Beanbag rounds caused horrific injuries, Texas doctors say
AUSTIN, Texas – The use of bean bag rounds by police resulted in horrific injuries to protesters in Texas, said a group of a dozen Austin doctors who are calling for l aw enforcement nationwide to abandon using the “less-lethal” munitions for crowd control.
In a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors said 19 patients were treated for bean bag-related wounds at the downtown hospital closest to the protests over two days in late May.
Eight were admitted into the Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas, including seven who required surgery.
Four patients needed bean bags or parts of bean bags to be removed from penetration wounds, and injuries included skull fractures and burst blood vessels within the skull or brain, the doctors said in the letter, which was published online Friday.
“Bean bag rounds are purported to be` less lethal' munitions that should not cause penetrating injuries when used at appropriate distances,” the doctors wrote, adding that the number and severity of the injuries offered important data supplementing scarce information in me dical literature on injuries caused by bean bag rounds.
“Although our report reflects the experience at only one center during a short period and we can not determine the frequency of injuries when these munitions are used, these findings highlight the fact that bean bag munitions can cause serious harm and are not appropriate for use in crowd control,” they said.
Austin police deployed bean bag rounds during sometimes tense confrontations with demonstrators protesting against racism and police violence after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed May 25 when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck as he was handcuffed and prone on the street.
`Please, please, you can't be using these'
As news of bean bagrelated injuries drew sharp criticism, Austin
Police Chief Brian Manley announced during the June 4 meeting of the Austin City Council that bean bag mu niti ons would no longer be used in crowd control situations.
The council meeting had included tearful testimony from Edwin Sanchez, the brother of 16-year-old Brad Ayala, who was seriously injured when he was shot in the head with a bean bag round by Austin police during the protests.
Ayala required seven hours of surgery as family members feared that he was going to die, Sanchez said, adding that his brother was having trouble controlling his emotions because of brain damage from the projectile.
“Please, please, you can't be using these ,” Sanchez told the City Council.