A week ago, police fired rubber bullets, bean bags, and canisters into the crowd of protesters in Oakland. Their brutality almost cost Marine veteran Scott Olsen his life. And it turns out, the police used tactics that aren’t even allowed to be used in war zones.

A former Marine with special operations in crowd control says that what the police did in Oakland last week is something that the armed forces prohibits, especially when the crowd is peaceful and non-threatening. According  to this Marine,”Before gas goes into a crowd, shield bearers have to be making no progress moving a crowd or the crowd must be assaulting the line. Not with sticks and stones but a no bullshit assault. 3 warnings must be given to the crowd in a manner they can hear that force is about to be used. Shield bearers take a knee and CS gas is released in grenade form first to fog out your lines because you have gas masks. You then kick the canisters along in front of your lines. Projectile gas is not used except for longer ranged engagement or trying to steer the crowd ( by steering a crowd I mean firing gas to block a street off ). You also have shotguns with beanbags and various less than lethal rounds for your launchers. These are the rules for a WARZONE!!

How did a cop who is supposed to have training on his weapon system accidentally SHOOT someone in the head with a 40mm gas canister? Simple. He was aiming at him.

I’ll be the first to admit a 40mm round is tricky to aim if you are inexperienced but anyone can tell the difference between aiming at head level and going for range.

The person that pulled that trigger has no business being a cop. He sent that round out with the intention of doing some serious damage to the protesters. I don’t care what the protesters were doing. I never broke my rules of engagement in Iraq or Afghanistan. So I can’t imagine what a protester in the states did to deserve a headshot with a 40mm. He’s damn lucky to be alive and that cop knows he was using lethal force against a protester he is supposed to be protecting.”

Additionally, the official military manual backs up these statements and also says that those who are trying to help the injured are defined as non-combatants and are not to be fired upon because they pose no threat. While people were trying to help Scott Olsen, a police officer threw a flashbang into the group, which would be a direction violation of the rules of engagement.

Here’s what the US Military manual says.

“Sailors and Marines have a duty to collect and care for the wounded.  Prioritize treatment according to injuries.  Make NO treatment distinction based on nationality.  All soldiers, enemy or friendly, must be treated the same.”

The police who committed these acts of brutality would be punished by the Pentagon if they were in the military. They were bloodthirsty and hungry for violence. They are the kind of people who play the violent video games and then when confronted with protesters, froth at the mouth to play the game for real. Except they aren’t shooting at enemies of the United States, they’re shooting at peaceful American citizens. That’s an incredibly distinct difference. When your actions of brutality are prohibited in war zones, you’ve gone over the edge. The Marines clearly know this. The police should certainly know better.