Like two-thirds of New Yorkers arrested for not wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic, the woman was Black. There are many reasons someone may opt against wearing a mask, even if it puts the individual and their loved ones at home at risk. The regulations shared with HuffPost by police departments made few if any references to wearing masks inside squad cars. “Releasing tear gas on tightly packed demonstrators without masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic is really irresponsible,” said Sven Eric Jordt, a researcher at Duke University School of Medicine who studies the effects of tear gas. But Jordt noted that “most safety data we rely on for tear gas were generated in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.” “Frankly, especially in the U.S., there has been very little research and follow up on what happens to people exposed to tear gas,” he said.

Source: Huffington Post June 09, 2020 22:18 UTC