Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/01/25/imagine-the-worst-most-foul-thing-you-have-ever-smelled-protestors-sprayed-with-crowd-control-chemical-report-severe-symptoms.html
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“Crowd-control chemical” is one of those gross euphemisms authoritarians often use so they don’t have to say “chemical weapon designed for low lethality.”
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The fun thing is that some “crowd control” agents, like tear gas, are illegal to use in warfare, but widely-used against civilian populations at home.
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This.
Though the identification of the specific agent remains in doubt since "Three students identified the substance as “Skunk,” "
Some of my research was in CWA detection, and I’ve worked with a LOT of thiols, and I could probably tell the difference between BME, decanethiol, benzene thiol, and 3-methylindole (scatole). But they really would need to do some GCMs sampling.
Using the name brand like that poses the risk of conspiracy minded folks saying “see, the Israeli’s are behind this” when it was probably just home grown assholes of some sort.
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How is making the stuff linger for 3 days “crowd control”?
I can only see it as being a deterrent from further protest, making protesters fear being made sick for several days. That’s terrorism, political influence via fear. If it was really crowd control, it would dissipate in a few hours at most. Not that that’s much better, but their fig leaf is pathetic.
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The very idea that someone greenlighted this to develop, and paid the public’s money to deploy it on the public, is as disgusting an assault on humanity as the purported smell. The fact some of our fellow species applauds this should alarm TF out on anyone.
We must resist.
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My guess is that it’s meant to be used to help LEOs identify victims after the crowd disperses.
“You stink like Skunk™. GUILTY.”
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Maybe, but dyes can do that. A UV dye invisible under normal light would work a hell of a lot better for that purpose.
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Naturally, I wanted to know what is actually in the stuff to learn what harm was done beyond the smell.
The Skunk MSDS claims that it is just water, yeast, and baking soda which is very dubious.
But since the company thinks “inflammable” means it can’t burn, who knows what they think yeast is.
From the website’s product description:
The Skunk is not volatile, it’s inflammable - in fact, it can even be used to put out fires in a pinch - and it poses no health hazard.
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True, but smell is a powerful social motivator. They would literally be turning protestors into pariahs. Smell would be more personally (and according to the report, medically) invasive to the victim.
I did say “identify” participants, and that’s true. But what they really, clearly, undeniably want is to hurt participants.
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Sounds like we just found a senior thesis for the Environmental Chemistry major.
- Identify components used chemical and re-create them.
- Create an “antidote” to counter these effects.
- Assist campus police in tracking down these perpetrators.
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Huh, since it wasn’t sprayed on people as part of a police “crowd control” operation, and “skunk” is only available to police, we really have no idea what this stuff was or what kind of danger it poses to the people sprayed. That’s… worrying.
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An “AI” picture boasting “non-ilethol liquid” and a stop sign that says “SPD STRR.”
Dang y’all just do not care anymore, which is especially galling considering the subject of the article.
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Are you… disappointed?
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From the article:
one photographer says tomato ketchup serves as an antidote. If you rub a surface that has been exposed to skunk with ketchup, and then wash it off, the smell will apparently become fainter."
I was wondering if the time-honored de-stinkifying option of tomato juice would work here, just as it does for actual skunk smell.
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Also, one of my kids was in attendance and said it smelled like “poop”, so it sounds like it needs to hit you directly to smell really bad.
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Trump was there?
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So, like driving behind a pig waste truck?
Ask me how I know.
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Yes, I think yeast is being used obfuscate. My guess is they genetically engineered some yeast to produce one or more specific smelly compounds. Based on the name, perhaps it is some of the compounds found in skunk spray.
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