Ninety-six percent of Americans foresee additional racially charged unrest around the country, as Baltimore tries to rebound from the events of the past week, a new survey said.
Sixty-eight percent of adults think it’s “very likely” there will be more protests around the country such as those in the wake of the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in Baltimore, according to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Six police officers have been charged in connection with his death; the charges were announced Friday, after the poll had concluded.
Another 28 percent said they believe such unrest is “somewhat likely.”
Reasons for unrest like the protests seen in Baltimore split along racial lines in the survey. Six in 10 African-Americans say such discord is attributable to “people with longstanding frustrations about police mistreatment of African Americans that have not been addressed.” And 27 percent said the riots were “caused by people who used the protests about the death of an African-American man in police custody as an excuse to engage in looting and violence.”
Among whites, 58 percent said the violence was being used as an excuse to loot and 32 percent cited frustrations about police mistreatment.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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