A journalist shot by police during the 2020 Minneapolis unrest following the murder of George Floyd is dying from her injuries, friends say.
Linda Tirado was in Minneapolis from out of state covering the protests and rioting when police shot her in the face with a rubber bullet, also known as a “less-lethal” round. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and was blinded in one eye.
That summer, I went to witness the protests in Raleigh, NC. The most intense of it was limited to a group of 7-12 people yelling at a group of police holding a line in a street outside the courthouse. Someone threw a firework at them, and then the tear gas came out, with police shooting rubber bullets at us. My friend and I were off to the side, not doing anything but watching, he got hit by a rubber bullet on his collar bone. Broke the skin, leaving a baseball size bloody petechiae welt. Regulations say that they’re supposed to fire those bullets at peoples legs. But of course, police are given 3 months of training tops, so they just fire them wherever.
On a side note, whole milk is the best thing to use to wash tear gas off your face. Also hold your breath if you have to walk through it’s smoke, getting that shit in your nostrils, throat, or lungs feels like inhaling fire.
I don’t think they fire them wherever. I think they aim at people’s faces because they think it’s funny.
They aim at faces because they hate you.
They’re meant to be fired any where. They say at the legs so people will be okay with it. It’s like when people go to Vegas with their friends for girls/boys trip. There aint nothing there but gambling and debauchery. Most people go there to cheat.
They’re literally meant to only be bounced off the ground, that’s some BS propaganda
That’s what they say. The people that use them know very well that they are going to shoot them however they please. However, if they were to say so, that might make them illegal or result in liability issues if someone is severely injured. Thus, they have to pretend that they would only shoot them at the legs. This is how I imagine the conversation went:
Even if they fire at the ground, rubber bullets can bounce up to collarbone height. It’s just much less safe than the people voting for it think it is.
Don’t use dairy milk for tear gas. Comes with infection risks. Water or saline is generally recommended instead. Plant-milks might be ok (but I’m not 100% sure)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marlamilling/2020/07/21/the-risks-of-using-milk-to-soothe-tear-gassed-eyes-an-expert-says-use-water-instead/
EDIT: accidentally pasted the wrong link earlier somehow, fixed now
Yeah no. Water doesn’t wash away tear gas, don’t use water. it just spreads it around, making it worse.
Source: water was the first thing I tried
From what I’ve been told, it takes large amounts of any fluid to get it to go away. One difference you may have observed with milk was that it was cooled vs room temperature water. Cooled water can have similar effects compared to cool milk
Or the time factor itself since it was the second thing used
Nah you’re missing the chemistry. The irritant in teargas is an oil, and using water just spreads around the oil. Enough water will work, sure, but you’re going to suffer the whole time. Milk contains lipids and fats that will actually dissolve the irritant, allowing it to be washed away much easier. Soapy water would also work, but then you’re just irritating your face holes all over again. The risk of bacteria feels like a dog whistle though. Just rinse yourself after, like idk a shower or something, and you’ll be fine. We wouldn’t drink it if it was a plague potion.
That’s what people claim, but the research on it suggests it does not do any better for tear gas or pepper spray. Here’s one study looking at pepper spray for instance:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18924005/
EDIT: Also worth noting that in terms of infection risk, bird flu is now in a large number of dairy samples and it appears like it transmit to humans through the eyes in particular (or at least be one of its transmission pathways).
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-bird-flu-is-causing-eye-infections-in-dairy-workers/
Some types of pasteurization (flash pasteurization) might not fully get rid of all of the virus. So for even just bird flu alone, its likely more of a risk than it probably was in the past
dude I don’t know why this person is trying to get people messed up with this terrible advice. I know what water does to teargas (makes it worse), and what milk does (provide instant relief). It’s like he’s trying to psyop people out of the ability to properly evade police tactics.
I think I just saw a study that milk was as effective as saline but more likely to cause an infection
Edit, here’s some info from the comments discussing it: https://lemmy.world/comment/10780787
Yes, ignore that. Saline may work, but can you buy that at a corner store immediately before a raucous protest? no. Water just doesn’t work, so ignore that. Also, odds are, if you were pepper sprayed/tear gassed, and you’ve washed it off with milk, you’ll probably wash yourself off afterwards. You don’t have to worry about getting an infection from pasteurized milk. This Lemmy user has been spreading that, and it’s just blatantly false. water does not work.
No offense intended, but deliberately placing yourself in the vicinity of potentially violent protests is also deliberately subjecting yourself to a certain amount of risk.
“No offense, but if they cops don’t feel like respecting free speech and protest, you probably should expect them bullets”.
The 2020 protests were largely non-violent, and when that was breached it was typically because the cops brought so much violence. Its amazing to me that people can see a civil rights image and see the police oppression, but videos of cops cornering a crowd and then inundating them with tear gas and shit gets rationalized.
I knew a guy in my social circle that was a sheriff deputy during the George Floyd protests. He was known for being an all-around douchebag and was mostly tolerated. No one ever wondered where he was at or of he was coming. He kinda just heard of plans and showed up. His conversations would be things like complaining about women or people of color and sharing that he takes 30-mins shits.
There was someone else in the circle that needed a place nearby since he was going to school, so the cop offered him a room in his house for an affordable rate with no lease. Once the guy moved in and gave up his previous residence, the guy jacked up rent, imposed ridiculous rules like an overbearing curfew, monitored him with cameras and sensors throughout the house, and belittled him every chance he got in front of others. I am not exaggerating at all. That’s who this guy was.
Come the protests, we saw this dude out there. He was purposely instigating unrest so that he could use force. That’s what he wanted. He was open about it. He even came out in the news doing it on video and it became a thing in the city.
All he wanted to do was demonstrate power over others to overcome his deep-seated inferiority complex. He was a complete sack of shit.
largely non-violent
correct