Talk:Violence and controversies during the George Floyd protests/Archive 1

Need to include violence and death from other countries as well due to the general nature of the title
What does article needs is violence and death from other countries as well due to the general nature of the title. That way, it can cover what the title really implies. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 00:08, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Small suggestion about wording
Just wondering if we should change the wording? The second paragraph is phrased in a way that somewhat suggests the deaths can all be attributed to police violence. I know it's a relatively small concern. Just worried about clarity, especially during these emotional times.

I don't generally edit, so apologies if I did this incorrectly. A roommate of mine has been edit crazy lately and sparked my interest haha. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kysier (talk • contribs) 19:52, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Adding another case of protester violence
There are news reports that a few days earlier in Portland, Oregon that a person assaulted a truck driver who was trying to defend a transwoman. Should we add that story to the article? I know that this website isn't a news site, but I just wanna add an example of protester violence. Here's the source: https://www.kptv.com/news/police-seeking-suspect-accused-of-assaulting-driver-near-downtown-portland-protest/article_17f2940e-e180-11ea-abdc-c7b5fa57a803.html Swaggum13 (talk) 06:07, 19 August 2020 (UTC)

Non-death listed under death?
Shouldn't the non-death of police officer Shay Mikalonis (seriously injured, in long term care, but not a fatality) not be listed under the "Deaths" section? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Miraclemet (talk • contribs) 14:26, 27 August 2020 (UTC)

Portland removed
Do people even read the references they are adding any more? The Guardian reference that was added says It wasn’t clear if the shooting was linked to fights that broke out as a caravan of about 600 vehicles was confronted by protesters in the city’s downtown. This is echoed by the BBC (which wasn't added) who say Police have not given an identity or specified whether the shooting was directly linked to the clashes which broke out in a downtown area. Should more information become available that directly links this death to a George Floyd protest it can be added, but for now I am removing it. FDW777 (talk) 11:25, 30 August 2020 (UTC)
 * WP:AGF, yes, you should assume people read the references they add. Also, while you deleted the entirety of Jgeorge20 contribution, the second source added from CNN makes very clear reference between what happened in Portland yesterday and the broader George Floyd protests. Albertaont (talk) 19:48, 30 August 2020 (UTC)
 * You apparently haven't watched the video in the article, 36 seconds in the reporter says We need to be clear here, police at this point have not said whether those clashes are directly related to this shooting. So that's another reference that isn't prepared to make a connection. As such, I'm removing the addition again. Wait and see is clearly the correct option here. FDW777 (talk) 19:55, 30 August 2020 (UTC)
 * They must be changing the video on the link (which isn't helpful). But at 36 seconds there is no reporter saying the above statement at that time or any other time in the video. Albertaont (talk) 06:09, 31 August 2020 (UTC)
 * The video that was playing is the one titled 1 person is dead after a shooting during protests in downtown Portland and is timestamped 6:02 AM ET. The one that does appear to reference the connection is New video shows moments before deadly Portland shooting (which wasn't playing) and has a news conference from the Mayor of Portland timestamped 1:08 PM PT. This vindicates my removal of the entirety of Jgeorge20's contribution, since this was added at 03:45 AM PT, and demonstrates my Should more information become available comment was quite correct. FDW777 (talk) 07:31, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

Violence in Kenosha
I found the list of the dead surrounding the protests very helpful to comprehend such a tragic number. Is there a reason the two protesters shot in Kenosha are not included? Is that protest considered different enough from the George Floyd protests? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2003:CF:736:D900:D6F:6268:9260:A902 (talk) 08:05, 4 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Kenosha was a Jacob Blake protest, obviously. FDW777 (talk) 21:04, 4 September 2020 (UTC)
 * They are separate protests. See 2020 United States racial unrest for a list of racial unrest in 2020. Anon0098 (talk) 04:36, 5 September 2020 (UTC)

Synthesis removed again, and section tagged
Despite the claim of this article looks at the entirety of fatalities from all BLM protests, as some of the deaths in this article could also be reasonably attributed to outrage over Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, this article is titled "Violence and controversies during the George Floyd protests" (my emphasis). The shooting of Jacob Blake is a completely separate event to the killing of George Floyd (unless someone wants to make the case of there being an official policy of police violence against black men? No? I didn't think so), therefore protests relating to the shooting of Jacob Blake are not protests relating to George Floyd, they are separate events entirely. It is synthesis to combine these events. I have tagged the "Deaths" section, since this includes events not verifiably related to George Floyd protestsFDW777 (talk) 10:00, 29 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I have restored the template. Should this section not be brought into line with policy in the next 48 hours, I plan to remove any death not explicitly mentioned as occurring during a George Floyd protest. FDW777 (talk) 07:24, 5 September 2020 (UTC)
 * You seem to already have a very clear idea of deaths you plan to remove from this article. Would you mind sharing them for consensus? Albertaont (talk) 04:04, 6 September 2020 (UTC)
 * As stated. Any that are not explicitly mentioned as occurring during a George Floyd protest and where there is reasonable belief it may be related to a different protest. See WP:NOR and WP:CONLOCAL. It is up to those wishing to retain them, or who restore them, to ensure they are properly referenced as occurring during a George Floyd protest. FDW777 (talk) 07:37, 6 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Forbes lists all of the deaths of the first two weeks but for an unnamed person of May 28, Myqwon Blanchard and Sean Monterrosa, and relates it to George Floyd. No idea where to find more new data, the only source I could find is The Federalist, which looks like a trashbin, not RS. Anyway, even if the table may be somehow tolerable, "31 dead" above it is a purest example of OR. Wikisaurus (talk) 22:14, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Discussion that may affect this article taking place
See Talk:George Floyd protests/Archive 2. Thank you. FDW777 (talk) 18:39, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

