Key facts
- A report documented 412 incidents of alleged misuse of crowd control weapons during anti-immigration protests in the US.
- The incidents, occurring from June 2025 to May 2026, resulted in 203 documented injuries.
- Injuries included blindings, traumatic brain injuries, lacerations, fractures, and contusions.
- Department of Homeland Security officials were responsible for over 64% of misuse incidents.
- The report highlighted the use of weapons like tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and stun grenades.
A report released this week by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley (HRC) has documented hundreds of incidents of alleged misuse of crowd control weapons during anti-immigration protests across the United States. The report, which includes an interactive map, identified 412 verified incidents between June 2025 and May 2026 where weapons such as tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets were allegedly used improperly.
The researchers documented 203 injuries stemming from this alleged misuse, with some individuals suffering permanent harm including blindings, traumatic brain injuries, lacerations, fractures, and contusions. The report cautions that the actual number of injuries is likely higher, as invisible injuries like chemical damage or chronic pain are difficult to assess through investigative techniques.
Incidents highlighted in the report include protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, where ICE officials pepper-sprayed Senator Andy Kim, and local and state law enforcement deployed tear gas and batons, leading to numerous injuries. The report notes that the use of these weapons has become more widespread as opposition to the Trump administration's immigration policies has grown.
According to the findings, officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including ICE and Customs and Border Protection, were responsible for over 64% of the documented misuse incidents. Local law enforcement also played a significant role, particularly in cities like Los Angeles. The report links an increase in weapon use to immigration enforcement surge operations under former Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino, stating that incident counts rose sharply in cities where federal directions to escalate enforcement were issued.
The scale of weapon deployment and alleged misuse by law enforcement during these protests has drawn criticism and has been compared to the response during the 2020 racial justice protests. The report documented that over 90% of the misuse incidents occurred in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Newark, and Portland. Since January 2025, federal immigration officials have been implicated in at least 11 shooting deaths during enforcement operations.