- Americans are torn when it comes to their views on the
looting that occurred in some cities amid the protests against police brutality, according to a new Insider poll. - Roughly one-third of survey respondents said they believed looting was a "widespread problem," but a similar number of respondents said it was an "isolated problem."
- It's unclear exactly how many partook in looting, but the Associated Press said just hundreds had been arrested on looting-related charges — the figure pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets in recent weeks.
- Police across the country have also been accused of instigating violence, and a number have been arrested on assault charges for their conduct during protests.
As the United States continues grappling with the fallout over the killing of
The vast majority of those who took to the streets in recent weeks have been peaceful protesters, but a number of cities saw looting and vandalism, including New York City, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
People were seen in videos ransacking shops, spraying graffiti, smashing glass storefronts, and setting fires that destroyed businesses.
But it's unclear exactly how many people took part in the looting. Arrest data suggests the number was very small in comparison to the massive amount of peaceful protesters.
The Associated Press reported on June 4 that the number of people arrested nationwide on burglary and looting charges was in the hundreds. That figure pales in comparison to the estimated hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of protesters who peacefully took to the streets across the country.
Insider surveyed more than 1,000 people on June 8-9 about various components of the recent civil unrest, including their views on how widespread looting was.
Roughly half of respondents said they believed looting was a major problem, while half said it was not. Just 7% responded that they didn't know. The full results were:
What comes closest to describing your view?
- I think looting is a widespread problem 34%
- I think looting is a common problem 16%
- I think looting is an isolated problem 29%
- I think looting is a rare problem 8%
- I think looting is an insignificant problem 7%
- I don't know 7%
In total, more than 10,000 people were arrested across the US amid the demonstrations, but the vast majority of those arrests were not for looting-related charges. Instead, most were for non-violent, low-level offenses such as traffic violations, failure to disperse, or breaking curfews, according to the Associated Press.
Police across the country have also been accused of instigating violence of their own, and numerous videos have documented authorities using excessive force on peaceful protesters, including tear gas and rubber bullets, or even plowing their cruisers into crowds.
A handful of officers have been suspended, fired, or even arrested for their conduct, including one NYPD officer who violently shoved a protester to the ground, two Buffalo officers who pushed an elderly man, a Philadelphia officer who struck a protester with a metal baton, and six Atlanta officers who converged on two college students leaving a protest and pulled them out of their car then Tased and punched one of them.
SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weigh its sample based on race or income. A total of 1,111 respondents were collected June 8-9, 2020, with a margin of error plus or minus 3 percentage points and a 95% confidence level.