United States Police's rubber bullets can critically injure protesters or even kill them. According to The Daily Beast's latest report, rubber bullets were fired into crowds of protesters by the police department in an attempt to quell unrest in cities across the country over the death of George Floyd. Five decades of evidence shows that such weapons can disfigure, disable or even kill people.
Also Read: [BREAKING] George Floyd's Death Caused by Asphyxia-- Resulting to Homicide, Reveals Official Post-Mortem
U.S. police using rubber bullets at protests is a potential human rights violation, says a UN rights expert. She told @washingtonpost use of such weapons doesn't seem proportional to security needs and can cause death or disability: "Less-lethal does not mean nonlethal." pic.twitter.com/5GCC19z1TE — AJ (@ajplus) June 2, 2020
Aside from rubber bullets which usually have metal cores, the police department of the United States also uses flash-bang grenades, projectiles, pepper spray, and tear gas to disperse and control the protesters.
The crowds of people demanded justice for the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black American, who died in the custody of Minneapolis police after being pinned down by while other officers restrained him.
Also Read: [BREAKING] Trump Calls 'Heavily Armed' National Guard Troops to Stop Protesters
There were incidents of violence with some people setting buildings on fire, looting stores, and smashing windows. The outrage of protesters was provoked by the rubber bullets used by the U.S. police which was shown in graphic images posted on different social media platforms, revealing some people have ben critically injured, lost an eye, or suffered other serious injuries after they were hit directly.
Rubber bullets used by US Police can blind, disfigure, or even kill the protesters when fired at close range
A study published in 2017 revealed that 3% of people directly hit by rubber bullets died because of serious injuries. The result of the study showed that 15% of the 1,984 people were permanently injured by the rubber bullets also known as "kinetic impact projectiles."
These are rubber bullets. These are what police are shooting at US citizens, at their heads. They are massive and they are lethal.#PoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/63m8H3wbID — Sabrina (@sabrinak47) June 3, 2020
"Rubber bullets should be used only to control "an extremely dangerous crowd," said Brian Higgins, the Bergen County's former police chief officer.
"Shooting them into open crowds is reckless and dangerous," added Dr. Douglas Lazzaro, an expert in eye trauma and professor at NYU Langone Health.
Dr. Rohini Haar, a lecturer at the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health and medical expert with Physicians for Human Rights, stated that no one knows how many people are harmed every year since there are no data showing how often the police department uses rubber bullets. Higgins confirmed that the police are not required to provide any documents for their use of rubber bullets.
