How Many People, by Race, are Killed by Police?

In the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, protests and looting have become the latest crisis around the nation. All this as we try to re-open from the COVID-19 stay at home orders and business closures. Peaceful demonstrators are outraged over the fact that there are so many high profile cases where African Americans are killed by police.

So, what are the numbers? How many black people, versus other races are killed by police?

According to government statistics in 2019, 235 black people were shot to death by police as opposed to 370 white, and 158 hispanics.  There are 241 cases where the person's race is unknown. The reason for the fatal shooting or whether it was justifiable is not available in this study. It also should be noted that African Americans make up about 13% of the U.S. population according to the 2016 census, meaning the percentage of blacks and hispanics killed by police is very high, based on per capita.

72% of Americans are white.