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US student protests against police brutality continue

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Protests against police brutality, institutional racism and tuition fee hikes continue in the United States at the campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

On Thursday, the fourth day of demonstrations, a large number of student protesters blocked all entrances to the campus of the University of California, closing down the campus.

According to organizers, the protests started on Monday as part of a countrywide demand to “stand up for free public education and shut down the racist, classist, corporate militarized police state.”

The university told people not to come to the campus on Thursday because access is blocked. “There is no access to the university,” the university said on its Twitter account. “Avoid area.”

Police brutality as well as the racial profiling of minorities by US law enforcement agencies has become a major concern in the United States.

The killing of several unarmed black men by white police officers in recent months and decisions by grand juries not to indict the officers triggered large-scale protests across the US.

There is also widespread racial disparity in the US criminal justice system. According to a study by the Sentencing Project research group, one in three black males are likely to be sentenced to prison sometime during their life. The figure for white men is one in 17.

In addition, a recent poll found a significant distrust of police in the United States, where many Americans believe police target minorities unfairly and often lie for their own interests.

The survey released in January by IPSOS polling organization shows that 31 percent of Americans feel that some officers “routinely lie to serve their own interests.”

That number jumps to 45 percent among African Americans and 43 percent among Latinos.

The survey also found that 70 percent of African Americans and 52 percent of Latinos believe “police officers tend to unfairly target minorities”. About 30 percent of whites feel that way.

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