Police killed 118 people during the month of July—the highest number of fatalities so far this year. At least 20 victims were unarmed, and 106 died from gunfire. These numbers come from The Guardian's ongoing project, "The Counted," which chronicles police-related deaths in the absence of an official government record. According to projections, U.S. law enforcement is on track to kill more than 1,150 people this year.
These numbers include Sam DuBose, who was killed during a traffic stop on July 19. DuBose's killer, ex- University of Cincinnati cop Ray Tensing, pleaded not guilty to DuBose's murder and is set to reappear in court on August 19. Notably excluded from the count is Sandra Bland, whose death in police custody on July 13 still lacks enough detail for The Guardian to include.
The July spike follows a downturn in police-related deaths; 113 people were killed in March, 101 in April, 87 in May, and 78 in June. A disproportionately high number of white people were killed in July (49 of 118, or about 42 percent), but the race of almost as many victims (33 of 118, or 28 percent) is listed as "unknown."
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