Widespread protests following the killing of George Floyd on May 25 by a Minneapolis police officer have brought renewed attention to the long legacy of U.S. police brutality—amidst a raging Covid-19 pandemic—the climate crisis may seem for many like a distant concern.

But some climate and racial justice activists fear that more intense natural disasters and extreme weather caused by global warming will increase intrusion by law enforcement on the rights of people of color.

The "disruption of all our systems" by public emergencies too often "becomes an excuse for disruption in our human rights," said  Elizabeth Yearmpierre, co-chair of the national Climate Justice Alliance and executive director of UPROSE, Brooklyn's oldest Latino, community-based organization.

Americans of color suffer disproportionately from police violence. Harvard Professor Roland Fryer found that black and Latino Americans are 50 percent more likely to experience some form of force in non-lethal interactions with the police than whites.

An analysis by The New York Times of city data from Minneapolis found that police officers used force against Black people at seven times the rate as they did against white people, though Black people comprise 20 percent of the city's population.

But law enforcement is often the first call officials make when an emergency strikes, whether it's a pandemic or a hurricane. During disasters, officials often rely on police to facilitate search and rescue operations, manage evaculations and maintain public safety and security when people become especially vulnerable.

Read the full article about minority communities relying on the police by Ilana Cohen at InsideClimate News.