings is alarming. If violent crime rates were equally present across races, it would be evident that African Americans are unfairly targeted. 

Although higher fatality rates of African Americans are used to suggest that racism is a major factor in police homicides, population based statistics do not tell the whole story. Economist Roland Fryer released a report in July of 2016, which suggested that African American men are no more likely to be fatally wounded than white men in each individual legal intervention. Based on his findings for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Fryer calculated the likelihood of black and white police homicide victims to have been armed at the time of their deaths. The report states “For white officers, the probability that a white suspect who is involved in officer-involved shooting has a weapon is 85.1% percent. The equivalent probability for blacks is 81%. A difference of 4% between the races, which is not statistically significant. For black officers, the probability that a white suspect who is involved in an officer-involved shooting has a weapon is surprisingly lower, 62.5%. The equivalent probability for black suspects is 74% (Fryer 31).” This data presented by Fryer contrasts with the narrative of racism being a primary reason for the deaths of African Americans. The data does, however, show that many unarmed men, of all races, have lost their lives at the hands of an officer. This suggests that homicides against unarmed citizens can be attributed to a lack of training, rather than deliberate targeting. 

While the claim that African American men are not statistically more likely to be killed in each individual intervention has data to back it up, James Buehler persists that the possibility of racism cannot be dismissed. Buehler argues that the outcomes of individual police encounters do not factor in the likelihood of each race to be pulled over in the first place; suggesting that the higher percentage for black citizens may be indicative of racial profiling (Buehler 295). Buehler goes on to state that racial profiling is a form of racism, and this behavior is not acceptable for law enforcement. 

Although data suggests that African Americans are more likely to be legally intervened with in the first place, claiming racism, rather than attempting to understand the reason for this, only creates division between both sides. Stating that racism is the reason why African Americans more commonly encounter police in their lifetimes does not account for the fact that different races have varying rates of violent crime. Violent crime rates are particularly important to pay attention too when discussing police homicides, as the reason for police encounters in the first place most often occurs as a reaction to citizen behavior. According to The Federal Bureau of Investigation, approximately 5,453 homicides occurred between both white and black citizens in 2013 (United States of America). Out of these 5,453 reported homicides, 2,698 of the homicides were committed by African Americans, while white men committed 2,755 homicides. The percentage of homicides reported are nearly a 50/50 split between races (49.48% black and 50.52% white). While white men committed more homicides total, the numbers tell a different story when adjusted for population size.  White citizens make up approximately 63% of the US population, while African Americans account for 13%. This shows that there are four times as many white citizens as black, and that the overall homicide rates suggest African American men commit homicide at a rate four times higher than white. Heather Donald, author of The War on Cops, states that the higher levels of homicide in turn require more police action, explaining the disproportionate rates of police confrontation with minorities. Further evidence of this claim is supported by reviewing crime rates in the major metropolitan areas in the United States. Donald’s findings show that in America’s 75 largest counties, comprising most of the nation’s population, African American citizens constituted 62 percent of all robbery defendants in 2009, 57 percent of all murder defendants, and 45 percent of all assault defendants — but make up roughly 15 percent of the population in those counties (Donald). Although discussing crime rates among each race is a sensitive subject for many, the facts need to be addressed, as violent crime and police interaction go hand in hand. 

Although police homicide statistics do not suggest racism to be a large-scale problem, the topic is viewed more emotionally than rational. Mass uproar often occurs in response to high profile shootings, including the deaths of Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, and Keith Scott. These four shootings all led to mass outrage due to the narrative of innocent unarmed black men being unjustly interfered with and gunned down by an officer. These cases led to massive protests; resulting in hundreds of arrests, millions of dollars in damaged property, and lives of both protestors and police (Carasik). Unfortunately, much of the damage occurred due to inaccurate media coverage. Although many popular news sources played the racist cop card, later findings suggest otherwise. By digging deeper into these cases, the integrity of media shows upmost importance. 

The death of Michael Brown occurred on August 9th, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri (Carasik). His death led to mass uproar, and a drastic effect on the Black Lives Matter movement. According to initial reports, Brown, an unarmed black man was harassed by a white cop on his way back from school. After a minor confrontation, the officer pulled a gun on Brown. Brown then attempted to surrender, but the officer proceeded to shoot him down (Carasik). This story outraged millions of people, leading to riots across the country, while Ferguson erupted in flames. The protestors and rioters failed to account for one possibility: that the death of Michael Brown was inaccurately reported upon. Darren Wilson’s testimony of the events leading up to the shooting offered a different story. According to police reports, Wilson was on duty when a report that a Ferguson market had been robbed. On his way to the market he drove past two African American men carrying cigarillos, and rolled down his window to ask that they walk on the sidewalk. Following this, Brown shouted expletives at Wilson. Wilson attempted to open his door twice, only for Brown to slam the door shut. Brown proceeded to strike the officer in the face through the rolled down window. Fearing for his life, Wilson proceeded to grab his gun, threatening Brown to back away from his car. Brown proceeded to attempt to grab the gun from Wilson, leading to several fired shots hitting the floorboard and then a third shot went off, which shot through the backdoor panel, sending shards of glass through the air. Brown backed away from the car following the shot, but then proceeded to come back to the car a final time, striking Wilson in the face. Brown then began to run away from Wilson, but eventually pausing, and then turning around. Brown then charged Wilson. Fearing for his life, Wilson fired at Brown several times, but Brown proceeded to charge. Backpedaling, Wilson fired a final series of shots aimed at Brown’s head (Defranco). 

