US protests: most police-involved killings don't go viral

At least 57 have been shot dead by US police between the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks

People pause at a newly painted George Floyd mural on a building near central Atlanta, Georgia, on June 11, 2020. EPA

Protesters and police face each other during a rally for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. AP

A row of police officers walk with the coffin of George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis police custody sparked nationwide protests against racial inequality, before his burial at the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in Pearland, Texas, on June 9, 2020. Reuters

Protesters march on Hiawatha Avenue against the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Four Minneapolis police officers have been fired after a video posted on social media showed Floyd's neck being pinned to the ground by an officer as he said, 'I cant breathe'. AFP

A firework explodes by a police line as demonstrators gather to protest against the death of George Floyd, on Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. AP Photo

Medics tend to a man who was shot in the arm by a driver of a black vehicle at a protest against racial inequality following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Seattle, Washington, on June 7, 2020. Reuters

Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's brother, holds his fist as he marches with fellow protesters near the White House against police brutality and racism, on June 10, 2020 in Washington DC. The brother of George Floyd, whose killing by police sparked worldwide protests against racism, made an emotional plea to the US Congress to pass reforms that reduce police brutality. AFP

A broken Statue of Liberty figure is seen between glass shatters outside a looted souvenir shop after a night of protest over the death of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on June 2, 2020 in Manhattan in New York City. AFP

Demonstrators scuffle with police officers as they try to march through Times Square during a protest against racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in New York City, New York, on June 14, 2020. Reuters

A demonstrator raises fist as a fire burns in the street after clashes with law enforcement shortly after midnight on June 8, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Getty

An elderly man appears to be shoved by riot police in Buffalo, New York. Reuters

Protesters scuffle with members of the US Army as they demonstrate against the death of George Floyd, near the White House on June 3, 2020 in Washington, DC. AFP

Protesters on horseback march against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, through downtown Houston, Texas, on June 2, 2020. Reuters

A tanker truck drives into thousands of protesters marching on 35W north-bound motorway during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 31, 2020. Reuters

Demonstrators jump on a damaged police vehicle in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020 during a protest against the death of George Floyd. AFP

Demonstrators kneel before police on May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis. AP Photo

Protesters gather under the rain near the spot where George Floyd died in the custody of the Minneapolis Police, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

People, who gathered in protest against the death of George Floyd, march to the White House in Washington DC on June 2, 2020. EPA

One month ago, a white police officer pressed his knee into the neck of George Floyd for eight minutes and 46 seconds, suffocating and killing the African-American.

The fatal encounter with Minneapolis police was captured in mobile phone footage recorded by bystanders passing through the junction, where police were responding to a call claiming Floyd, 46, used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes.

Two bystander videos showed officer Derek Chauvin applying continuous pressure to Floyd’s neck as he gasped, “Please, I can't breathe.”

He repeated the phrase more than a dozen times before losing consciousness.

He was pronounced dead shortly after the encounter and an independent post-mortem examination showed he died of "asphyxiation from sustained pressure".

The footage of Floyd gasping for air went viral and sparked a global movement for racial equality and police accountability.

Spurred on by the video, a wave of protests crossed the US, renewing demands to overhaul law-enforcement practices.

“It didn’t happen in a dark alley, or a deserted park, or during a traffic stop on highway where cars are whizzing by,” said Tara Huffman, director of the criminal and juvenile justice programme at Baltimore’s Open Society Institute.

"It happened on a city street, with an audience. George Floyd’s audience had a front seat to his execution.”

Two weeks after, a new witness video emerged online and quickly went viral.

In it, African-American man Rayshard Brooks lay lifeless on the ground after being shot twice in the back by a white Atlanta police officer.

Protesters stand in front of police in Atlanta. AP

People walk past an electronic sign with an image of George Floyd near Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

Protesters take a knee for 8 minutes, 46 seconds outside the Capitol, in Atlanta, in memory of George Floyd. AP

A group of protesters walk on a road after a night of protests during which a Wendy's restaurant was set ablaze overnight in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

An officer attacks a protester with pepper spray after a group went on the interstate motorway after leaving the protest site near the Wendy's restaurant, which was destroyed in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA

Demonstrators take over a service station after being chased off an interstate motorway, near a Wendy's restaurant that was destroyed after the shooting of Rayshard Brooks, 27, at the restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA

A volunteer medical worker watches protesters march near the Capitol two days after an officer-involved shooting of Rayshard Brooks, 27, at a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA

Demonstrators walk around a Wendy's restaurant which was destroyed in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA

Demonstrators protest outside a Wendy's restaurant which was destroyed in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA

Demonstrators stop for a moment of silence outside the Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta where Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot by a police officer on Friday night. AP

A boy films with his mobile phone at the site of a Wendy's restaurant set ablaze overnight in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

A man and two children mourn at the site of a Wendy's restaurant set ablaze overnight in Atlanta, Georgia. Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot and killed on Friday by police in a struggle following a field sobriety test at the Wendy's. Getty Images

A protester demonstrates on the street in front of a Wendy's restaurant that was destroyed in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA

Protesters rush to block an interstate motorway near a Wendy's restaurant, which was destroyed in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA

A protester is detained after a few dozen marchers walked on a bridge blocked by police in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

The death of Brooks heightened the protests, with activists calling for a drastic rethinking of how policing works.

But in the two weeks between the deaths of Floyd and Brooks, at least 57 others were shot dead by police officers in the US.

In nine of the cases there were signs of mental illness, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.

At least 11 of those deaths were confirmed to be of African-American men.

The staggering scale of police-involved killings in the US is far greater than the select viral moments that garner public attention.

The Post data showed police have shot dead at least 490 people in 2020, or more than two a day this year.

The number is larger when accounting for non-shooting deaths such as Floyd's.

Fatal Encounters, a volunteer-run database monitoring police brutality, counted 959 deaths involving police this year.

For every George Floyd or Rayshard Brooks, there are many deadly encounters with police that go unnoticed.

That these two incidents were captured on video appears to have increased the likelihood of legal action.

In both cases, the offending officers have been charged with murder, which is a rare occurrence.

When allegations of officer misconduct arise, police will conduct internal investigations, which rarely result in discipline.

And it is not uncommon for fired officers to be reinstated through arbitration or to be hired by other police agencies.

Christy Lopez worked in the civil rights division of the US Department of Justice from 2010 to 2017.

Mr Lopez led the team that investigated the police department in Ferguson, Missouri, after the 2014 killing of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown by a white officer.

“I have been reviewing written accounts of incidents like this for decades and often it is only when there is a video that there is any chance of accountability, or even attention, regardless of how blatant the police misconduct is," he said.

“There is no question that video prompts action.”

Bystanders' videos can be more valuable for investigations and prosecutions than officers' body cameras, which provide a limited field of view, said Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer.

Mr Stoughton said body cameras could malfunction and officers sometimes failed to activate them before an incident.

But while there may be benefits to recording police interactions, there is also an emotional toll borne by people of colour who must repeatedly confront violent and tragic footage.

"Trauma happens when a police encounter goes viral," Ms Huffman told The National.

"People, especially black people, and especially black youths, are being traumatised over and over again by these videos.

“Black youth get the message that police are a threat, and black parents have to once again face agonising questions and have agonising conversations with their children.”

The mounting number of police-involved killings in the US has led to calls from activists to defund police departments and redirect the money towards social services.

One reform is co-responder programmes, in which social workers join police when responding to non-violent calls involving mental health, addiction and homelessness.

“Reallocating funds away from the police, and to non-punitive public health and community-based systems and institutions, is an idea whose time has come,” Ms Huffman said.