The creator of weaponized pepper spray, the man who helped the CIA turn what Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly called “a food product” into a chemical weapon that has killed at least 61 people, has blasted the UC Davis police department for their use of pepper spray on unarmed, non-violent seated, peaceful protesting students.
Via The New York Times:
To Kamran Loghman, who helped develop pepper spray into a weapons-grade material with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the 1980s, the incident at Davis violated his original intent.
“I have never seen such an inappropriate and improper use of chemical agents,†Mr. Loghman said in an interview.
Mr. Loghman, who also helped develop guidelines for police departments using the spray, said that use-of-force manuals generally advise that pepper spray is appropriate only if a person is physically threatening a police officer or another person.
Gizmodo adds,
This here [image, top] is the MK-9 stream canister, one of the strongest available forms of pepper spray. How peppery your spray is can be measured by its Major Capaicinoid content, and you can determine the amount based on the coloring of the can. In this case, cops appear to have used a 1.3 percent solution. The only time a spray is more potent? When it’s meant to stop a freaking bear.
Assuming it’s 1.3 percent—or even if it was the slightly less-intense 0.7 percent, as some pictures indicate—that’s some heavy duty stuff. It’s much stronger than the 0.2 percent that’s authorized for tactical deployment, making this a sizable hammer for this particular nail. And even if it were an appropriate dose, it was sprayed at near point-blank range. The recommended minimum distance? Six feet, and it remains effective at 18-20 feet.
The police not only sprayed some of the student protestors at nearly point-blank range, they also reportedly forced open their mouths and sprayed down the students’ throats, contrary to manufacturer’s specifications.