Federal agents have used chemical irritant to disperse a crowd in a heavily Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis. This happened Tuesday during a identification checks amid the Trump administration's crackdown on the community. City Council member Jamal Osman is a Somali American who witnessed the confrontation.

Osman said armed ICE agents went to East African restaurants in the neighborhood Tuesday, closed the doors and demanded people’s IDs. They found only U.S. citizens and made no arrests, Osman said.

In short, they’re harassing people based on what kind of cuisine they have a hankering for

  • Machinist@lemmy.worldEnglish
    341·
    3 days ago

    “Chemical Irritant” - I’m guessing CS or tear gas. Scanned the article and didn’t see it specified. Strange way to state things.

    Note that use of CS and similar are banned under the Geneva Convention between armies. Used against civilians all the time by many governments.

    • anomnom@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      TIL: CS gas was invented after the Geneva Conventions that preempted its use in war.

      Britain & Japan also helped justify its use in the US in 2002:

      As recently as 2002, the U.S. State Department Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation made a firm distinction between “riot-control agents” such as CS gas, and “lethal chemical weapons.” The Bureau cited support for this position from the U.K. and Japan.[10]