Police Have Fired Less-Lethal Rounds for 50 Years—and Victims Want Justice (2024)

Shot in the head by police firing bean-bag rounds at demonstrators, this veteran awoke from a coma, returned to protesting, and became a symbolto the Occupy movement. Ten years later, he represents a life shattered by the misuse of less-lethal munitions.

Less-lethal munitions come in all shapes and sizes and can leave behind devastating wounds. Victims of KIPs often don’t know what hit them, unless — like this Black Lives Matter protester — there’s shrapnel left behind.

This 10-year-old from Derry, Northern Ireland was shot in the face with a rubber bullet while running home from school, an attack that blinded him for life. In the decades since, the U.K. has turned away from less-lethal munitions while U.S. law enforcement has increasingly embraced them. Why?

Everyone knew if the Red Sox ever beat the Yankees, Boston would burst. But what actually happened when they finally won exceeded people's worst fears. How a euphoric riot, a lack of police training, and an untested less-lethal weapon left a woman dead and city leaders seeking answers.

Shot with a less-lethal round while photographing police officers during 2020’s protests in Minneapolis, this journalist was blinded for life. Then came the long, isolating pursuit of justice and accountability that made her pain even worse.

After two days of protests, hundreds of bean-bag rounds fired, and dozens of grievously injured victims, a showdown is looming in Texas between law enforcement and the law.