From 'Flash Bangs' To 'Rubber' Bullets: The Very Real Risks of 'Riot Control Agents'

Nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism have brought tens of thousands of Americans into tense and sometimes violent encounters with law enforcement. Many police departments are using crowd-control tactics like barriers, curfews and surveillance and riot-control weapons such as tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs.

Concern about the excessive use of these weapons has been growing in recent days: On Friday, the mayor of Seattle announced a 30-day ban on the use of tear gas. There are calls for other cities to do the same. In Minneapolis, where George Floyd died last week after a police officer pressed a knee into his neck, the police department agreed to ban the use of chokeholds.

Police departments of strategies and weapons against crowds. Often dubbed "less than lethal" weapons, they can still cause serious