Thread by @sejordt

1/20 Thread: I thank all reporters such as @maanvisings of @guardian for publicizing concerns of the medical and scientific community about #teargas

https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1269214683938066435

2/20 I have raised concerns about #teargas safety and its escalating use world-wide for >10 years. Every time there is egregious abuse (Occupy, Arab Spring, Turkey, Ferguson, Brazil, Mexican border, Chile, Hong Kong) public attention is rising, but dying down quickly after.

3/20 Now that #teargas hits home at unprecedented levels, with police departments having accumulated big arsenals over years, voters need to hold local governments to account that neglected oversight over this development.

4/20 I applaud Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan @MayorJenny for stopping the use of CS tear gas for 30 days in the city. These bans need to be extended to the highly potent pepper extract (OC) containing grenades and munitions. Their safety has not been studied at all.

5/20 Seattle police chief to ban use of tear gas on protesters for 30 days seattlepi.com/seattlenews/ar… via @seattlepi

6/20 We see police and federal law enforcement gaslighting journalists and the public about the use of tear gas, by using different terms for the agents, confuse about deployment systems etc. .

7/20 Don't forget, #teargas is a big business dominated world-wide by US companies such as Combined Systems, Nonlethal Technologies and Safariland (Defense Technology).
defense-technology.com/products/chemi…

8/20 hown are the OC (highly potent pepper extract) shells used together with CS near the White House.

9/20 The #TearGas industry is expected to grow to $9 billion world wide, as reported here:
The global tear gas business is booming. It's complicated. pri.org/stories/2018-1…

10/20 While some of the companies use the term "non-lethal" in their name, others adopted the term "less-lethal" in their catalogs, admitting that these weapons can cause death and serious injuries.

11/20 These companies establish tight relations to police departments and invite personnel to training courses, solidifying a mindset that using their technology is the only way to quell protests.

12/20 At the same time, they manufacture their products under unsafe conditions, frequently injuring workers and poisoning the environment at their manufacturing sites,

13/20 as reported in this excellent piece by @RosalindZAdams of @BuzzFeed last year:
Made In America: For $9.50 An Hour, They Brew Tear Gas For Hong Kong buzzfeednews.com/article/rosali… via @rosalindzadams

14/20 @CDCgov and @NIOSH @OSHA_DOL need to investigate these companies. We cannot expect the poorly paid workers to raise alerts.

15/20 The shocking and immediate use of tear gas, flash bang grenades and rubber bullets against protesters is unprecedented and may violate international law.
US may be violating international law in its response to protesters, UN expert says pri.org/stories/2020-0…

16/20 It is urgent time to revisit the Chemical Weapons Convention overseen by @OPCW, that outlawed the use of tear gas and other "riot control agents" in warfare, but permits the signing countries to use them against civilians.

17/20 The Convention doesn't say anything further and is not limiting extreme use levels and other highly injurious tactics, giving member countries a free pass for escalation.

18/20 As seen in Hong Kong, where police used tear gas indoors and blanketed densely populated city areas with 1000s of grenades daily, in Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey and elsewhere.

19/20 Incompetent and cynical public health officials such as Sophia Chan of Hong Kong, a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing @AAN_Nursing, use this vacuum of tear gas research, to provide justification for the escalation of use.

20/20 While @CDCgov and state health departments have lagged behind getting epidemiological studies off the ground investigating the short and long-term effects, especially in vulnerable minority populations, and in the context of the #Covid19 epidemic . #BlackLivesMatter