A new investigation from the Washington Post shows that eight people were blinded in one eye after police fired “less lethal” measures such as bean-bag shotguns and rubber bullets, but police accounts significantly deviate from evidence and reconstructions of the incidents that occured on the first day of nationwide protests about George Floyd’s killing at the hands of police.
Six protestors, one photojournalist and a bystander lost vision in one eye as a result of police use of force on one day, Saturday, May 30th, reports the Post. The Post worked to use available evidence, video, eye witness accounts and science to reconstruct three of the incidents.
Investigation: Police partially blinded 8 people in one day at George Floyd protests.
The Post found video evidence undermining official accounts. https://t.co/V914lIIMtU
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 14, 2020
In the three incidents reconstructed, police accounts that the victims were threats to police are undermined by the available evidence, including video from surveillance cameras, that show the victims when they were struck.
All the police departments involved continue to claim that the incidents continue to be under investigation.