A new poll highlighting the gulf between what people believe and reality has found that 44 per cent of liberals think cops kill almost 40 times more unarmed black men than the actual figure.

According to a database called “Mapping Police Violence” compiled by data experts and activists, police officers in the United States killed 27 unarmed black men by any means in 2019. 13 unarmed black men were fatally shot in the same year by cops.

However, according to a nationally representative survey commissioned by Skeptic Mag, people who describe themselves as “very liberal” or “liberal” think that the actual number of unarmed black men killed by police per year is “about 1,000.”

The 1,000 figure is just under 40 times the actual figure of 27 unarmed deaths.

“Overall, 44% of liberals guessed 1,000 or more as compared to 20% of conservatives (this calculation is based on the cross-tabs shared with me by the researcher,” tweeted Zach Goldberg.

…cross-tabs shared with me by the researcher) pic.twitter.com/tFI80FHF2z

— Zach Goldberg (@ZachG932) February 23, 2021

Goldberg also explains how, “Furthermore, the average liberal respondent also thought that a clear majority of people killed by police in 2019 were black (in actuality, roughly a quarter were).”

4/n Furthermore, the average liberal respondent also thought that a clear majority of people killed by police in 2019 were black (in actuality, roughly a quarter were) pic.twitter.com/zUBdYXLapo

— Zach Goldberg (@ZachG932) February 23, 2021

The huge disparity in the actual number of unarmed black men killed by police and how many a significant number of liberals think were killed by police can only be explained by media messaging and moral panic.

Innumerable major U.S. cities throughout the country were rocked by violence and rioting throughout last summer as a result of the perception that black people were being indiscriminately murdered by police officers in huge numbers.

In one instance, basketball star LeBron James even asserted that black people are “literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!”

Given rhetoric like that, which often goes unquestioned by corporate news outlets, it’s unsurprising that so many Americans are misinformed.

As we previously highlighted, people’s perception of how many fatalities COVID-19 has claimed are also completely erroneous.

A survey by research firm Kekst CNC found that the average American thought 9% of the U.S. population had died from coronavirus.

This percentage equated to almost 30 million COVID-19 deaths. The actual death toll at the time the survey was conducted was just under 155,000 deaths.