Racial disparity in police use of force is a serious problem. At the close of August, 694 people had been shot and killed by the police, according to The Washington Post.

The Post calculated 15 more deaths than the previous year. Of those deaths, 121, or 17.4 percent, were African-American. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated African-Americans comprised 13.4 percent of the U.S. population in 2017.