Teargasgate: Was Tear Gas Used On Protestors At Lafayette Square?: No, But...

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   OK. If, behind the veil of ignorance, I'd been asked "Are pepper balls tear gas?," I'd have unequivocally said no. Which, I think, is the right answer.

   But the Park Police spokesman says, basically: 

(a) No, we didn't use tear gas--tear gas is CN or CS. 

(b) But yes, we used pepper balls (as we've acknowledged).

(c) But pepper balls put crap in the air upon impact that is sort of tear-gas-like in that it's an irritant

(d) And a reasonable layperson might think it's tear gas (or should be called 'tear gas')

(e) So, that person would reasonably conclude that we lied.

(f) So, we probably should have thought of that, and should have said that we did use tear gas--even though we didn't--in order to avoid even the appearance of having lied.

   I think that's an eminently reasonable--in fact, charitable--answer. It's even bending over backward, to some extent. 

   If pepper balls are, in fact, the closest thing to tear gas that they used, then they were right, and did not lie. But neither did the protestors. This really was a kind of semantic disagreement between pros and laypeople. The pros are right--both technically and in spirit. But the protestors have an excuse for spreading falsehoods--they reasonably believed them.

   Now...this leaves open the important question: Were the protestors peaceful? And the answer to that question would, it would seem mostly answer the question Was it permissible to use pepper balls on them?