(THREAD) Yesterday, a federal judge in Seattle granted a temporary restraining order barring the city's police officers from using tear gas, pepper spray & projectiles against peaceful protesters.
2/ While the judge's ruling does not affect other cities, the use of force and chemicals is a matter of national concern.
3/ Four signed declarations from people harmed by these tactics—one by flash grenades, one by pepper spray, one by projectiles, and a family whose home was drenched in tear gas—highlight their many dangers.
4/ A 26-year-old protester described how she was hit "squarely in the chest with a flash grenade," causing her to lose consciousness and go into cardiac arrest.
5/ “One of my friends was next to me... standing with his hands in the air, holding flowers... I began to kneel, and I put my hands in the air. At that moment, I was shot square in the chest with a flash grenade and another flash grenade went off at my feet."
6/ “I got the wind knocked out of me completely. I couldn’t hear anything. My ears were ringing. I was hyperventilating, then I lost consciousness. I can remember smoke, and what seemed like fire.”
7/ She said no police offered her assistance. “I have since learned that police were talking about me over the police radio band, and were heard refusing to provide aid or respond to any calls for aid from protestors.”
8/ "I did not have a pulse," her signed declaration said. "I understand that volunteer medics rushed to my assistance and started chest compressions to bring me back to life." 
9/ She said they continued CPR in the car to the hospital, and then again once she arrived at the facility.
10/ When she awoke the next morning with a tube in her throat, she was told by a doctor that she'd gone into cardiac arrest on the street and then twice more at the hospital. “In other words, I ‘died’ three times that night.”
11/ "I continue to experience trauma from that night," she said. "When I close my eyes, I see the police shields in my face."
12/ A 25-year-old protester who found herself “trapped” between two groups of police using mace and flash bangs told the court an officer “pepper sprayed me in the face from approximately 1 foot away."
13/ That moment can be seen :53 into this video of the event. She can be seen wearing a green jacket and gray helmet:
14/ “I was in extreme pain and went to the medic tent,” she said. “I developed a large rash in response to the pepper spray. I was coughing a lot and also had trouble breathing.”
15/ “The medics thought my reaction was severe and one of them drove me to the emergency room. I was monitored for several hours... for anaphylaxis. When I was discharged, the doctor said I had had a very severe reaction and prescribed me an epi-pen."
16/ A resident of the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood told the court about her injuries from being hit by multiple police-fired projectiles.
17/ "Without warning, law enforcement began firing projectiles at us & deploying a chemical agent I believe was pepper spray...I was frightened & was trying to turn away from the advancing line of police to protect myself. I was then struck in the left thigh by a projectile."
18/ Then, "As I was running back from the barricades and the oncoming police, I was hit in my left lower back by another projectile."
19/ "I felt astonishing pain in my back and my leg, and I was choking on the chemical agent that the police had sprayed me with,” said the 25-year-old.
20/ "I feel like I've been hit by a truck on my left side," she told the court, providing the below photo of her "extraordinarily painful" bruise:
21/ Not everyone harmed was a protester. One father who lives in a 4th-floor apt. with his wife and infant son said they were all exposed to tear gas.
22/ He said it was around 9pm on 6/1 when he heard loud bangs outside and saw protesters running.
23/ "I saw tear gas in the air coming into our apartment. We immediately shut all the windows... and turned on our air purifier to the maximum level."
24/ That air purifier usually measured the air quality as between 0-10, but now read 35, "which means dangerous air quality."
25/ "I immediately had trouble breathing and was coughing. My wife was also coughing. Both of our eyes were watering."
26/ They decided to leave the apartment and found the air in the hallway was "even worse." This was when their 3-month-old woke up.
27/ "He started coughing and was turning red. He had mucous coming up as well." The family was in such a hurry to flee the gas that the mother held their baby instead of putting him in his car seat.
28/ "Once we left the garage, my wife squirted breast milk into [the baby's] eyes, as she had heard that milk can help with tear gas."
29/ He told the court he is worried about the long-term impact on his child's health. "He has not been sleeping well since the tear gas exposure."
30/ @ProPublica’s @lisalsong recently wrote about the dangers of tear gas, which can cause lung damage and seep into homes, contaminating food and furniture. You can read her story here:
propublica.org/article/tear-g…
propublica.org/article/tear-g…
31/ The city had argued that the restraining order was “not necessary to ensure that peaceful demonstrations continue,” and its “first instinct was and remains to work towards a voluntary agreement with Plaintiffs on the City’s use of crowd management tactics.”
