Free Republic

Hundreds of rioters have been charged, convicted and sentenced for joining the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. Unlike their cases, Samuel Lazar’s appears to have been resolved in secret — kept under seal with no explanation, even after his release from prison. Lazar, 37, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, was arrested in July 2021 on charges that he came to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, dressed in tactical gear and protective goggles, and used chemical spray on officers who were desperately trying to beat back the angry Donald Trump supporters. There is no public record of a conviction or a...

One of the most quoted and controversial figures used in the debate about how effective bear spray is “98%”. The figure is sprayed about (pun intended) promiscuously and irresponsibly. From thetrek.com, quoting Tom Smith: Ninety-eight percent of people who used bear spray escaped injury (with 2% being knocked over but not killed) as opposed to only about 50% of people using guns. The number traces back to a paper authored by Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, published in 2008. The paper is “Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska“. It is the seminal paper that launched bear spray as a...

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof used an April 22 op-ed to advise his readers to consider using bear spray against home intruders instead of firearms. Kristof’s suggestion was couched in an op-ed written to persuade readers that having a gun in their home actually makes them less safe. He claimed the idea that a gun in the home makes someone safer is actually a “delusion” and he linked to a study from 2017 to support his point.

Scene five hours after Leah Lokan was Killed by Grizzly Bear in Ovando, MTIn the early morning hours of July 6, 2021, in the village of Ovando, Montana, mere feet from several buildings, Leah Lokan was attacked by a 417 pound grizzly bear. She valiantly used bear spray in an attempt to stop the attack. The bear spray failed. Ms Lokan was a small but strong woman. She was killed in the unprovoked predatory attack. Leah Lokan as remembered by a friend.Leah Lokan facebook image link While not the first bear spray fatality in 2021, the attack and defensive failure...

Photo by Hubert Esquirol, Stephanie's father. from cbc.ca, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten On 21 August, 2020, at McKie Lack, Saskatchewan, Canada, a 44-year-old mother of two was attacked and killed by a large black bear as she talked on a satellite phone with her father. The father said he was talking to her when he heard a gurgling noise, and was no longer able to communicate with her. Nine minutes later, his son-in-law, Stephanie's husband, Curtis Blais, called him and told him of the attack. Curtis had tried bear spray, but it did not work, so he got...

Speculation abounded Sunday after President Trump was photographed with what appeared to be a new hairstyle during a surprise visit Sunday to a Virginia church. Trump’s slicked-back hair was a far cry from his usual look, which has been the subject of mockery in the pages of The New Yorker and "Saturday Night Live."

Twenty-four Amazon workers in New Jersey have been hospitalized after a robot accidentally tore a can of bear repellent spray in a warehouse, officials said. The two dozen workers were treated at five local hospitals, Robbinsville Township communications and public information officer John Nalbone told ABC News. One remains in critical condition and 30 additional workers were treated at the scene.

A Danish far-right group faced criticism on Wednesday after handing out "asylum spray" to be used against violent migrants. In the southern town of Haderslev, 137 cans of relabelled hair spray were given away to the public on Saturday by the far-right Party of the Danes, which does not hold any seats in parliament. "The asylum spray is a concrete reaction against more Danes feeling insecure," party leader Daniel Carlsen, a former member of a Nazi group that he now distances himself from, told AFP. "Some Danish girls don't dare to go outside after it gets dark, partly because there...

Authorities in Tennessee have released video of a shooting in which a white police officer kills a black woman who was approaching him while wielding a medieval-style ax. The video, released Thursday, shows Gallatin Officer James Spray telling 40-year-old Laronda Sweatt, who was holding the ax, to stop approaching him multiple times before fatally shooting her. "I want to know why he did her like that," Ella Sweatt said. "He didn't have to."

ELK GROVE (CBS13) – An Elk Grove mayoral candidate’s campaign sign was spray-painted, and the person accused of doing it is also a candidate. “And I just about fell over,” said Sophia Scherman, whose sign was vandalized. “I couldn’t believe when I heard the name.” That name – fellow candidate LaWanna Montgomery. For Scherman, this isn’t about politics — it’s personal. “At this point in time, an apology is too late,” she said Monday. A witness called the cops after seeing someone with a bag over their head spray-painting a Scherman sign late Saturday night. Police say the suspect’s car...

