Federal Judge Grants Tear Gas Injunction, With Exceptions

SEATTLE, WA — The Seattle Police Department must stop using all "chemical irritants or projectiles" against peaceful protesters, a federal judge ruled Friday. The temporary restraining order comes in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Black Lives Matter and the American Civil Liberties Union earlier this week.

Friday's injunction includes most "crowd control devices," like CS gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades, blast balls, rubber bullets and "foam-tip projectiles." However, similar to an earlier temporary ban put in place by the city, a few loopholes remain.

"This Order does not preclude individual officers from taking necessary, reasonable, proportional, and targeted action to protect against a specific imminent threat of physical harm to themselves or identifiable others, or to respond to specific acts of violence or destruction of property," the order reads.

The judge goes on to say tear gas can be used only if "efforts to subdue a threat" by using other measures, including pepper spray, were "exhausted and ineffective," and with explicit permission from the chief of police.

The police department's use of tear gas over the weekend renewed public outcry just two days after the city enacted a 30-day ban, pending new policies. Police Chief Carmen Best took full responsibility for the decision, saying there was a "life safety issue" Sunday night. One woman was later injured by what was believed to be a police projectile.

On Monday, the police took down the barricades around the East Precinct and largely left the neighborhood, marking the beginning of a six-block area now known as the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone."

Seattle's Office of Police Accountability, the city's police watchdog, is investigating 17 separate allegations of police misconduct stemming from recent protests, sorted from nearly 17,000 complaints.

The Seattle City Council is expected to vote on legislation Monday that would permanently ban police from buying or using all crowd control devices.