Friday, October 22, 2004
Boston's Killer Cops
21-year-old Victoria Snelgrove, a journalism major at Emerson College, was killed by Boston cops attempting to control a crowd of revellers near Fenway Park after the Boston Red Sox historic victory over the New York Yankees early Thursday. She had been hit in the head by what the police call a "non-lethal projectile." These particular bullets are filled with pepper spray.
Authorities need to stop referring to these weapons as "non-lethal." Studies have shown that police are more willing to use force when they have been trained to believe that the weaponry they are employing is "non-lethal." Reports from Boston indicate that while the crowd near Fenway was large, and many of its' members drunken, it was mostly peaceful, merely celebrating a victory that was celebrated across the country. Throughout the city there was a total of eight arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct. Snelgrove has been described as an innocent bystander engaging in no unlawful behavior. Imagine what these police would do if confronted with a truly angry crowd engaging in politically motivated civil disobedience?
There have been many instances of "non-lethal" weaponry killing people. Some types of tear gas employed by local and federal police departments in the United States, such as CS, are prohibeted weaponry under the Geneva Convention. Yet they are routinely used upon our own citizens. I imagine getting shot in the eye with a projectile full of pepper spray is a particularly painful way to die. It is time to stop training police to engage in military tactics against domestic disturbances. And stop playing semantic games with "non-lethal" weapons.
Authorities need to stop referring to these weapons as "non-lethal." Studies have shown that police are more willing to use force when they have been trained to believe that the weaponry they are employing is "non-lethal." Reports from Boston indicate that while the crowd near Fenway was large, and many of its' members drunken, it was mostly peaceful, merely celebrating a victory that was celebrated across the country. Throughout the city there was a total of eight arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct. Snelgrove has been described as an innocent bystander engaging in no unlawful behavior. Imagine what these police would do if confronted with a truly angry crowd engaging in politically motivated civil disobedience?
There have been many instances of "non-lethal" weaponry killing people. Some types of tear gas employed by local and federal police departments in the United States, such as CS, are prohibeted weaponry under the Geneva Convention. Yet they are routinely used upon our own citizens. I imagine getting shot in the eye with a projectile full of pepper spray is a particularly painful way to die. It is time to stop training police to engage in military tactics against domestic disturbances. And stop playing semantic games with "non-lethal" weapons.
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