Fun Facts About the Pepper Spray Used Against UC Davis Protesters

This sh*t could damn near take out a bear....

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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You're looking at the pepper spray that UC Davis campus police hosed peaceful students down with on Friday, and here are a few interesting facts about the lethal agent.

The MK-9 stream canister is among the most powerful pepper spray models available. The strength of the spray is coded by color, and the pictures above show an officer using what appears to be a canister with an orange band, which carries a potency level of 0.7 percent Major Capaicinoid (MC). You know what the authorized level for tactical deployment is? 0.2 percent MC.

The recommended minimum distance for use is 6 feet, yet it remains effective up to 20 feet out. Those kids were sprayed at point blank range, and this shit is powerful enough to burn your eyeballs right out of your skull. If any of those kids had asthma, as about 17 million people do, it would've been over for them. This spray, which is just notches below the shit used against bears, was deployed on a bunch of kids sitting in a circle.

Let's applaud another bang-up job by law enforcement, while the two identified cops get to enjoy paid time off.

[via Gizmodo and the CDC]

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