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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBe 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.
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She's not the only one who got hit in the eye.
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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.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)crickets
(25,990 posts)I'm not sure where the second incident occurred.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)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
(94,950 posts)Projectiles, tear gas, etc. are being shot from a distance. Precision aim is not generally involved.
crickets
(25,990 posts)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
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)odds are that lots of people are going to get hit in the head, whether they are aiming for it or not.