Columnist Compares U.S. Troop Deaths to Homicide Increases After 2014 and 2020 Police Incidents

U.S. troops killed in the war on terror to estimated excess homicides in American cities after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown and the 2020 death of George Floyd. U.S. troops have died in combat since 2001. It cites peer-reviewed studies attributing between 3,000 and 8,000 additional homicides from 2014 to 2024 to reduced policing activity following those incidents.

1 percent increase in homicides after Brown’s death. A University of Utah study estimated roughly 710 additional murders and 2,800 shootings in June and July 2020 alone. Harvard economist Roland Fryer’s research concluded that federal and state investigations preceded by high-profile incidents produced almost 900 excess homicides and 34,000 excess felonies.

The column lists several individuals killed during 2020 unrest, including four-year-old Mychal Moultry in Chicago, six-year-old Aniya Allen in Minneapolis, and retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn. It also notes that most victims in the cited homicide increases were described as Black residents of the affected cities.