Scotland’s parliament voted Thursday to call on the U.K. to suspend exports of tear gas, riot gear and rubber bullets to the U.S. in light of the recent Black Lives Matter protests that have spread across the nation following the death of George Floyd.
In a motion lead by Minister of Scottish Parliament (MSP) Patrick Harvie, the anti-racism proposal was backed by a 52-0 vote with 11 absentees, calling on the British government to formally ban the exports.
“Clearly, the U.S. is not a safe country to which we should be exporting tear gas, rubber bullets and riot gear,” Harvie said Thursday. “Those are the weapons of oppression in a society in which police forces – which, in some states, were founded as slave-capturing militias, still display deeply institutional racism.”
But it’s OK for them to produce & export to other countries. I’m confused; or maybe they are simply hypocrites. These products are only manufactured for one particular use - crowd control. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Clearly, the U.S. is not a safe country to which we should be exporting tear gas, rubber bullets and riot gear,” -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From now on we only export these products to safe countries. Oh no, no more rubber bullets; I guess they got the US over a barrel. What to do? Hello Goodyear - hello Firestone - hello Michelin; WE GOT MONEY.
I am now more confused: The British developed rubber rounds—the “Round, Anti-Riot, 1.5in Baton”—in 1970 for use against people in Northern Ireland. I guess they were OK for Irish rioters, just not OK for American rioters.