Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans support protests against racial injustice – USA TODAY

Do protests ever enact real change? Yes. But not all movements are created equal. Here's the ingredients of a successful movement. USA TODAY

WASHINGTON Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the recent protests againstracial injustice, a new Gallup poll released Tuesday revealed.

The nationwide protests were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man whose neck was pinned under the knee of a white police officer for nearly nine minutes in May.

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The poll found that 65% of U.S. adults support the protests. Additionally, 53% said the protests"will help" public support for equality and racial justice versus 34% who said they would "hurt"and 13% who saidthey will "make no difference."

The poll also reports that approximately one in 10 respondentssaid they had participated in a demonstration in the last month. Among younger respondents, that number jumps to one in four.

In terms of support for the protests, 92% of Black Americans said they support the protests, while89% of Asian Americans, 70% of Hispanics and 59% of white respondents said they do.

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Additionally, 54% of those surveyed said the protests have changed their views on racial justice and equality in some way, while 47% stated the contrary.

Thesupport for the protests comes as the White Houseand Attorney General William Barr try to paint the protesters as"violent rioters."

In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Barr offered an unmitigated defense of the deployment of federal officers to Portland, Oregon, where he said "a mob"hijacked legitimate demonstrations against police brutality.

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Barr called protestsin Portland"an assault on the government of the United States," countering Democratic lawmakers who have characterized federal officers' actions against protesters as unconstitutional, politically charged fearmongering.

While some of the demonstrations grew unruly, overall, the protests have been largely peaceful, according to researchconducted by the marketing firm Ipsos and teams from the Universities of Chicago and Oxford.

The poll also revealed partisanship in terms of support and participation for the protests, with 95% of Democrats supporting the demonstrations, compared with 69% of independents and 22% of Republicans.

Respondents who affiliated as being Republicanalso were only 1%likely to participate, and only 14%stated they felt a connectionto the protests' cause,according to the poll.

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The results were based from a web study of36,463 U.S. adults, conducted between June 23 and July 6. Ithas a margin of error of 1.4percentagepoints. "The margins of error for white, Hispanic, Black and Asian American survey respondents were 1.6, 6.6, 6.4 and 8.8 percentage points, respectively."

Contributing:Kristine Phillips, Kevin Johnson USA TODAY

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Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans support protests against racial injustice - USA TODAY

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