In 2020 less lethal weapons (LLW) were used to disperse protests in more than 100 American cities...
In this conversation, Pulitzer Center grantee Wil Sands discusses less lethal weapons, from production and regulation to the use in U.S. law enforcement. Neil Corney, research associate at the Omega Research Foundation, joined the conversation.
For his Pulitzer Center-supported project, Less Lethal Weapons Brought into Focus, Sands reported on the effects of less lethal weapons (LLW). Advocates for these weapons argue LLWs offer police an alternative to the use of deadly force. However, in the protests that followed George Floyd’s killing, 115 people were shot in the head with LLWs. A total of 24 people were partially blinded, Sands included, and dozens more were permanently injured.
Sands is a documentary photographer and journalist based in Richmond, Virginia. His work focuses on social movements and political uprisings. He is the co-founder of the Fractures Collective, and his work has been published in a variety of media outlets, including The Washington Post, Mother Jones, and Harper's Magazine, among others.
Corney has been a research associate at the Omega Research Foundation in the U.K. since 1996. His work analyzes the manufacture, trade, and use of military, security, and police weapons worldwide, including the identification of weapons used to violate international humanitarian and human rights law.
This webinar was hosted on March 3, 2022.
