A major investigation into crowd control tactics at anti-immigration demonstrations has documented hundreds of instances where tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray caused severe and lasting injuries to protesters across the United States.
Physicians for Human Rights and the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley released findings this week detailing 412 verified incidents of what researchers call the "misuse" of less-lethal weapons deployed by local and federal law enforcement between June 2025 and May 2026. The documented injuries included blindings, traumatic brain injuries, lacerations, fractures, and contusions. Experts acknowledge the actual toll is substantially higher, noting that invisible injuries like chemical burns and chronic pain are difficult to assess through standard investigative methods.
The violence intensified around protests at ICE detention facilities, where demonstrators gathered in solidarity with detained immigrants and to oppose aggressive enforcement operations. One high-profile incident occurred outside Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, where pepper spray deployed by ICE officials hit Senator Andy Kim, drawing national attention. What followed was a broader crackdown, with state and local police using batons, tear gas, and stun grenades while making numerous arrests.
Federal authorities bore primary responsibility for the misuse incidents. The Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and Customs and Border Protection, was responsible for over 64 percent of documented cases. Yet state and local law enforcement also played significant roles, particularly in cities like Los Angeles where cooperation between jurisdictions amplified the response.
Researchers identified a sharp correlation between enforcement surge operations and spikes in weapon misuse. When former Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino directed escalated enforcement tactics across multiple cities, incident counts rose sharply within days. Social media promotion of these operations preceded the violence. Bovino was later removed from his post following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal immigration officials.
The investigation tracked three categories of misuse. Researchers documented whether protected groups like journalists and health workers were targeted, whether vulnerable populations including children and elderly people were affected, and whether weapons were deployed improperly such as at close range or aimed at the head in violation of manufacturer guidelines. A separate ProPublica report identified 70 children harmed by tear gas and pepper spray during both protests and enforcement operations.
Over 90 percent of the documented misuse incidents occurred in five major metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Newark, and Portland. The pattern echoed law enforcement responses to the 2020 racial justice protests, when Border Patrol units participated in arrest and crowd control operations in some cities.
The weapons catalog deployed against protesters included chemical irritants, kinetic impact projectiles like bean bag rounds, stun grenades, water cannons, and even riot shields and mounted police horses. Researchers struggled to quantify the full scope of injury because many damage types remain invisible to standard documentation methods.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to inquiries about the report's findings. Separately, federal immigration officials have been involved in at least 11 shooting deaths since January 2025. Two fatal shootings occurred this month alone, less than a week apart, in Texas and Maine.
Author James Rodriguez: "The scale here is staggering, and the fact that DHS won't answer basic questions about their tactics makes you wonder what they're hiding."
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