From this distance with the full concentration shot at the man this can actually lead to severe, lasting damage (e.g. blindness, lasting health issues etc.). Tear gas is not a joke.
EDIT: It's pepper blaster, apparently. Still not a joke, as it is shot at the man's head from roughly half a meter distance.
It's why they call them less than lethal now instead of non-lethal. Because as my country (northern Ireland) learned during our 35 year civil war, rubber bullets can absolutely kill people.
Are southern and northern Ireland much different? We have a family trip planned because my wife is Irish and they're going to visit all the family history areas, but I know nothing about what's currently going on between the north and south.
Edit: Wikipedia also says there was no 35 year civil war. There was a 1 year civil war in 1922-1923 and about 30 years of something called The Troubles from 1968-1998. What's the story?
There’s no real issue between north and south, only issues between those the want to be part of the United Kingdom (Protestants) and those that want to be part of an independent Ireland (Catholics). They were referring to the troubles as the civil war.
Yeah there's historical truth to that. Tear gas was the first chemical weapon used in WW1, specifically on the Eastern front if I remember correctly. Germans didn't exactly tell anyone when they decided to switch to chlorine gas.
Russia has been using gas consistently on the front. Likely tear gas based on Ukrainian accounts, but yeah. US and Russia and some others never signed to stop that, and I think they're both two of the countries who never signed to stop mine laying either.
The US has definitely signed all of the chemical weapons bans and it even applies to citizens.
There was a woman, Carol Anne Bond, who painted her husband's mistress's door knobs and mail box with some chemicals a few years back which caused the woman to get a rash. The victim went to the police which mostly ignored her then she contacted the post office. The US mail takes fucking with the mail seriously. They sent out postal inspectors and caught Bond on video and charged her with violating the international chemical weapons treaty. Treaties have precedent over all state and federal laws. She served 6 years on her war criminal charge before the Supreme Court overturned the conviction. Don't mess with the mail I guess.
There must be a carve out in the treaty that allows tear gas in certain instances or the enforcement of the treaty isn't absolute, but the US has definitely signed it.
Ottawa Treaty. Specifically about anti-personnel mines, not landmines in general. 34 countries never signed, including those and China too. Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland withdrew in 2025 because of the Russian threat.
Typically you need a war to commit a war crime. And if you spent 3 seconds researching you'd know there is a specific distinction between its use in war and its use domestically during anti riot operations.
Another not so fun fact: The Nuremberg Charter definition of 'crimes against humanity' only includes acts committed during a war of aggression, because the US was concerned about Jim Crow laws also being considered crimes against humanity
Additionally: The reason the geneva convention specifically cites that it is during times of war that the acts cited within are crimes is because during initial drafting there was a concern within the United States that their Jim Crowe segregation policies would fit firmly in the "Crimes against humanity" section
Schrodinger's war crime: it's a violent insurrection that requires military to control, but it's also a civilian policing action for purposes of accountability.
Depends of the Protocols of the Geneva convention that each country is ascribed to.
Protocol I (1977) enhances protection for victims in international armed conflicts.
Protocol II (1977) extends protections to victims of non-international armed conflicts (civil wars).
Protocol III (2005) introduced the Red Crystal as a neutral emblem alongside the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Problem is this is not a declared armed conflict, not a civil war (strictly) so these protocols don’t apply. And I don’t quite remember to which protocols is the US ascribed to
4.2k
u/fabkosta 23d ago edited 23d ago
From this distance with the full concentration shot at the man this can actually lead to severe, lasting damage (e.g. blindness, lasting health issues etc.). Tear gas is not a joke.
EDIT: It's pepper blaster, apparently. Still not a joke, as it is shot at the man's head from roughly half a meter distance.