TX Observer: “In late May of 2020, Anthony Evans says he was “walking down the street with [his] hands in the air” when a bean bag round fired by Austin police shattered his jaw bone. His injuries required surgery, and he had to have his mouth wired shut while he healed. Sareneka “Nemo” Martin was pregnant when bean bag rounds struck her in the back and stomach, knocking her to the ground. Luckily, she did not lose her baby. Levi Ayala, a 16-year-old with interests ranging from math and science to boxing and music, was shot in the head with bean bag rounds as he watched protests from a nearby embankment. According to his brother, Ayala suffers permanent brain damage, has trouble regulating his emotions, and will require long-term therapy.
And Justin Howell, my younger brother, was recording the protests on his phone when he was shot in the head with a “less lethal” bean bag round. Like Ayala, he spent significant time in the ICU and suffered both skull fractures and brain damage. He still requires medical attention more than a year later.
All of these occurred during one weekend in Austin, at protests over the murder of George Floyd. Since then, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been donated to GoFundMe campaigns for Ayala, Martin, Drake, and Justin, and there have been protests in Justin’s and Ayala’s names specifically. Taking note of these stories as well as public outrage, the Austin Police Department soon thereafter decided to prohibit the use of bean bag rounds for the purposes of crowd control. It was a wise decision. Firing such rounds into crowds—a shifting mass of individuals—was clearly poor policy. And stories like those above, of which there are too many to keep track, are certain to decrease respect for policing, which endangers protesters and officers alike. Now it’s time for the rest of the state to follow suit and ban the practice.”