How many major riots occurred in the U.S. during Barack Obama’s presidency (2009–2017)?
Executive summary
There is no single, authoritative count in the available sources of how many “major riots” took place in the U.S. during Barack Obama’s presidency (2009–2017). Contemporary reporting and retrospective summaries highlight several high-profile episodes of unrest — notably Ferguson and Baltimore — as examples of “widespread, sometimes violent” protests tied to police killings [1] [2]. Conservapedia-style lists claim a small numbered set of “Obama riots,” but that source mixes contested assertions and partisan interpretation [3].
1. What the mainstream sources actually document
Mainstream outlets and reference pieces treat a handful of incidents during Obama’s two terms as major civil unrest episodes tied to policing and race: Ferguson, Missouri (after Michael Brown, 2014) and Baltimore, Maryland (after Freddie Gray, 2015) are repeatedly cited as prominent examples [2] [1]. Reuters characterizes Obama’s tenure as one in which the nation was “rocked by … widespread, sometimes violent protests over the deaths of young black men at the hands of the police” [1]. BBC and Ballotpedia coverage focus on Ferguson as emblematic of Obama-era responses to unrest and the limits of federal involvement [4] [2].
2. Why you won’t find a neat numeric answer in these sources
None of the supplied items provides a definitive numerical tally of “major riots” between 2009 and 2017. Some partisan or opinion-oriented pieces (for example Conservapedia) list a handful of events and label them “Obama Riots,” but that presentation mixes interpretation, disputed claims, and political framing rather than offering an evidence-based catalog [3]. Major news and policy sources instead select and analyze episodes they consider most consequential without enumerating every event [1] [2].
3. Disagreement over definitions and political framing
Counting “major riots” depends on definition: Is a riot defined by nights of looting and arson, size of crowd, federal response, injuries/deaths, or political impact? Sources differ in framing. Reuters and BBC describe particular unrest as “widespread” or “sometimes violent” and emphasize policy and presidential response rather than a numerical list [1] [4]. Conservapedia frames unrest as a politically charged series of “racially-motivated conflagrations” and attributes political intent to the Obama administration — an explicitly partisan interpretation not corroborated by mainstream reporting in the provided set [3].
4. Which events appear most consistently in the record
When mainstream and retrospective pieces survey unrest in Obama’s years, Ferguson and Baltimore recur as major moments that sparked national debate and prompted federal involvement or investigation [2] [1]. AP’s timeline of race-related moments during Obama’s presidency lists multiple incidents that fed national conversation about policing and race, though it does not claim a total count of “major riots” [5]. BBC’s comparison of presidential responses likewise treats Ferguson as a defining test of Obama-era civil unrest policy [4].
5. Partisan and polemical sources expand the list — with caveats
Conservapedia and some opinion pieces extend the roster of incidents and use charged language (e.g., “Obama Riots,” “War on Police”), asserting a small number of named events and political motives [3]. Other commentary—like Manhattan Institute critiques or opinion columns—focus on whether Obama’s responses were adequate or partisan without providing a neutral tally [6]. These sources reveal political agendas and should not be treated as objective counts without corroboration [3] [6].
6. How to get a defensible count if you need one
A defensible numeric answer requires (a) a clear operational definition of “major riot” (size, violence, duration, federal involvement), and (b) a systematic review of contemporary reporting, police and municipal records, and academic timelines from 2009–2017. The documents provided do not perform that systematic count; they instead analyze prominent episodes and debate their causes and the administration’s response [2] [1] [4].
Limitations and final note
Available sources do not provide a single, verified count of “major riots” during 2009–2017; they document and analyze several high-profile incidents (notably Ferguson and Baltimore) and offer partisan lists or interpretations that expand or contest which events qualify [2] [1] [3]. If you want a precise tally, specify how you define “major riot” and I will use contemporaneous news reports and municipal records to compile a sourced list.