Thanks to their unions, police officers across the United States enjoy many protections. The protesters do not. George Floyd did not. Jamar Clark did not. David Cornelius Smith did not. The narrative is not new. Activists keep making the same demands, but those with the power to change policies or execute repercussions have ignored them. The infographic below demonstrates just a few of the ways Minneapolis police are shielded from going to jail or facing first-degree murder charges for routinely killing Black people on duty.
These numbers pertain specifically to the city of Minneapolis. Data sources include The New York Times, Reddit, CNBC, City of Minneapolis online records, Pioneer Press, and the the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis.