Less-lethal weapons are one more reason to divest from police: Tell Congress.

"It felt like somebody put a cast iron skillet on my leg … shrapnel was going everywhere."

ACLU Supporter, this is how Kishon McDonald describes being hit by a stun grenade outside of the White House on June 1st – the day police attacked crowds of peaceful protesters by order of the Trump administration.

And D.C. is not an isolated incident. Law enforcement across the country are deploying staggering levels of violence against protesters and reporters alike – using stun grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and more.

These so-called "less-lethal weapons" or "LLWs" have a long history of silencing protests, and causing serious injuries and deaths. And they are one more reason we must divest from the racist policing systems who use them. Congress is in the midst of a heated debate on policing reform right now – and they need to hear this. Please help us get the message across to them today. <[link removed]>

LLWs threaten more than our rights to free speech and assembly. In Seattle, Aubreanna Inda nearly died after a stun grenade exploded next to her chest. Linda Tirado, a journalist and photographer, lost her left eye to a "rubber bullet" in Minneapolis.

The ACLU and our affiliates have filed lawsuits in both of these cities – and in cities across the country – to hold police accountable. But cutting off the flow of military equipment to law enforcement will take structural change – and legislation in Congress right now falls short.

The JUSTICE Act in the Senate is profoundly flawed and the House's Justice in Policing Act needs work. Our lawmakers need to do more: Urge them to act now. <[link removed]>

ACLU Supporter, the police brutality that we've seen against demonstrators in the past few weeks is indicative of the state-sanctioned violence that has terrorized and killed Black people for centuries. It must end.

The ACLU will not stop fighting – for an end to racist police violence, for the First Amendment and human rights of protesters and press, and for the civil liberties of us all.

Thank you for being such a critical part of this work.

Ashoka Mukpo
ACLU Staff Reporter

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