Kids sickened by police training may have ingested decades old chemical weapons

CS gas and pepper spray - capsicin extract - were the two suspected substances.

CS gas and the solvent it's in are incredibly toxic, and are known to be toxic. It can cause heart, lung, and liver damage in acute exposure. Degrading kids health and possibly taking years of their life expectancy deserves more accountability than an "oops, we'll do better next time!"

Beyond the original chemicals in the CS gas canisters, the chemicals likely change over time, oxidizing and possibly mixing with chemicals in the container, so who knows what additional toxic hazard the expired canisters might have in store?

Just brief exposure can result in sensitization, such that any future exposure could trigger something like an asthma attack or a huge inflammatory response.

Absolutely nothing about this is ok.

>>The source said it was not routine to deploy such a large amount of munitions in an area so close to civilian populations.

Heads need to roll, or it'll just happen again. A whole lot of people made some very bad choices. Cops should be the most accountable of all members of society, given their authority.

None of the cops involved should be trusted with anything more dangerous or complex than tying their shoes unless and until they can prove they've got any respect for the rest of society.

Such agents are highly regulated and their risks are known in-depth: essentially, never use them if you can help it, and if they were part of a military this could be considered a warcrime if used improperly, ie, against civilians; see the section in the "Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction" on incapacitants and riot control agents for further information.

Why the hell are random cops somewhere in the US training with weapons banned under international conventions? They aren't military personnel, they're civilians working for some smaller town in California. Charge them, try them, drop their asses in San Quentin, and inform genpop that they have esteemed guests.

When people say "chemical weapon" they think "weapon of mass destruction" even if they don't know names like mustard gas, vx or seran. These are clearly very different categories of things.

It sucks that this will get a pass from many people when they realize schoolkids weren't at risk of mass death, because teargas simply isn't going to kill a lot of kids. Should the cops have behaved better? Yes. Should they be in trouble for tear gassing kids? Yes. Will this be downplayed while people argue uselessly if this was or wasn't a chemical weapon attack while trying to get a better understanding of the story? Yes. Will this water down future talks of weapons of mass destruction as "Chemincal Weapons"? I think it will.

deploying riot cops with ancient chemical weapons near children should get your mayor railroaded into a job at McDonalds.

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