Attacking People's Eyes

[lpetrich]

A Bullet to the Eye Is the Price of Protesting in Chile - The New York Times - "A bandaged eye is now so common among people protesting inequality in Chile that it has become a rallying symbol."

At least 285 people in Chile have suffered severe eye trauma, mostly from hardened rubber bullets and tear gas canisters fired by Chilean security forces at protesters during the month of unrest. According to the Chilean Ophthalmological Society, that count is expected to rise.

Journalist 'permanently blinded' in one eye - BBC News - 2020 Jun 1

Linda Tirado, a freelance photojournalist, was reporting on the street protests in Minneapolis when she was stuck in her left eye with a projectile appearing to come from the direction of the police.

She told BBC World News that she was helped by protesters and taken to hospital where she received surgery.

Journalist Blinded in One Eye During Protest Sues Minneapolis Police Chief - also about Linda Tirado

As she prepared to take a photo of the police line on the first night of a curfew May 29, with press credentials in plain view, Tirado took a projectile to the face after her backpack was hit with a tracking round, according to the complaint.

It shattered her goggles and exposed her to tear gas, leaving her stranded and bleeding until protesters were able to bring her to medics. She was eventually transported to a hospital, where she underwent surgery. Doctors informed her afterward that she was permanently blind in her left eye.

Police made no effort to give her aid, the complaint states. The curfew order specifically allowed members of the press to be out and about to report on the protests and law enforcement action.

Portland protests: Photojournalist shot in the eye says it's not just violent rioters being targeted by feds - CNN

"I got hit right in the eye," Jennings told CNN, saying he suspects it was a pepper ball. "I remember seeing the lens of my gas mask shatter and then closing my eye and just blood inside of my mask."

"I blinked and I blinked and got some of the blood out of my eye and there was pepper spray and I think pepper powder all over me," the 37-year-old added.

"That moment of impact is really just burned in my memory. That vision of shards in my gas mask exploding. And then my face and body on fire from the pepper balls. I mean you can't forget that," he said.

 

[lpetrich]

George Floyd death protests: Police partially blinded eight people on the same day of protests - The Washington Post - July 14

Protests erupted in cities across the country on May 30, the Saturday after George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis. As law enforcement officers moved to clear the streets, some fired what are called “less lethal” munitions.

The Washington Post found that eight people lost vision in one eye after being struck by police projectiles, including lead pellets packed in cloth pouches that were fired from shotguns. They were among 12 people who were partially blinded by police during a week of national unrest.

Of the eight who lost sight that day, six were protesters, one was a photojournalist, and another was a passerby. Drawing on cellphone and surveillance videos, along with other records, The Post reconstructed the circumstances of three of those incidents in detail.

Federal officers in Portland suffered 113 eye injuries from lasers: DHS - New York Post

DHS: Feds sustained 277 injuries while in Portland, including temporary blindness | kgw.com

Cuccinelli said around 140 federal agents tasked with protecting the federal courthouse sustained at least 277 injuries. Of those, he said 113 were eye injuries from lasers.

“If I hold my hand in front of that laser, it's hot by that point in time,” said Cuccinelli, demonstrating with a blue laser pointer.

Video from weeks of demonstrations downtown shows protesters using similar laser pointers to shine into officers' eyes at short range. Contrary to recent remarks by the White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, Cuccinelli said no officers were left permanently blinded.

“We've had a number of officers have days-long blindness,” said Cuccinelli. “So far they've all kind of come back.”

Did protesters blind federal officers with lasers in Portland? | kgw.com

Federal Police Buy 1,000 Pairs of Sunglasses to Protect Officers From Protesters’ Lasers - Willamette Week

The July 10 document cites the use of lasers by Portland protesters as a reason to buy 1,000 pairs of StingerHawk FT-2 Laser Protective Eyewear.

"Our FPS personnel saw these lasers used firsthand in Portland," the request says, "and had discussions with Seattle police officers who felt the effects on the first night of rioting and then utilized laser-resistant safety glasses and expressed that they were very effective."

Each pair costs $125. The document says the glasses are needed for officers across the nation, because lasers could cause flash blindness, burns, retinal bleeding and headaches.

 

[lpetrich]

PolitiFact | This photo with laser pointers is from a 2019 protest in Chile

• This photo shows protesters using laser pointers in Chile in November 2019.
• Protesters in Portland have shined lasers at federal officers and at security cameras surrounding the courthouse.

...
Over the past decade, protesters around the world have increasingly used laser pointers to distract or repel riot police, according to a 2019 report in The Atlantic magazine. They’re also used in celebrations, to show solidarity in groups, or to communicate.

Protesters in Portland have shined lasers at federal officers and at security cameras surrounding the courthouse to try to block the officers’ view of the crowd, according to the New York Times.

In a March story about the use of lasers in protests, the Harvard Political Review wrote that lasers may temporarily blind people when shined directly into the eye and, "in the most extreme cases, laser pointers may seriously burn the retina, causing permanent blindness."