Date: Wed, 08 Dec 1999 00:24:26 -0800
From: Joshua Houk <jlhouk-AT-mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: stateless in seattle




catkawin wrote:

> Well said indeed, Bart. Apparently, U$ law has not risen to the
> standard applied here: helmets and other protective devices have been
> outlawed in the 80ies already. They call it "passive armour", and you
> don't want to get caught with that at a demo, if you don't want to
> get booked. I mean, where's all the fun of bashing protesters as long
> as they are well protected against various kinds of gas, batons,
> rubber bullets, and all that shit?! According to our law, people also
> would have committed a felony by protecting their faces with bandanas
> (passive armour) against tear gas and pepper spray. You don't really
> want people masking their faces - what's the point in having their
> photos taken and having them videotaped if you can't identify the
> |$%&$ ?!

It is currently against the law in the US for convicted felons to wear
bulletproof jackets.

> Anyways, since the gool old topic of arms has been raised again -
> what are "concussion grenades"? I bin translating stuff re Seattle
> for the federation, and I didn't know what to make of it. Ta.

Carp and Roger hit the technical side on the head, so let me just back
up Carp's view of them as a terror weapon. Had quite a few go off a bit
too close for comfort. You can feel the sound of them reverberate
through your body - the crack of the explosion and the thud of the
concussion. The cops' tactic was to throw a few at a time - all of a
sudden you'd feel a succession of five or so grenades (accompianied with
a volley of gas) and the only thing you can think of is running like
hell. They'd usually be thrown right above our heads, so everyone would
immediately cower and the police would use that advantage to advance.

joshua h