‘Nonlethal’ Anti-Protest Weapons Can Cause Serious Harm | WIRED

‘Nonlethal’ Anti-Protest Weapons Can Cause Serious Harm | WIRED

The risks of crowd-control weapons

Some ‘non-lethal’ weapons, such as those that have been used by police against Black Lives Matter protesters in the United States, can cause serious injury, permanent disabilities or death. “Calling tear gas and rubber bullets non-lethal weapons is flat-out wrong,” says emergency-medicine physician Rohini Haar. Rubber bullets are often not made from rubber — but from metal and other hard materials. And irritants in pepper spray or tear gas can cause bouts of sneezing and coughing, which can speed up the spread of virus particles from people infected with COVID-19.

Wired | 7 min read
Read more: chemical-weapons expert Dan Kaszeta calls on lawmakers to restrict the use of riot-control chemicals. (Nature, from September)