Around New England

Ed Markey Calls For Nationwide Ban On Non-Lethal Crowd Control Police Tactics

September 15, 2020

Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey wants to ban police departments from using certain types of firearms as well as non-lethal crowd control tactics.

In response to a tweet from the American Civil Liberties Union stating that the city of Portland, Oregon banned its local police from using tear gas on protestors, Markey took things further.

“Portland police routinely attack peaceful protestors with brute force,” Markey wrote. “We must disarm these officers, and every other police department in America, of weapons of war, and enact a nationwide ban on tear gas, rubber and plastic bullets, and bean bag rounds.”

Some observers were not happy with his tweet. Here’s what a few had to say.

Fox News contributor Liz Peek responded with, “That confirms it- you are an idiot.”

The organization Tea Party Patriots didn’t like Markey’s tweet, either. The group responded with:  “Spineless politicians continuing to bend the knee to the radical mob is why we are seeing violence against our brave men & women in uniform escalate. Our police officers aren’t the problem, violent rioters & the politicians that defend them are the problem.”

And Kevin O’Connor, the Republican U.S. Senate nominee in Massachusetts this year, responded by saying, “Markey is not merely feckless — he’s dangerous.”