Anti-Riot bullets made by two Florida companies used to brutalize protesters in Hong Kong
Violent clashes between protesters and police in Hong Kong continue weeks after mass demonstrations in the city first turned ugly in June…
… The United States, another major supplier of nonlethal weapons to Hong Kong, has yet to announce whether it will enact its own export ban…
Defense Technology, owned by the Jacksonville-based company Safariland, sells nonlethal weapons and riot gear; AMTEC Less-Lethal (ALS), which is part of Pacem Defense Corporation, is run out of Perry, a city about an hour southeast of Tallahassee, and offers similar products. Both have manufactured munitions being used by Hong Kong police to brutalize protesters. Neither company responded to requests for comment from New Times…
Photos circulated online in recent weeks by journalists and protesters in Hong Kong show sponge-tipped rounds and rubber-bullet casings with branding from the Florida companies. Riot police are reportedly using ALS's 1202 rubber rocket, a projectile made of rubber and plastic to produce "blunt trauma and pain compliance," according to the manufacturer…
Safariland's sponge-tipped munitions, which might sound tame, are not as dangerous as rubber bullets but can still cause serious damage…
Though rubber bullets and sponge-tipped rounds are considered nonlethal, they can easily kill or maim a person if used improperly. Photos from the Hong Kong protest show police, at dangerously close distances, firing indiscriminately at protesters. But even when used as intended, rubber bullets and other anti-riot munitions have an incredibly poor track record due to their inaccuracy…
… New Jersey Republican Christopher Smith and Massachusetts Democrat James McGovern, the co-chairs of a U.S. House commission on human rights, released a bipartisan plea to the Trump administration to suspend future sales of munitions and crowd-control gear to Hong Kong police…