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crickets

(25,896 posts)
Sat May 30, 2020, 11:54 PM May 2020

Be careful when the rubber bullets start flying - serious eye injury danger.

Linda Tirado, author and a freelance writer/photographer who sometimes writes for the Guardian has lost her left eye after being hit by what was likely a rubber bullet. Fortunately, given she's a photographer, it wasn't the one she uses for work. Publicly anyway, she is being a complete badass about the whole thing, but I hope her friends and family are going to hold her close for a while.














She's not the only one who got hit in the eye.







Last link contains video.

It could have been so much worse. Rubber bullets can kill.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/19/rubber-and-plastic-bullets-too-dangerous-for-crowd-control-says-study


Edit: original title included: 'Some police are aiming for the eyes.' There is no proof of that, so I have edited.
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Be careful when the rubber bullets start flying - serious eye injury danger. (Original Post) crickets May 2020 OP
Where did this happen? There are demonstrations in many cities. Thanks. (nt) scarletwoman May 2020 #1
Linda is in Minneapolis. crickets May 2020 #2
Thanks, I suspected as much. One of the local news broadcasts interviewed someone on the street scarletwoman May 2020 #4
Please provide evidence that the Police are "aiming" for people's eyes... brooklynite May 2020 #3
Obviously, I am not in the head of the policeman that aimed the bullet crickets May 2020 #6
Given how much of this is going on BGBD May 2020 #5

scarletwoman

(31,893 posts)
4. Thanks, I suspected as much. One of the local news broadcasts interviewed someone on the street
Sun May 31, 2020, 12:41 AM
May 2020

who was talking about a woman who had been shot in the eye with a rubber bullet. I think that must have been Linda.

I'm so sorry to hear she lost her vision in that eye - awful!

brooklynite

(93,851 posts)
3. Please provide evidence that the Police are "aiming" for people's eyes...
Sun May 31, 2020, 12:37 AM
May 2020

Projectiles, tear gas, etc. are being shot from a distance. Precision aim is not generally involved.

crickets

(25,896 posts)
6. Obviously, I am not in the head of the policeman that aimed the bullet
Sun May 31, 2020, 12:59 AM
May 2020

but the tactic is not unknown or unusual.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/19/world/americas/chile-protests-eye-injuries.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/11/23/non-lethal-weapons-fired-protesters-hong-kong-chile-iraq-are-having-very-dangerous-even-deadly-effects/

You're right, maybe the police weren't aiming at the eyes. I can't prove a thing. However...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_bullet

The intended use is to fire at the ground so that the round bounces up and hits the target on the legs, causing pain but not injury.


Given rubber bullets are supposed to be aimed at the ground or legs, isn't it strange how many land in or just next to so many, many eyes? Point taken, though. I will edit. eta - Thanks for keeping me honest.
 

BGBD

(3,282 posts)
5. Given how much of this is going on
Sun May 31, 2020, 12:47 AM
May 2020

odds are that lots of people are going to get hit in the head, whether they are aiming for it or not.

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