I coined a new term. Teargaslighting.
It's a version of gaslighting designed to sow seeds of doubt in the media on their definition of the chemical agents used to disrupt protesters. Here it is used in a sentence.
"Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany used teargaslighting on CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about how Trump cleared out the peaceful protesters outside St. John's Church for his photo op."
Watch the clip of McEnany teargaslighting past the 30-second mark. I know what she was doing with her "teargaslighitng' bit but I wondered, if it's not her specific definition of tear gas, what was it? What I found was educational and disturbing.
The cops, military and the bureau of prison's riot squads probably used something from a company called PepperBall. I watched their training videos and then combined them in this editorial video of what happened outside St. John's Church.
On their website the company showed scenarios of the product use in housing projects, hospitals and prisons. Note the use of drones to disperse chemical agents. Is that next?
This product can cause real problems, especially with people who have compromised respiratory systems, here's the product safety sheet.
INHALATION: If breathing is difficult, administer oxygen. Symptoms may include: coughing, sneezing, burning eyes and skin, nausea and possibly vomiting. If high concentrations are inhaled, immediately remove subject to fresh air. Keep person calm. If not breathing, begin artificial respiration. If breathing difficulty persists, seek medical attention.
(I don't know for SURE PepperBall products were used. Many other brands of chemical irritants and incapacitant projectiles are in use. I'm sure the full investigation of the incident by the Biden administration will reveal details. New reporting from USA Today includes photos of one of the products used. They also reported how the White House attacked outlets for using the phrase tear gas.)
Credit: Nathan Baca @NathanBacaTV
To sum up: The police fired chemical irritant projectiles that cause difficulty breathing at people protesting the death George Floyd, who died when police knelled on his neck and back until he stopped breathing.
Instead of addressing what happened and why, the Trump Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, decided to challenge the press on what they called the chemical agent that irritated lungs. Or, to coin a phrase, teargaslighting.