Still Occupying: Looking back on a year of pepper spray, parks, even some petitionsBy Phill Courtney Posted: 10/13/2012 12:13:43 PM PDT One year later, the reviews are decidedly mixed. Some say the Occupy movement failed because there's been no fundamental, nor even a discernible change in how our country's run because they didn't have a plan, while others argue that Occupy succeeded and is still succeeding because it gave a voice to those who are too often voiceless. But perhaps the truth, as if often does, lies somewhere in between. **SNIP** One of Occupy's most important messages is that it...

College Pepper-Spraying Incident Begs Question: Who Will Pay for 'Free'?By Paul Roy | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 1 hr 41 mins ago COMMENTARY | Exactly what are our children learning in college these days anyway? On Tuesday, April 3, a group of students at Santa Monica College, a community college, were protesting a proposed fee hike for some of the most popular courses. This led to some arrests and the use of pepper spray by the local police. According to a report in the Associated Press, the students were chanting, "No cuts, no fee, education should be free." This statement...

Trade Secrets Act keeps pepper spray ingredients "secret"Story Created: Feb 06, 2012 at 6:28 PM FORT MYERS, Fla. - Law enforcement officers rave about pepper spray as a way to get compliance without drawing their guns. In recent weeks we've seen it gain scrutiny as law enforcement uses it as a way to control crowds at occupy events. But if you think it's natural and made of peppers, you're only about two-percent right. In fact, some ingredients in pepper spray are a highly guarded trade secret. **SNIP** Mesloh says no one regulates this industry to keep it from happening, not...

Pepper-Spray Used at UC Davis Becomes 'Hit' on AmazonBy Shailesh Shrivastava November 29, 2011 5:56 AM EST Since a campus policeman pepper-sprayed Occupy protesters at the University of California, Davis, the campus has been witnessing protests almost every day. **SNIP** The pepper spray Lt. John Pike used has become famous since the brand name and product id have now been registered in people's mind. Amazon users have posted many creative pictures under the product "Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray." The sarcastic comments as the product review also show that people are in no...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products. The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand. Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the...

(AP) Health officials say the first doses of swine flu vaccine will be the nasal spray version. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that about 3.4 million doses of nasal spray vaccine will be available the first week of October. The government expects 195 million doses will be shipped out by the end of the year, most of them shots. The nasal spray is approved for ages 2 to 49. It's not recommended for some of the people at most risk from severe swine flu complications. That includes pregnant women, children younger than 2, and people with...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first roll-out of vaccines against the new swine flu virus will be 3.4 million doses of MedImmune's needle-free nose spray, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The CDC's Dr Jay Butler said the vaccines would be distributed the first week of October. "Initially we anticipate that 3.4 million doses of vaccine will be available," Butler told a telephone briefing. "We estimate that the amount of vaccine that will be available will increase through October." He said eventually delivery would rise to about 20 million doses a week. The United States has...

A man was handcuffed, arrested and dragged before a court after falling off the settee with laughter while watching Have I Got News For You. Christopher Cocker, 36, was enjoying the BBC1 show when a joke made by panellist Paul Merton had him doubled up with laughter. He collapsed on the floor - but the thud startled his downstairs neighbour who, believing he had collapsed, called police. Officers arrived and said Cocker was initially co-operative but became 'aggressive' when they asked his name and tried to shut his front door. He was eventually disabled with parva spray through the gap...

Olympia Police officers pepper spray protesters lined up at the Port of Olympia, Saturday morning, Nov. 10, 2007, in Olympia, Wash. At least 12 people have been arrested today as protests of military-cargo shipments from the Port of Olympia moved to downtown and the Plum Street entrance to Interstate 5, according to the The Olympian. (AP Photo/The Olympian, Tony Overman)

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- A woman in Hot Springs has been arrested after she allegedly exchanged blasts of pepper spray with two police officers. Police said Lawanda Diane Clay, 38, produced a can of pepper spray when two officers were investigating a disturbance complaint Sunday. Clay refused to drop the can, and Cpl. Carl Holland used his own pepper spray on her, police said. Clay responded by allegedly spraying Holland and then the other officer, Patrick Langley, police said. Holland hit Clay twice in the leg with his night stick and she dropped the spray and was handcuffed.