Unbearable pain: How bear spray became a prized weapon for violent protesters

[demmiblue]

“It took three shots of fentanyl to get me to a place where I wasn’t screaming,” said a journalist who was hit with the chemical irritant last August.

Melissa Lewis, an independent journalist from Oregon, was documenting a far-right rally in Portland last August when she says a man rushed up and sprayed her with bear mace. The chemical seeped into her eyes and inside her ear canal, causing excruciating pain that sent her to the emergency room.

"It took three shots of fentanyl to get me to a place where I wasn’t screaming,” Lewis said.

Bear spray has been used as a weapon by civilians in a number of high-profile incidents in recent months.

The chemical irritant, which is similar to pepper spray but more potent, has been deployed by right-wing and left-wing protesters against one another and police in the Pacific Northwest. In Staten Island, New York, police say a man used it to incapacitate deli clerks in a series of robberies last December. And at least three people who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot are accused of spraying police officers with bear repellent.

Two of the suspects were charged last week with using bear spray against Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who later died. It’s still not clear if the chemical caused or contributed to Sicknick’s death, but the incident has raised concerns about its escalating use in violent protests.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/unbearable-pain-how-bear-spray-became-prized-weapon-violent-protesters-n1261615

[Diamond_Dog]

1. Can anyone walk into a hunting and fishing supply store

And buy this stuff with no questions asked? If so, maybe that should change.

[2naSalit]

11. Yes.

Where I live it is available at nearly any place that has a cash register because we have bears and people go into their habitat and expect to come out. Bear spray has been essential in keeping bears alive when they encounter people.

That being said, it has been deemed a weapon of choice now so availability will need to be better regulated. It's dangerous stuff.

[Runningdawg]

2. In the mid 90s my husband and I were witnesses in a bear-spraying case

that started with road rage. We were at a rest stop in NM when 2 cars pulled in fast, 2 dudes jumped out and it was on. Until one of them sprayed the other directly in the face at point blank range with bear spray (we didn't know what it was at the time) the man only stopped screaming when he stopped breathing. Remember that scene in Indiana Jones where the Nazis face melted? It seemed like forever until paramedics arrived, we all thought he was dead.
We have friends there and followed the case. The victim lost an eye, had severe chemical burns on his face and hands and needed a lung transplant. The attacker was given 15 years, light if you ask me and the civil suit awarded millions.
And they have the nerve to question if the chemical hastened this man's demise.

[SunSeeker]

22. Wow. Bear spray is brutal stuff. You should have to pass a background check to buy it.

And purchases should be limited in quanity.

[sanatanadharma]

3. Bear spray, sold at the same big box store as your camo gear

When visiting the big-box hunting, fishing, insurrectioning store for proper DC-camo, one may as well pick up some (as Ron tells us) 'its's not a weapon' bear spray just on a whim.
Can never tell when you might meet a citified columbian-grizzly.

[Claire Oh Nette]

7. Asheville Area here

Our bears are polite. I watched one, a big one, stand behind the barrier on I-240W and, I shite you not, look both ways before he crossed the highway....


I see them from time to time around the golf courses in th eWNC mountains. They always let us play through.

Bear spray. Because pepper spray isn't vicious enough. Nice. These people are fascists because they are already violent. They're suffering from mass delusion and a danger to others. 5150 all their asses.

[sanatanadharma]

12. We watch the wisdom of the wild vs the wildness of the wisdom-less

"I watched (bear), a big one, stand behind the barrier on I-240W and, I shite you not, look both ways before he crossed the highway.... "

Demonstrating that animals are consciously smart beasts.
A contrast with pashu-mentality people going beastly on humanity.

Pashu = beastly

[machoneman]

15. Yeah, bears are definitely smarter than Republiscums for sure!

[msfiddlestix]

23. Off topic question

Are you by any chance involved with the trad music scene in Asheville and surrounding regions?

On edit: I just reread your name. aka Clarinet.

So the answer would likely be no. you might be into jazz, classical, klezmer, but not the trad scene.

[Claire Oh Nette]

27. I play the radio...

I was kind of hippie adjacent before the Covidery, lots of shows at the One Stop, for the company, then the music (Dead, good for dancing). Lot of shows at Orange Peel and Grey Eagle and Isis Music Hall. I miss bar bands the most.

I played clarinet in 4th grade badly for one semester before switching to chorus.

I'm a rock and roll/new wave girl.

Clare Oh Nette just makes for a great pseudonym!

[msfiddlestix]

28. Very creative pseudonym!

I gotcha.. I was just on zoom music workshop with folks in the area. There's going to be all kinds of happenings resuming this summer. I kind of want to be there in person. We'll see how things work out.

Rock 'n roll was a thing for me too back in the day. along with swing, jazz and world music.

