Portland Police Suspend Use of "Flash-Bang" Grenades After Reports That Several Protesters Were Seve [View all]

Portland Police Suspend Use of “Flash-Bang” Grenades After Reports That Several Protesters Were Severely Injured By the Weapons


Police Chief Danielle Outlaw and Assistant Chief Ryan Lee say the Portland Police Bureau has suspended use of "flash-bang" grenades after reports that multiple people were severely injured as officers drove back a crowd of antifascist protesters on Aug. 4.

Outlaw and Lee say the devices should not have caused injuries if they were used properly and operated as intended.

"They're trained to fire arial distraction devices," Ryan said at a press conference Monday afternoon. "They're trained to fire those not directly at individuals. They're trained to fire them over the crowd. Those devices are designed so that if you have a 15 degree up angle… they should actuate roughly 20 feet above that person's head."

One woman says she was hit with the first explosive launched by police at the crowd of protesters standing near the intersection of Southwest Naito Parkway and Southwest Columbia Street. She went to an urgent care clinic with third-degree burns on her arm and chest.

Read more: https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/08/06/portland-police-suspend-use-of-flash-bang-grenades-after-reports-that-several-protesters-were-severely-injured-by-the-weapons/