The police report versus initial news reports offer two very different versions of an altercation that occurred. While much is unknown, witness reports varied between those who reported to the police compared to those who went straight to the media. While evidence of a physical altercation exists, video evidence was not provided to the public. Because of this lack of video evidence, proving innocence for either party is difficult to establish. At the minimum, Darren Wilson’s testimony provided reasonable evidence that Michael Brown was not completely innocent in this altercation. Unfortunately, by the time Wilson’s version of the events were released to the public, the damage was already done. If the media had waited to accurately report the news, fewer riots would have occurred, fewer businesses would have been destroyed, and several more citizens could be alive today. 

The deaths of Keith Scott and Alton Sterling were also reported with various falsehoods. In both cases, reports of innocent unarmed fathers being gunned down were spread. While both  men lost their lives in altercations with the police, the reason for both of their deaths did not turn out to be due to the color of their skin. Early reports on Scott’s death stated that Scott was in his SUV, reading a book, waiting for his son to arrive home. Release of police footage later showed Scott armed with a Colt .380 semiautomatic, which was cocked with the safety off (Fausset). This same gun had been stolen, and illegally sold to Scott 18 days prior to the shooting (Fausset). At the minimum, the reports that Scott was reading a book while unarmed was proven to be false. As for the narrative that he was a family man, Scott had a past that would suggest otherwise. Keith Scott’s wife, Rakeyia Scott, had filed for protection against him a year prior to the incident. In a handwritten complaint, Ms. Scott asserted that Mr. Scott had “hit my 8-year-old in the head a total of three times with his fist” and “kicked me and threaten to kill us with his gun (Faucet).” Ms. Scott also added, “He said he is a ‘killer’ and we should know that.” While this information was updated days after the shooting, thousands had already protested, while others would never see the updated reports.

 Likewise, Alton Sterling’s death followed a similar pattern. Released footage of Sterling’ death showed him being wrestled to the ground, while officers struggled to subdue him. The video footage shows him in a pinned position, with police screaming at him as he continues to resist. In the released footage, the body positioning of the police officers made it difficult to tell whether he was armed. This video sparked outrage, as many cited this to be proof of racism in the justice system. Later reports showed that the reason for police interaction was because of a caller who claimed that Sterling was threatening him with a gun. This can explain the reason for the heated interaction that led to the shooting. The police officer initially tased Sterling, but it appeared to have a minimal effect. This led to the fight which resulted in Sterling’s death. While released evidence suggests that Alton Sterling’s action was responsible for the initial encounter with police, video footage suggests that his death could have likely been avoided. Although the encounter could have likely been resolved without the loss of a life, reports that Sterling was a victim of police targeting ignores the context surrounding the shooting.

The deaths of Michael Brown, Keith Scott, and Alton Sterling fall in more of a gray area than reports siding with Black Lives Matter would suggest, but this does not completely delegitimize their stance. Unfortunately, there are men such as Philando Castile, who have unjustly lost their lives at the hands of the police. Castile’s death went viral shortly after the death of Alton Sterling. Castile was pulled over by Officer Jeronimo Yanez because of a broken taillight. While approaching the car, Yanez determined that Castile matched the description of a suspect in an armed robbery days earlier (Capecchi). Castile informed Officer Yanez that he legally possessed a firearm, and in response Officer Yanez escalated the situation and fired seven shots which caused fatal injuries. After reviewing evidence, there was no proof that Castile was intending to reach for his weapon. Castile’s gun was found to have no ammunition in the chamber. This led to Yanez facing manslaughter charges, and he is now sentenced up to ten years in prison (Capecchi). 

The reporting on the deaths of Brown, Sterling, Scott, and Castile shows a popular trend amongst media outlets. In these cases, the media deceived citizens of the United States by spreading false information, reporting high profile cases quickly rather than accurately, and ignoring context surrounding the shootings. By lumping the deaths of Scott, Sterling, and Brown with Philando Castile, media outlets lose credibility when reporting on legitimate cases of unwarranted police violence against minorities. In order to mend the relationship between the police and African American community, a middle ground must be reached between both Blue Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter. Although many reports of racist policemen needlessly gunning down minorities are based on inaccurate information, tragedies do occur, and action needs to be taken to reduce the amount of unnecessary police homicides. Pointing fingers at each other does nothing to fix the problem, but instead adds fuel to the fire. Media outlets must practice integrity to allow supporters of each side to recognize their faults, and to focus on fixing the problem rather than debating the extent to which it exists. 