[niyad]

24. The Bears around here rarely bother the humans. We had one several years ago that wandered

the neighborhood. Nobody freaked. Conversations went something like, "hey, Sally, grab your video camera. Bear is headed your way." But then, we are used to our wildlife. A couple of years before that, we had a moose in one of our city parks. DoW could never find it, but the tourists could.

I had never heard of bear spray until last year. We use horns.

[Thtwudbeme]

4. We have a place in the mountains

and were thinking of ordering some. Yes- it is easy to get- it's pricey. We are in NC- but, that said- I wonder now what this stuff does to bears. We have black bears that are mostly cowards and berry eaters.

I am thinking loud air horn now.

[UpInArms]

5. I have carried it, but never had a reason to use it

While horseback riding ...

I would never have thought to use it as a weapon against another person

I guess I don’t have a malicious imagination

[BannonsLiver]

6. I carry it for self defense sometimes when out walking

I’m not comfortable with firearms.

[Claire Oh Nette]

8. I carry an old 9 iron.

People stay away.

[oldsoftie]

21. My wife has a can for the same reason.

No one should carry a firearm if they're not comfortable with one.

[BannonsLiver]

29. Yeah I agree

We actually bought it for a trip to bear country in Montana last summer and like most people never had cause to use it. So rather than just throwing it away or stuffing it in a closet I figured it could serve a purpose until it expires.

[Thtwudbeme]

9. I know hikers out west carry it

I think it would work on mountain lions also.

I still might order some- my worry about the bears could potentially go right out the window if I were staring at one on a trail!

That said, I still think in NC it makes more sense to stay in a group and make noise if you see one-

[drmeow]

10. That's what I was thinking

although you are (hopefully) going to be a lot further away from a bear when you spray it. On the other hand, its going to land all over the place and impact any other animals in the area, probably for some time.

[2naSalit]

13. It is meant to be used...

Outdoors and hopefully at a distance from the bear. It is designed to spray a cloud of mist up to 30ft from the can in a windless condition. Point blank is lethal.

I have been exposed to it, used to work with it and did public outreach and ed about it.

[sanatanadharma]

16. Do bear spray labels mention lethality?

I have never been close enough to a can to read the label.

Do labels say anything about lethality?

If so, I am glad I am not a user being charged by the Feds.

[2naSalit]

20. Not the brands I have seen.

So I got out my can of bear spray, I keep it by the door out of habit from when I was in the mountains, and looked at the label. It says nothing about the lethality of it though, with three panels of text, they are explicit about serious damage to eyes and every bit of info is about safe use and several references to the Poison Control Center with a phone # in several places.

It's hard to not know that it would do permanent if not lethal damage to a human. For a bear, it's a serious whack on the nose, for humans, much worse.

[Claire Oh Nette]

17. Sounds like premeditated deadly assault to me...

It's used as a lethal weapon. Attempted murder. Sicknick died after a traitorous insurrectionist attacked him with a lethal dose of bear spray he deliberately misused.

[2naSalit]

19. That's how I would interpret it.

If they brought it with them, as they obviously did, they knew what it can do. I think it used to e=be illegal to use it on humans a few years back. It wasn't when I was doing the training sessions.

That being said, if someone were threatening my life and I had it on hand, I'd be using it but I wouldn't need a lot to subdue a human. From what I saw, they were directly hosing those guys.

[Chautauquas]

14. I got sprayed in the face with bear spray

Last edited Sun Mar 21, 2021, 03:55 PM - Edit history (1)

in the back-country in Glacier Natl. Park. Accidental discharge. Spent the next 3 hours lying on the ground and splashing ice-cold water on my face to relieve the burning. Yes indeed, it's nasty stuff.

[milestogo]

18. I'll tell you whats ridiculous.

In Wisconsin, a rapist can carry a gun or a knife. A woman cannot carry pepper spray. And if she is uncomfortable carrying a gun or a knife because she could be disarmed, she has very few options.

Bear spray is an option, however.

[oldsoftie]

25. Really? A convicted rapist can carry a gun?

Isnt that a convicted
felon possessing a weapon? I thought that was illegal EVERYWHERE

[milestogo]

30. Uh you don't have to be convicted to rape someone.

Or do you think that all men who rape get caught?

[oldsoftie]

31. well if you've labeled someone a rapist it kinda makes folks believe they WERE convicted.

And of course they could have a gun if they dont have a record. Just like any other unconvicted criminal.
Hopefully they get whats coming in some way.

[Xolodno]

26. I have bear spray and carry it with my pack.

Be it day or overnight trips. I've seen bears out in the wild, they usually run or walk away. But every once in awhile you hear about that one aggressive bear, so its good to have, just in case. But thankfully, I've never had to use it. But I have seen an accidental discharge when someone stuffed it their pack instead of on their belt. Realized that he needed it close by and reached into his pack...and poof. Trip to urgent care.