What Exactly Are These ‘Rubber Bullets’ Being Shot During The Protests?
Image via Shutterstock
Following the death of George Floyd, many have stormed the streets to protest against the racial injustice in the nation, as well as to highlight the extent of police brutality.
Floyd lost his life after Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes before he passed on. Now, people are rallying against the violence and unjustified deaths of many Black Americans in the country.
Police officers were deployed to control the crowd of protesters by shooting rubber bullets, a method that has caused grievous harm to many civilians. Photojournalist Andre Mercharles was shot on his right thigh when he was covering the protest in Minneapolis. “It felt like something sharp entered my body really fast,” he described to The Cut.
These rubber bullets are deemed as the safer alternative to actual bullets. Although they are described as harmless, many have been severely wounded by them. A freelance photographer in Minneapolis ended up being permanently blind on one eye after he was shot with the rubber bullet, according to NBC News.
Fast Company reported that these rubber bullets are, in fact, made out of a metal core or components with a thin layer of polymer coating. Some of these bullets are also made completely out of hardened foam or plastic, as well.
Rubber bullets were first used by the British Army back in 1970 during the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland. They were labeled as nonlethal weapons back then, but recent discoveries in several documents from the National Archives showed that the Ministry of Defense was aware rubber bullets were able to cause injurious harm and even death, according to The Guardian.
Former police chief Brian Higgins told Kaiser Health News that rubber bullets should only be used to control “an extremely dangerous crowd.” They are also intended to be shot above a person’s lower extremities.
FYI folks, THIS is a #RUBBERBULLET #RUBBERBULLETS pic.twitter.com/TxKDv8CSeB
— bobbiedk (@bobbied100) June 8, 2020
[via The Cut, cover image via Shutterstock]
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