Additionally, journalists report tear gas related fatalities occurring from time to time. McCoy (2014) wrote about pyrotechnics in a tear gas canister burning down a house in the United States with dozens inside, 3 Palestinians in a protest getting killed as a result of concussions or direct inhalation, and 37 political prisoners in Egypt suffocating from the gas while trapped in a vehicle. Physicians for Human Rights (2012) reported that in Bahrain, where the gas is used frequently to “wound, harm, harass, and intimidate” protestors, an asthmatic died from lung failure after repeated exposure. The military or police often deny that tear gas had any connection to the fatalities whenever they can. To admit the opposite would inconvenience them with legislative restrictions on their favored method of crowd control.
Is tear gas effective as a means of crowd control?
Tear gas is objectively effective in immediately dispersing crowds, and that about sums up its usefulness in crowd control. As can be observed from the news coverage of Ferguson, Bahrain,
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The indiscriminate nature of the weapon makes even the protestors who are peaceful feel antagonized by the police, and the physical injuries that result from firing canisters into a crowd, as can be seen in Figure 2, can provoke retaliation. In Kashmir, a stray canister hit and killed a 14-year-old bystander despite efforts by police to use minimal force, and the people of Kashmir responded by throwing rocks at the Indian police and their vehicles. According to Stern (2014), every instance of violence in that region sparked “new and more intense protests” in which “injuries suffered by citizens, police, and paramilitaries numbered in the hundreds”. The worsening reputation of the local police as a result of their own methods also negatively affects their ability to actually control crowds in their
The Dredd Scott case involved a landmark decision in the history of the Supreme Court, in the history of the United States the decision in this case was one of the most damaging statements in the history of the Supreme Court, involving the citizenship of a black person in the United States, and the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise in 1820. The history of a black man named Dredd Scott states that he was a slave originally owed by a family by the name of Blow, which ended up selling him in 1833 to an army surgeon by the name of Dr. John Emerson of St. Luis. Due to his involvement as an army surgeon, Emerson was transferred to numerous places such as Rock Island, Illinois, Fort Snelling in the Wisconsin
As an American citizen, we are guaranteed many freedoms through the Constitution. The first amendment in the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” (US Const. amend. I). This means that all people have the right to assemble a protest peacefully, and Congress in unable to prevent this practice. However, in recent years this has become controversial because many residents question how much protesters can get away with before a demonstration becomes turbulent. Because of this question, there have been many cases in which law enforcement has become involved in rallies. This essay will explore when law enforcement became involved in rallies, and when they did not.
On March 5, 1770, two regiments of British soldiers that were stationed in Boston opened fire on a mob of bystanders that wanted the British out of Boston. This protest was for the ending of the quartering of soldiers in people’s homes. On May 4, 1970, the National Guardsmen fired upon the unarmed students of Kent State University who were protesting against fighting in the Vietnam War. The result of this was a change in the policies of the National Guard and to use rubber bullets. These two shootings in American history are examples of Military Representatives actively firing on unarmed citizens. Also, examples of the civilians provoking the Military Representatives for them to shoot. We can use these examples for today’s society to further the developments in non-lethal actions against protesters. But before the lessons learned with these two shootings are highlighted, the history and significance of these events need to be understood.
In recent news, there has been a string of attacks all over the world; each attack has been related to terrorism. A passenger boarded a train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, armed with a box cutter, a pistol and an AK-47 with intent to harm innocent people. Four passengers on the train quickly subdued the terrorist before anyone could be harmed. In November, Paris, France was struck with terror when three armed men set off a string of attacks throughout the city, to include a bomb and active shootings. This attack left nearly 127 people killed and wounded. Most recently, in San Bernadino, California a man and woman left from a holiday party and returned with assault rifles. The officials attributed their act to terrorism, where the
Numerous times, protests start off as untroubling. In fact, they are beneficial to a certain extent, for they “provide a vent to society and also allow governments to understand better the issues their citizens are facing” (UN News Centre 2012). However, often these protests cross this blurry line and are rendered violent, causing danger to the American people. A recent example of a protest transforming into a riot was the Anti- Trump protest in Portland. These protests started off as being peaceful and allowed the protesters to express their opinions on the issue. However, the protesters eventually became so invested in the matter that it quickly mutated into a riot with people smashing windows, kicking cars, and vandalizing buildings (USA TODAY 2016) .This rapid change from peace to violence is a result of the blurry line between what is considered peaceful and what is considered violent. Due to the few restrictions on both the right to petition and assemble, what is perceived as violent is open to interpretation. More specifically, the protesters may not have deemed that kicking cars and smashing windows was violent; thus, they proceeded with these clearly dangerous activities anyways. Since the unlimited nature of both of these rights leaves a massive gray area in regards to what is
A protest that had been scheduled three days earlier was planned for noon on Monday, May 4. The University had tried to ban the protest; they handed out 12,000 leaflets saying the event was cancelled. Even so and estimated 2000 to 3000 people gathered on the Commons. The rally began peacefully, the iron bell was rung (usually it was rung to signal victories in football games) and one speaker started to speak. At this point the National Guard chose to disperse the crowd, fearing that the situation might get out of hand and grow into another violent protest. Tear gas was again fired into the crowd but because of wind the gas had little effect on dispersing the students, some of the protesters picked up the tear gas canisters and threw them back at the Guard. Others were throwing rocks and shouting "Pigs off campus.
