https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-civil-rights-expert-explains-the-social-science-of-police-racism/

In a now-infamous event captured on video, on May 25 George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer outside of a corner store. Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds while two other officers helped to hold him down and a third stood guard nearby. All four officers have been fired; Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and the other three officers have been charged with aiding and abetting murder.

The 2014 shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., sparked a renewed emphasis on racism and police brutality in the U.S.’s political and cultural conversation. In the past few years many names have been added to the list of black people killed by police. Despite some efforts to acknowledge and grapple with systemic racism in American institutions, anger and distrust between law enforcement and black Americans have remained high. But Floyd’s death sparked a new level of outrage. Protests have erupted in hundreds of cities around the U.S. Most demonstrations have been peaceful. But some have turned violent, with police using force against protesters, and a small percentage of people setting fire to police cars, looting stores, and defacing or damaging buildings.