BLM got ya number!
'It seems systematic': Doctors group finds 115 cases of head injuries from crowd control weapons during nationwide protests
Jordan Culver, USA TODAY
September 14, 2020, 8:56 AM CDT
At least 115 people were injured this summer when police shot them in the head or neck with so-called "less-lethal" projectiles at protests over racial injustice and police brutality, according to a report published Monday.
It's the most comprehensive tally of such injuries to date, with about twice as many victims as USA TODAY and Kaiser Health News cited in a July examination of how police across the U.S. wielded the weapons to control crowds.
But Physicians for Human Rights, the organization that compiled the incidents, believes even its figures are an undercount because its analysis is based on publicly-available data and excluded some reports without adequate evidence.
The organization identified Austin, Texas, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles as hotspots during the period studied, May 26 to July 27.
C.J. Montano, in the hospital after attending a Los Angeles protest, where the police shot a projectile at his head. The Marine was hospitalized in the intensive care unit due to bleeding in his brain. (Courtesy of CJ Montano)More
Abigail Rodas, who was shot in the jaw with a rubber bullet on May 30, was one of the victims in Los Angeles, according to a lawsuit filed against the city and the police chief on behalf of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Community Action Network and 14 people, including six who were struck with projectiles.
According to the suit, Rodas was leaving a protest when she “was struck in the face by a projectile and momentarily lost consciousness.”
A steel plate was used to repair her jawbone, the lawsuit says. She couldn't talk for about 10 days and could drink only liquids for a week, it says.
“Nearly three weeks after the injury, she has screws in her gums and rubber bands to immobilize her jaw while the bones rejoin,” the suit says.
The city denied the allegations in a court filing, saying any use of force "was reasonable and necessary for self-defense."
Protests shine light on use of 'less lethal' weapons
The sheer number of incidents in those two months was shocking, said Dr. Rohini Haar, the lead investigator for the analysis and an emergency physician in Oakland, California.
“It seems systematic," Haar said. "It seems like there needs to be a reckoning with the use of force in protests."
'Protests shouldn’t end in people being blinded': Cities, states begin to ban police use of rubber bullets
Rochester protests: We know about injuries to police last Saturday night. What about injuries to protesters?
The projectiles in question are often called "rubber bullets," but in law enforcement they're known as "kinetic impact projectiles."
They include plastic projectiles tipped with hard sponge or foam, "bean bag" rounds that consist of fabric socks containing metal shot, and "Sting-Balls" — grenades that spray hard rubber pellets. The report also cites incidents in which tear gas canisters were fired at people.
Denver Police shoot a pepper ball at a man as he retreats during a protest outside the State Capitol over the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Denver.More
Though the weapons are referred to as "less lethal," Haar said there should be a shift to language that acknowledges how dangerous they can be. “Weapons are just as lethal as somebody wants them to be,” she said.
A study published in 2017 in the medical journal BMJ Open, which Haar co-authored, found that 3% of people hit by projectiles worldwide died. Fifteen percent of the 1,984 people studied were permanently injured.
In a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of Austin doctors said 19 patients were treated for bean bag-related wounds at the downtown hospital closest to the protests over two days in late May.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/seems-systematic-doctors-group-finds-130029525.html
Nothing safe
'It seems systematic': Doctors group finds 115 cases of head injuries from crowd control weapons during nationwide protests
Jordan Culver, USA TODAY
September 14, 2020, 8:56 AM CDT
At least 115 people were injured this summer when police shot them in the head or neck with so-called "less-lethal" projectiles at protests over racial injustice and police brutality, according to a report published Monday.
It's the most comprehensive tally of such injuries to date, with about twice as many victims as USA TODAY and Kaiser Health News cited in a July examination of how police across the U.S. wielded the weapons to control crowds.
But Physicians for Human Rights, the organization that compiled the incidents, believes even its figures are an undercount because its analysis is based on publicly-available data and excluded some reports without adequate evidence.
The organization identified Austin, Texas, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles as hotspots during the period studied, May 26 to July 27.
C.J. Montano, in the hospital after attending a Los Angeles protest, where the police shot a projectile at his head. The Marine was hospitalized in the intensive care unit due to bleeding in his brain. (Courtesy of CJ Montano)More
Abigail Rodas, who was shot in the jaw with a rubber bullet on May 30, was one of the victims in Los Angeles, according to a lawsuit filed against the city and the police chief on behalf of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Community Action Network and 14 people, including six who were struck with projectiles.
According to the suit, Rodas was leaving a protest when she “was struck in the face by a projectile and momentarily lost consciousness.”
A steel plate was used to repair her jawbone, the lawsuit says. She couldn't talk for about 10 days and could drink only liquids for a week, it says.
“Nearly three weeks after the injury, she has screws in her gums and rubber bands to immobilize her jaw while the bones rejoin,” the suit says.
The city denied the allegations in a court filing, saying any use of force "was reasonable and necessary for self-defense."
Protests shine light on use of 'less lethal' weapons
The sheer number of incidents in those two months was shocking, said Dr. Rohini Haar, the lead investigator for the analysis and an emergency physician in Oakland, California.
“It seems systematic," Haar said. "It seems like there needs to be a reckoning with the use of force in protests."
'Protests shouldn’t end in people being blinded': Cities, states begin to ban police use of rubber bullets
Rochester protests: We know about injuries to police last Saturday night. What about injuries to protesters?
The projectiles in question are often called "rubber bullets," but in law enforcement they're known as "kinetic impact projectiles."
They include plastic projectiles tipped with hard sponge or foam, "bean bag" rounds that consist of fabric socks containing metal shot, and "Sting-Balls" — grenades that spray hard rubber pellets. The report also cites incidents in which tear gas canisters were fired at people.
Denver Police shoot a pepper ball at a man as he retreats during a protest outside the State Capitol over the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Denver.More
Though the weapons are referred to as "less lethal," Haar said there should be a shift to language that acknowledges how dangerous they can be. “Weapons are just as lethal as somebody wants them to be,” she said.
A study published in 2017 in the medical journal BMJ Open, which Haar co-authored, found that 3% of people hit by projectiles worldwide died. Fifteen percent of the 1,984 people studied were permanently injured.
In a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of Austin doctors said 19 patients were treated for bean bag-related wounds at the downtown hospital closest to the protests over two days in late May.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/seems-systematic-doctors-group-finds-130029525.html
Nothing safe