Nine environmental activists filed a federal civil rights suit against Humboldt County, California, authorities after a series of brutal pepper-spray incidents over the last five weeks. County deputies were videotaped grappling with people at several protests against logging plans for old-growth redwoods, forcing their eyelids open, and applying pepper-spray-soaked cotton swabs directly to their eyes. The San Francisco Chronicle quoted a county official as saying the tactic was humane.
Pepper-Spray Suit
Nine environmental activists filed a federal civil rights suit against Humboldt County, California, authorities after a series of brutal pepper-spray incidents over the last five weeks. County deputies were videotaped grappling with people at several protests against logging plans for old-growth redwoods, forcing their eyelids open, and applying pepper-spray-soaked cotton swabs directly to their eyes. The San Francisco Chronicle quoted a county official as saying the tactic was humane.