While in Salt Lake City protester line the side walk across from the state and Federal building for a peaceful demonstration demanding justice and demilitarize the police department, no store front was looted, no Molotov cocktail was lobbed at police. Capturing few local and national news outlets attention not as much as the Ferguson simply because the media outlets was not interested in story. A peaceful protest is not newsworthy the public does not want to see local family, and friends standing on the side walk holding sign, shouting and demanding justice all that is boring and not news worthy. A crowed lobbing Molotov cocktail at police officers who’s in full military like riot gear including gas masks and helmets with heave armored vehicle in our city streets responding with tear gas and smoke bomb make more interesting news and it will get more ratings.
Gender expectations limited personal choice to a great extent during the Elizabethan Era. The Elizabethan Era was the period in which Elizabeth I ruled England from 1558-1603. There was a strong view on women should be the property of men and must obey them. William Shakespeare influenced this time period massively and incorporated the different gender roles and expectations into his plays. Personal is defined as something concerning one's private life, relationships, and emotions rather than one's career or public life. Choice is defined as an act of choosing between two or more possibilities. Therefore personal choice can be seen as how someone chooses to life their personal life; whether that be the relationships formed or
officer spraying pepper spray into a crowd who were not acting violently. Sure, the protesters
Police work is dangerous. Sometimes police put in situations that excessive force is needed. But, because some officers use
In most cases the police is permitted to use any form of necessary force to suppress a suspected criminal with minimal consequences if they use excessive force (“Police Use Of Force”). According to the current law all law enforcement officers should use only the amount of force necessary to weaken an incident, make an arrest, and protect themselves and others from harm (“Police Use of Force”). Officers receive guidance from their individual agencies, but no universal set of rules that governs when officers should use force and how much (“Police Use Of Force”). Police use of excessive force against the unarmed public should be illegal because it lowers the amount of unnecessary deaths, reduces riots, and would decrease racism.
Students in impoverished communities feel as if they cannot reach their dreams because of the conditions in which they are raised.Some students feel as though they are unable to over poverty. I know from experience that all it takes to motivate children is exposure to their possibilities. This will motivate them to go out and make their dreams realities. I learned this from the person that inspires me, my mentor, Anita Johnson. She is the coordinator of Health Professions Affinity Community (HPAC), a program that allows students to focus on medical disparities within their community. The students develop a project and implement a plan to alleviate these disparities. It is her job to help us succeed in our groups, but what inspires me most
Armed police are required to become skilled at responding to events that demand the use of firearms (Fyfe, 1981). Arguments arise from the public's failure to recognise the police’s difficulty in making a straightforward judgment as to whether coercive force or the use of guns is required in events (Dick, 2005). When police do use guns, there is a risk that police may misfire and consequently cause more victims as a result (McCulloch, 1989). Furthermore, in circumstances that require force, natural biological impulses kick in; informally known as the fight or
Several incidents of beatings were reported, sometimes with simple weapons, other times with weapons of mass destruction conducted by local citizens as the freedom riders passed through their city. Very often, “the cops were conspicuously absent when the blood began to flow” (The South 16). One particularly violent incident on May 14, 1961 occurred when someone threw a bomb into a window of an interstate bus. When the twelve passengers on the bus exited because of the smoke and flames, the waiting mob pulverize beat some of passengers up. The police arrested four men in conjunction with the bombing, yet the four men were only charged with “willful damage to vehicles in interstate commerce” (State is Warned 1). The fact that this incident was taken so lightly is appalling. Clearly these men should have been punished or convicted more severely. The hurt freedom riders were taken to the local hospital, and none were seriously injured.
This video shows how protesters block all lanes of I-94. The police officers gave them twenty five warning to leave. Yet, some people chose to stay and continue to protest. According to the police, the protest turned into a riot and some people threw rocks and bottles on the freeway. During this act of violence, twenty one police officers were injured. In order to cease those protestors, the police officer used non-irritant smoke and sprayed mace. At the end of the protest, 50 people were arrested for three degree rioting.