Overview

• Since June 7, the Los Angeles Police Department has deployed rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper balls and flash-bangs to disperse protesters opposing federal immigration raids in Downtown Los Angeles.
• Journalists and protesters, including Nine News US correspondent Lauren Tomasi, suffered injuries from these munitions.
• Medical studies warn that blunt-force projectiles can cause severe trauma, eye damage and respiratory distress from chemical irritants.
• A BMJ review found that between 1990 and 2017, kinetic impact projectiles killed at least 53 people, permanently disabled 300 and severely injured about 1,500 globally.
• Human rights organizations and medical experts are demanding legally binding international controls on the manufacture, trade and use of these weapons.