Why do 'non-lethal' weapons maim and kill protesters? Police in riot gear shoot rubber bullets at demonstrators outside the White House on June 1 during a BLM protest. As street protests worldwide have multiplied, rights groups have sounded the alarm about tear gas, rubber bullets, stun guns and other anti-riot weapons causing serious wounds and fatalities. But malicious and excessive use, often but not only in authoritarian states, has long since earned riot control tools the official designation of "less-lethal weapons". Security forces were also beating demonstrators with clubs and "firing rubber bullets and birdshot pellets indiscriminately", it said in a blog posting.

Source: Bangkok Post August 20, 2020 01:52 UTC