U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall issued an order Thursday forcing LAPD officers to stop using 40mm foam projectiles against protesters.
ABC 7 noted the order is tied to a case filed by Black Lives Matter in 2020 and is the result of Marshall finding the LAPD in contempt of his 2021 ruling in that case.
Marshall indicated that “LAPD officers fired at protesters who did not pose an immediate threat, failed to issue warnings before firing, and struck protesters in restricted areas of the body.”
NBC 4 reported:
The order included a list of examples of misuse of the weapons, including one officer who fired it at a man who had his hands up at a protest, then shot the same man in the face, causing a jaw injury that required surgery. Another officer shot a woman in the head with the weapon while she was seated and holding a sign. A third officer shot a man in the groin, then shot a lawyer in the groin when the lawyer asked the officer for his name.
Former L.A. County Sheriff’s Sergeant Brian Muller addressed the value of 40mm less-lethal ammunition when used correctly: “It provides a means or mechanism that police or law enforcement can intervene at a distance and hopefully not cause death or any serious injury.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.