An analysis from 2017 of the use of bean bag rounds, rubber bullets, and other projectiles found 15% of victims of these weapons were left permanently disabled, and 3% died! People have been blinded, injured, and more - yet because they’re “less than lethal,” it’s OK?
Police also use explosive flash-bang weapons that burn “hotter than lava” and have killed dozens of people over the years. It was a flash-bang that lit the blanket on fire where seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones slept before she was shot.
Tear gas can go into homes and contaminate food, surfaces, and cause long term health problems - including miscarriage. If police directly target you with it, it can also blind or kill you.
Using this weapon, which targets people’s respiratory systems, during a pandemic is torturous. Even our ears are at risk!
Long range acoustic devices (LRADS) can be dizzying, causing nausea and permanent hearing damage. This is ultimately a disturbing form of social control used to harm protesters. One of the most important reasons to reject these weapons is their origin.
These military-grade weapons aren’t non-lethal. Tear gas has even been banned in warfare! Tasers, which disproportionately kill Black people, pepper spray, and others are also deadly risks.
We have the right to protest, and can’t accept these “less lethal” weapons of war being used against us!