Ed Markey: ‘Disarm’ All Police Officers of ‘Weapons of War,’ Ban Tear Gas

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) on Monday called to “disarm” all police officers of “weapons of war” and demanded a nationwide ban on various nonlethal forms of protection, including tear gas.

Markey, who recently won his primary race in Massachusetts as he seeks reelection to the U.S. Senate, wrote, “Portland police routinely attack peaceful protestors with brute force. We must disarm these officers, and every other police department in America, of weapons of war,” adding he supports a nationwide ban on tear gas and other nonlethal tools police use to protect themselves and community members.

Markey’s statement follows more than three months of protests and unrest in Portland, as well as in several other U.S. cities, sparked by the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.