The protester said the rally was peaceful until it suddenly got ugly. Now, as he recovers in the hospital, he's not sure if he'll get his vision back in his right eye.
In the video from last weekend of the Australian reporter being shot in the back, you can clearly see the police officer behind her raise and aim straight at her. Clearly there's no repercussions for misusing these weapons.
IIRC, rubber "bullets" are somewhere around 30mm, which isn't that far off from the size of the rounds grenade launchers commonly use - I think those are usually 30-40mm. I saw somebody recently say that they're the size of 8 or even 4-gauge shotgun slugs, and an 8-gauge is 25% larger than a 12-gauge.
They're also not rubber like people think of when they hear the name. They're a metal slug wrapped in a layer of rubber or foam.
I had a similar bruise from a less-lethal bullet on my butt, and I've seen a kid get hit with one in his head, that was scary. This was a long time ago though, but the bullets then were steel core and rubber around it. Not sure if they use different ones in the US.
It is this kind of thing that made me decide to ignore my city's municipal codes regarding protest gear. It outlaws the wearing of bulletproof vests, helmets, protective visors, hearing protection, gas masks, and so on. To say the least, I cannot respect a law that is designed to permit bullies to injure or kill people who did nothing wrong.
If you don’t bring any protective gear, you better run when things get ugly. If you plan to stay when things get ugly, you better bring the appropriate gear with you.
"See, the second amendment specifically says you have a right to bear arms, and that means any kind of gun I want to buy should be legal."
"However, there is no amendment saying you have a right to wear armor. So being protected isn't a constitutional right".
"Oh? This supressor I want to put on my gun? That should be allowed by the second amendment. Wait, what do you mean there is no constitutional right to gun accessories?!"
It usually goes something like that. I'd like to point out here that there isn't a constitutional right to wear pants or eat bacon either.
It usually goes something like that. I’d like to point out here that there isn’t a constitutional right to wear pants or eat bacon either.
One could similarly say that the right to wield violence does not mean that you have the right for that violence to actually succeed. Some situations allow for the legal use of deadly force, but that still does not mean the explicit right to kill. If a threat is neutralized and they survive, you can't "make sure" that they don't.
Just think about how that could even happen. You put any of us in their shoes, we would obviously aim low, to prevent permanent damage.
It's like police are overgrown toddlers, mad that they're forced to use less lethal rounds... So they take it out on civilians and aim for the face. Can you imagine being as hate-filled as these fucking orcs that you would want to blind the people you "serve" for the rest of their lives (if you don't kill them)!? Absolute monsters...
'Qualified immunity' is unique to the USA. Never should have been made law and it should surprise no-one that it came about during push-back to the civil rights movement. It enables all of this bullshit by making police behaviour untouchable.
One of the things I've learned in life is that one should minimize reliance on behaviorial safeguards throught the use of mechanical safeguards. You shouldn't rely on people to do the right thing. As such, removing opportunities for them to fuck up is key.
The design and production of rubber bullets, as they are here, is pure negligence. That they kill 3% of their victims (per your graphic) is enough that I would wager that they would be considered a lethal weapon in other contexts.