Expert: Tear gas could help spread virus
Late on May 31, hundreds of protesters marching in Downtown Memphis against police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis were met by dozens of law enforcement officers dressed in riot gear on Riverside Drive.
Earlier in the night, they had successfully walked onto Interstate 55 but were blocked from their ultimate destination, the I-55 bridge. Close to midnight, the group had redirected their attention to the Interstate 40 bridge to Arkansas. Feet from the on-ramp, they were blocked again.
To stop them from walking onto the I-40 bridge, like protesters had done in 2016, deputies with the Shelby County
Sheriff 's Office and troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol fired tear gas into the crowd.
As protesters ran away, their eyes watered and they coughed uncontrollably. Others carrying milk in backpacks poured it onto the faces of those hurt by the fumes to ease the sting.
That involuntary response to tear gas is particularly concerning for medical professionals treating patients during the coronavirus pandemic, said Dr. Steve Threlkeld, cochair of the infection control program at Baptist Memorial Hospital.
"When you're in the midst of a pandemic respiratory viral situation, it's not just the fact that it could be damaging to people with respiratory problems," Threlkeld said. "Tear gas will cause people to have increased secretions and more saliva and coughing and generally be a much more effective source of aerosolized droplets that could be infectious to other people.
"So when you see people who are coughing and their eyes are running and they rub their face and they're touching other people, all of those things could certainly serve to increase the chance that they could be infectious to others if they happen to be infected with COVID-19 or any other respiratory virus for that matter."
Why tear gas was used
Both Shelby County Sheriff's Office and Tennessee Highway Patrol officials said before the tear gas was fired into the crowd of several hundred people, they gave verbal commands to leave the area then smoke canisters were deployed.
When tear gas was used, a highway patrol statement said, it was because the crowd was throwing rocks and refusing to leave the area. While several vehicles were struck and damaged, no troopers were hit.
According to Capt. Anthony Buckner, spokesperson for the sheriff 's office, the tear gas was used to keep traffic flowing on the bridge and to keep protesters safe from walking onto the bridge alongside moving traffic.
"The concern was traffic stopping and traffic from the west not being able to access Memphis or our medical district should there be a medical emergency of some kind," Buckner said. "We understand that we are in the middle of a pandemic. It is reasonable, I believe, to assume that it's possible we could have healthcare workers that live in Arkansas that commute over to Memphis to service the hospitals, which ultimately services our community."
So far, no investigation into the decision to use the tear gas has been announced. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris refused to comment on the use of tear gas Monday.
Though daily protests have continued since that night, tear gas has not been used again and none of the groups leading protests have attempted to walk onto the bridge again.
"It's a difficult job," said Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., relaying again the events that happened before the tear gas was fired. "That's unfortunate what happened. But what I hope moving forward what we see is that when we have peaceful protests, we're not going to stop people from protesting. That's not what we're here for. We're only here to maintain the peace."
The full impact of the decision to use tear gas nine days ago may only be becoming apparent now, according to Joan Carr, spokesperson for the Shelby County Health Department.
"On average, people begin to develop symptoms 5-7 days after infection," Carr said in an email. "But there is often a delay between the onset of symptoms and when people (seek) treatment or testing. For that reason, the Health Department expects to see the impact of an event in the COVID-19 testing results approximately 9 days after the event.