The escalating tension in North Minneapolis took a harrowing turn on 15 January, bringing the use of 'less-lethal' munitions into sharp relief. Amidst protests sparked by recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shootings, a family van found itself in the crossfire of federal agents and local police. Shawn and Destiny Jackson, who were travelling with their six children, reported that law enforcement officers deployed flashbangs and tear gas directly at their vehicle.
The impact was immediate and devastating. According to Shawn Jackson, the force of the blast was sufficient to trigger the van's airbags, filling the cabin with smoke and chemical irritants. The situation became critical when their six-month-old infant stopped breathing and lost consciousness, requiring Destiny Jackson to perform emergency CPR on the roadside. While the family had not intended to join the protests, they became the latest casualties in a conflict defined by the aggressive hardware used by border agents and police. To understand how a device classified as 'non-lethal' can hospitalise an infant and deploy vehicle airbags, one must look at the terrifying science behind the flashbang.