What exactly is a "selected news bibliography"
It's a non-standard section that seems full of so-so and lousy sources. I'm having trouble seeing a good purpose for this... It appears it's not actually there to document references (and if they are used as references, they should be documented with the rest), so it's effectively "further reading" but provides no general resource for additional information but rather a bunch of specific [and it seems particularly sensational?] examples. If they're really significant, they should be in the article (apart form the ones based on lousy sources). &mdash; Rhododendrites  talk \\ 15:53, 19 October 2020 (UTC)


 * I meant to remove that massive dump of references when it was added, but it slipped my mind. Thanks. FDW777 (talk) 16:00, 19 October 2020 (UTC)

No need for an inline references, and the current one for the infobox deaths is innacurate.
An inline citation is not required if the article has sources according to WP:MINREF or if the info is obvious, and the figures given in the infobox should match the article. The current figure for deaths is innacurate and contradicts the sources in the article. The obvious number is what is sourced in the article, and unless another source is found supporting that number, there shouldn't be one. Warlightyahoo (talk) 02:04, 18 September 2020 (UTC)


 * This has been discussed at several other articles. Adding up numbers from multiple sources is original research. We can only use a source that reports the total. –dlthewave ☎ 02:26, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

That makes sense, but is there a wikipedia page that says that? Warlightyahoo (talk) 02:38, 18 September 2020 (UTC)


 * I fail to see how WP:MINREF negates the need for an inline citation. It says Wikipedia's content policies require an inline citation to a reliable source for only the following four types of statements . . . Any statement that has been challenged (e.g., by being removed, questioned on the talk page, or tagged with, or any similar tag). Since the statement has been specifically challenged, it needs an inline citation. FDW777 (talk) 07:14, 18 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Challenging a statement that's obviously true solely because it doesn't have an inline citation—shouting "WP:OR!"—meets the standard for a "challenge" that requires an inline citation? Isn't it obvious how this frustrates accurate editing? How is an encyclopedia served by publishing numbers that properly-cited sources in the article itself show to be incomplete or inaccurate? Is it in any way less accurate to write "Reliable sources have reported 25 deaths" as opposed to "A reliable source has reported 19 deaths"—especially when the statement is immediately followed by a list of 25 deaths from reliable sources? It strikes me that both are undeniably accurate, and whether it's technically "synth" or not, the former is more helpful and complete. Obviously I get the concerns about original synthesis, but it's there to prevent inaccuracy—and lawyering that defies common sense and increases inaccuracy is anathema to the goal of this project. Elle Kpyros (talk) 20:29, 22 December 2020 (UTC)


 * As the Washington Post demonstrate whether a death occurred during a George Floyd protest is a matter of opinion, thus in the absence of references explicitly confirming a specific death to have occurred during a George Floyd protest it is original research to claim otherwise. If something is obviously true there should be little difficulty providing references for it. FDW777 (talk) 20:38, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Violence section needs elaboration
The section detailing violence by police is rather well documented, but the section immediately below it describing violence involving protesters is extremely spare - to actually meet the goals of the article, it really needs at least as much attention as the other section, or the article begins to feel unbalanced or non-reflective of the events as they occur. Tpiatek360 (talk) 14:38, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Can't help but agree. More information is rarely a bad thing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kysier (talk • contribs) 17:05, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
 * The death of David Dorn was caused by "protesters" because the media often mentions looters and rioters as "protesters". Someone Not Awful (talk) 00:06, 20 July 2020 (UTC)
 * I strongly agree and have always disliked how unbalanced and incomplete the two sections are in comparison, but editors over a month ago determined that a lot of the violence attributed to protesters was instead committed by supposedly unrelated "rioters" and "looters", so much of the documentation was relegated to the "Criminal activities" section. Anyone that has even casually followed the George Floyd protests know that protesters weren't always peaceful and non-violent, and the current state of that section does not convey that. RopeTricks (talk) 05:08, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

I couldn't agree more, RopeTricks. This is whitewashing because the majority of Wikipedia editors are left-wing. Indeed, the article went from 30+ people killed in the protests to "19+". Why is that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.183.55.110 (talk) 20:56, 29 December 2020 (UTC)