AOC and 2 ‘Progressive’ US Congressmen Call For a National Ban on Tear Gas

US House Rep AOC and two other “progressive” US Congressmen called today for a “national ban on tear gas.” She said that it is a chemical weapon that is “banned in war.”

She believes “it is a deep shame that US leaders chose to tear gas” their “own people last week” and “it should never, ever happen again.”

Tear gas is a chemical weapon banned in war. It is a deep shame that US leaders chose to tear gas our own people last week. It should never, ever happen again. This week I’m joining @RepMarkTakano & @RepChuyGarcia to introduce a National Ban on Tear Gas:

Tear gas is a chemical weapon banned in war.

It is a deep shame that US leaders chose to tear gas our own people last week. It should never, ever happen again.

This week I’m joining @RepMarkTakano & @RepChuyGarcia to introduce a National Ban on Tear Gas:https://t.co/95G7ugsA38

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 10, 2020

Mark Takano is a Congressman from California and he said that he believes that tear gas “does not belong in the hands of the police.” He wants to “prohibit law enforcement from using chemical weapons, including tear gas, against the American people.”

Tear gas is banned in war, it does not belong in the hands of the police.

I will be introducing a bill with Rep. @AOC and @RepChuyGarcia to prohibit law enforcement from using chemical weapons, including tear gas, against the American people. pic.twitter.com/QbDhbhmgTJ

— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) June 10, 2020

Illinois Congressman Chuy Garcia claimed that “police deployed tear gas to aggressively scatter protests in Chicago and across the country.” He is introducing the bill to “stop the escalation of police tactics against peaceful demonstrators & ban the use of chemical weapons in our streets.”

Police deployed tear gas to aggressively scatter protests in Chicago and across the country. That’s why @RepAOC, @RepMarkTakano & I are introducing a bill to stop the escalation of police tactics against peaceful demonstrators & ban the use of chemical weapons in our streets.

Police deployed tear gas to aggressively scatter protests in Chicago and across the country. That’s why @RepAOC, @RepMarkTakano & I are introducing a bill to stop the escalation of police tactics against peaceful demonstrators & ban the use of chemical weapons in our streets. pic.twitter.com/ddU0cuKZNT

— Congressman Chuy García (@RepChuyGarcia) June 10, 2020

Fact checks have rated the claim that tear gas is banned in war but legal for law enforcement purposes as true. Findings show that the Chemical Weapon Convention outlawed the use of riot control agents in warfare and it went into effect in 1997. The 1925 Geneva Protocol also prohibited the use of poisonous gases in war.

In World War I, much of the gas used was lethal and so that was a major reason why the Geneva Protocal was put in place. The purpose of the CWC was to “eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by States Parties,” according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.