Tear Gas Tuesday in Downtown Portland

April 17, 2023 1:34 PM

A groundbreaking analysis reveals how Portland, Oregon, was blanketed with toxic chemicals, raising concerns about global teargas use: ‘This was a disaster’. [Guardian] Investigators have created a 3D simulation of the Portland police bureau’s (PPB) extraordinary use of teargas during a major protest event on 2 June 2020. Forensic Architecture (FA), a research agency that investigates human rights violations, worked with weapons experts to analyze hundreds of videos from that evening, along with internal police files, invoice records, manufacturer data and photos of teargas canisters. The analysis reveals that the city’s downtown was blanketed with gas at more than 50 times the level federal regulators consider “immediately dangerous to life or health”.

Despite being broadly banned in warfare under the terms of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, tear gas as an agent for so-called ‘riot control’ has become the preferred means for police, in the US and around the world, to clear dissenting voices from public spaces. But the toxic chemicals contained in tear gas and other widely-used chemical munitions can cause serious short- and long-term side effects, from asthma and chemical burns to lung injury and neurodegeneration.

Read the full report from Forensic Architecture here.

posted by Ahmad Khani (11 comments total)

Back in 2020, I was a little startled by how blithely the media was treating blanketing a downtown with toxic chemicals week after week.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:05 PM on April 17, 2023 [19 favorites]

Forensic Architecture is definitely a site worth visiting more often.
posted by flamewise at 2:14 PM on April 17, 2023 [4 favorites]

During the Republican convention in Minnesota I lived in downtown St Paul. While I went to plenty of protests, I was overcome by teargas twice while simply walking out of my building blocks from any protest. This kind of thing should be illegal.
posted by misterpatrick at 2:24 PM on April 17, 2023 [17 favorites]

Fuck the police.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:43 PM on April 17, 2023 [11 favorites]

This is a good project. Thank you for linking.
posted by latkes at 3:53 PM on April 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

And every CHUD in America was convinced that Portland was under attack. Well it was, but not by "antifa." By the cops. (And let's not forget the weird cops riding around in rental vans abducting people and taking pictures of them, which has never been adequately explained.)

In subsequent reports, officers listed teargas as a “de-escalation technique” and wrote: “All of the officers and their actions should be commended for their heroic actions in protecting the city.”

This is some interpretation of "de-escalation" and "heroic actions" that I am not familiar with.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:03 PM on April 17, 2023 [27 favorites]

Back in the good old days at UC Santa Barbara during the Vietnam war there were huge protests in Isla Vista. We avoided the chaos. In the morning at breakfast we were out of milk, barefoot I jumped on my bike and went into central Isla Vista, got milk, and went back. Back at the table, one of my roommates started rubbing his eyes, then me, then finally the other two. WTF!!!! Everyone looked at me. Tear gas is a powder and it lingers for a long time. I tracked it in with my bare feet. At UC Berkeley, in Sproul Plaza, it took a long time to clean the tear gas off the trees. The stuff doesn’t magically disappear.
posted by njohnson23 at 4:46 PM on April 17, 2023 [10 favorites]

We really do need a Federal law prohibiting the use of tear gas and "less lethal" ammunition by police nationwide.

We won't get it, but we need it.
posted by sotonohito at 7:49 PM on April 17, 2023 [6 favorites]

Tear gas and acrolein, should be outlawed in the US. Acrolein biocide.
posted by Oyéah at 8:31 PM on April 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

The analysis reveals that the city’s downtown was blanketed with gas at more than 50 times the level federal regulators consider “immediately dangerous to life or health”.

In Seattle, SPD completely ignored the mayor's order to stop using tear gas and were gassing protesters again within 24 hours of her giving the order. A lot of the protesters believed they only stopped using tear gas because they ran out.

You can't reform this.
posted by AlSweigart at 10:03 PM on April 17, 2023 [10 favorites]

Going to downtown Portland tomorrow to see TMBG. Would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
posted by neuron at 9:44 AM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]