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Poll shows major decline in support for BLM movement across US over last three months

A demonstrator holds up a
A demonstrator holds up a

Support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement among US residents has seen a decrease over the last three months, according to a new poll.

In a new survey from the Pew Research Centre, 55 per cent of US adults said they either strongly or somewhat supported BLM, compared to 67 per cent who answered the same in June, just weeks after protests against police brutality and racial violence were reignited.

The movement was launched in 2013, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin’s fatal shooting, but reached national attention again in May 2020, following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd while in police custody.

Mr Floyd’s death sparked protests in every state across the US in opposition to police brutality and racial injustice, with demonstrations still continuing in some states this month.

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The Pew Research Centre survey also found that those who said that they strongly supported the movement had decreased from 38 per cent in June, to 29 per cent in September.

Since June, police have clashed with demonstrators at some BLM protests, and there have been various reports of violence, vandalism and looting, but a recent study found that a majority of the demonstrations have been conducted peacefully and without incident.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) analysed more than 7,750 BLM protests across the US, and found that 93 per cent of the demonstrations were peaceful, according to Time.

Despite the toppling of statues and vandalism being counted as part of the project’s report, the analysis only found 220 instances of violent protests between May and September.

However, Donald Trump, other high profile Republicans and Fox News hosts have criticised the movement over the last few months, highlighting incidents of violence and vandalism at protests across the country.

The PEW survey found that the amount of white Republicans who said they either strongly or somewhat supported BLM decreased the most of any group, from 37 per cent in June to just 16 per cent in September.

Although support from white Democrats has also decreased, the survey only found the number fall from 92 per cent three months ago to 88 per cent in September.

Support for the movement also decreased between Hispanic and white US adults, as the figure fell from 77 to 66 per cent for the former and from 60 to 45 per cent for the latter over the three month period.

However, among black Americans, support for the movement has increased by one point from 86 to 87 per cent from June to September.

The survey was conducted between 8 to 13 September and included responses from 10,093 US adults.

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