DES MOINES, Iowa - A new survey shows most people think an episode similar to the killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis Police custody could happen in Iowa.
The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Poll shows 68 percent believe the killing of unarmed African American people by law enforcement could easily happen in Iowa. Twenty-seven percent think such a killing is remotely possible. Those results are similar to a previous Iowa Poll in 2016.
The same survey shows more people think race relations are the same or getting better over the past two years. The poll shows 45 percent believe race relations are the same, a rise of two percent from 2016, while 28 percent think those relationships are getting better. The number of Iowans who believe race relations are getting worse dropped during the same time period from 24 percent to 20 percent.
The new survey shows Republicans are more likely than Democrats believe race relations are getting better - 36 percent for Republicans versus 29 percent for Democrats. More Democrats than Republicans think the law enforcement killing of unarmed black people could easily happen in Iowa - 81 percent for Democrats versus 57 percent for Republicans.
The Des Moines Register Iowa Poll was conducted June 7th through June 10th by Selzer & Co. It has a margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.