πΆβπ«οΈ Your Weekly Pitch: Riot Control Weapons and the Money Behind Them
Protests, lockdowns, and unstable governments are growing the funding of extreme crowd control tactics
Written by @alexc_journals, a journalist starting law school because protesters and journalists need lawyers too.
A 5 minute read
THE LEDE
2020 was rife with protests, many of which resulted in hostile crowd control measures.
The public saw it all in 2020, and now, riot control is facing a reckoning.
Some companies, like Safariland, have even been forced to sell off entire segments of their business due to activist backlash. Many believe that riot control tactics are simply far too extreme and outdated for use against civilians and violate human rights
But as protests spiked in 2020 and COVID-19 lockdowns spanned the globe, defense spending on less-lethal weapons, a.k.a. crowd control, has only increased.
And the few bills that try to tackle the problem seem to be constantly dying.
Consequently, this pitch focuses on the likely uninvestigated entanglement between defense companies getting more contracts and the organizations giving them.
THE BEST PITCH
The Guiding Question
Are there any special interest groups in riot control weaponry? Are they impactful enough to stunt legislation that would reform policing and crowd control (and cut into their business)?
The Answer
In June 2020 in Portland alone, protesters had filed eight lawsuits against city police claiming battery and unnecessary use of force with weapons.Β
Minnesota had a class action over the use of riot control weapons.Β
Several D.C. protestors with the ACLU had filed a suit claiming the use of tear gas violated their constitutional rights.Β
People. Were. Ticked.
How were less-lethal (but still exceedingly damaging) weapons used on civilians?Β
For context, some weapons used in riot control today, like tear gas, violate international human rights law. They only exist in America today through out-of-date legal loopholes.
Some well-known lawmakers, like AOC, have done their best to respond to the response to protests in 2020 by introducing legislation that would defund agencies that use chemical weaponsβbut they generally seem to die before they get anywhereβor have most of their teeth pulled.
Without much oversight, defense companies developing riot control weapons have become a booming industry.Β
The global non-lethal weapons market was valued at $7.4 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $12.5 billion by 2028.
In fact, some public policies are helping to cement their growth as opposed to manage or curtail it. For example, in February 2021, San Jose police introduced non-lethal weapons as a substitute for guns for crowd control operations, although couldnβt manage to ban rubber bullets. While the legislation has been presented as a better alternative to guns for law enforcement, the use of the weapons still proves exceptionally harmful.Β
And thereβs more than one company with the ear of government officials thatβs benefiting from this system.
βCombined Systems recorded $3.8 million in sales to the federal government last year, up from $2.3 million in 2018. Just over $1.8 million in sales came from chemical-dispensing and stun grenadesβ¦
Pacem Solutions, a privately owned manufacturer of tear gas weapons, named Joseph Schmitz, a former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump, as its chief legal officer and chair of its advisory board in 2018. The following year, Pacem had more than $1 million in sales to the federal government, up from zero in the previous decade. Nearly $150,000 of those sales are listed as for "military chemical agents," according to federal records.β
Now the question isnβt whether extreme crowd control measures are happening.
Itβs whether or not these companies have the sway to kibosh the good public policy that gets in the way of their bottom line.
Check this outβthe original language AOC and others proposed in this bill. It would have prevented law enforcement from using chemical weapons and forced them to dispose of their chemical weapons.
It never received a vote.
Rather, thereβs a new much softer version of the bill thatβs been introduced, but it seems to have nowhere near the support needed to become law.
Why This Story is Worth Pursuing
The controversial use of crowd control methods has been heavily reported on.
But this pitch has a different angle.
Few stories, if any, seem to focus on the exceptional growth those companies still expect to see over the next 5 years, particularly with local law enforcement.
And few, if any, seem to focus on the impact that money might have when lobbying against progressive policies that might try to stunt the growth of the less-lethal weapons industry.Β
What We Don't Have Answers To
Some of these companies have had to face consequences for the use of their products; like Safariland, which had to sell its βDefense Technologyβ branch. However many companies making the same products still operate in the U.S. and abroad and still have deals to produce defense equipment for law enforcement and the military.Β
Which of these companies came out of 2020 unscathed and why? Why did one company face public pressure enough to sell off an entire branch of its production, but another company didnβt? What is standing in the way of policy changing the practice of crowd control?
Is there a list of anti-crowd-control policy and is there a trend in how or why it never seems to progress?
The News Peg
COVID-19 is far from over and more lockdowns may be on the horizon. Some countries have responded to lockdown protesters by using crowd control weapons, so the conversation about excessive police force in these spaces is still top of mind.
Diverse Sources Worth Interviewing
Wheeler placed restrictions on the Portland police use of tear gas with a 14-day court order barring use except when a life is at risk. He can explain the logic behind a short-term ban, as well as the considerations on making these bans longer-term or permanent.
Joseph Schmitz, Pacem Solutions
Schmitz can speak on the growth of the less-lethal weapons industry. More interestingly, he can speak on how a company like Pacem would have to evolve its relationship with the US government and law enforcement agencies if policing policy should ever change.
PUBLICATIONS TO PITCH TO
ProPublica is a beast at long-term, long-form, award-winning investigative journalism. If you donβt know where to start with this story to validate the relationships that may be brewing beneath the surface, theyβll be the journalists who can give you a running start in your research.
Contact:Β suggestions@propublica.org
The Guardian U.S.,Β Features
The Guardian is one of investigative journalismβs heaviest hitters. With its extensive coverage on U.S. protests through 2020, the Guardian U.S. would love a new and deeper investigative angle on a hot topic.
Jessica Reed atΒ jessica.reed@theguardian.com, Alastair Gee atΒ alastair.gee@theguardian.com, and Frida Garza atΒ frida.garza@theguardian.com
The Atlantic, Culture
This piece hits on politics, economics, culture, and the swirling influences all three have on each other. The Atlantic makes for the perfect home for this pitch because of its expertise in long-form and nuanced investigations.
Culture desk contact: culture@theatlantic.com
OTHER PITCHES IN THIS SPACE
2020 was a year of incredible demand for social change but also a year where it was hard to see if anything actually did change. What policy actually came out of the 2020 protests, if at all? Did every progressive policy push get smothered before it could take its first breath, or did one manage to survive? More importantly, what does that say about the policy that did manage to survive?
Lobbying is an odd world and an even odder practice. One of the challenges with this pitch is that it was difficult to see if any companies actively lobbied for less-lethal weapons sales specifically or if they were all rolled under βdefenseβ lobbying and spending (since many of them also sell purely protective gear like helmets and body armor). If there are incredible sums of money being invested in these companies, then do they lobby for specific bills? If so, under what name and what exactly are they lobbying for?
ICYMI
Missed last week's story? Check out Dropshipping and weirdness on demand!
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
Portland now faces 8 lawsuits seeking an end to tear gas, rubber bullets, explosives at protests
Maker of tear gas used on D.C. protesters gets millions from federal government
Portland protests against police violence continue: βIt gives me chillsβ
AOC Introduces Bill to Ban Police Use of Teargas on Domestic Protests
Seattle City Council considering permanent ban on crowd-control weapons
Charlotte council bans CMPD from buying tear gas for crowd control
Serious Eye Injuries at Protests Spur Calls to Ban Rubber Bullets
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