Just in time for the DNC and RNC protests, we’ve unearthed this mighty tome of knowledge. Within its pages you will learn about most every less-lethal weapon and the police’s disposal, and hopefully a bit about how to protect yourself. Print out double-sided, fold and staple. Note that we haven’t found an A4 formatted copy yet, so only imposed-letter and online-viewing versions are currently available.

The zine can be found on the website of Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness

More specifically you can download the 8.5x11 version here and the web viewing version here

from the introduction to the zine

This work is intended for educational purposes. And while the information within is accurate to our knowledge, we don’t have first-hand experience with more than a handful of these weapons. Do your own research and don’t ever assume that you’re invulnerable.

The government just loves technology. They always assume that every problem—whether social, martial, economic, or ecological—is just waiting for some magic device to solve it. This is a weakness of theirs.

This zine is filled with a lot of scary information. The phrase “non-lethal” is out and “less-lethal” is in—because that’s just what these weapons are: a bit less lethal than being shot with a gun. Stun guns, teargas, baton rounds... these things are scary. But everything in here can be counteracted through DIY means. Most of this crap costs the state anywhere from $25-100 a shot and can be blocked by second-hand sports gear or hardware store respirators. And the thing is, most of these weapons work primarily on fear. Chemical weapons, batons, flash-bangs... it’s all just to get us to run away and to not challenge the police.

This information is presented so that we may better educate ourselves about what we can expect on the streets. The focus is on the United States, but of course these weapons are available throughout the world. Every government has its own style of repression: some play good cop, some play bad cop, some will let protestors get away with a lot and then just might kill or disappear some of them. In the USA, it’s condescending authority: circumstance be damned, law & order are in charge. But the cops here are at least marginally accountable. They kill individuals all the time, but they’re not likely to start killing protestors anytime soon; there are too many of us and they know they’d never hear the end of it...