Late one Friday night, I took a taxi to collect a friend from an inner-suburban nightspot. He had been in a fight and had been 'pepper sprayed' by the police. Upon finding him wet and almost blind, I kissed his cheek in greeting and winced. The fumes from his skin burned my eyes and irritated my skin.
Half an hour prior to my meeting him, my friend, Ibrahim (not his real name), a young Eritrean man, had been waiting for a taxi on a busy street outside of a club, to come and meet me elsewhere. While he waited, four men, unconnected to him, were removed from the same club for fighting inside.
The men attacked Ibrahim and a scuffle ensued. By the time the police had arrived, Ibrahim had been quite severely injured, but continued to fight against his attackers.
On their arrival, the police sprayed Oleorison Capsicum foam in Ibrahim's face.
The foam is derived from chillies, and is about 300 times as hot. Upon being sprayed, Ibrahim's breathing shortened and his chest and stomach muscles contracted, rendering him incapable of standing. His eyes and skin burned intensely, and excessive mucus blocked his passageways.
Ibrahim was blind and incapable, reeling against the pavement, yet a young policeman plied his body flat on his stomach, pinning his neck to the cold footpath with a booted foot.
With his face forced flat to the pavement, he overheard the police laughing about their good fortune that evening. As it turned out, one of Ibrahim's attackers had 17 warrants for his arrest, and only by the chance of Ibrahim's random assault had they found him that evening.
After some casual questioning of the nearby security, they discovered that Ibrahim had been a victim. Their assumption that Friday night violence between five young dark-skinned men was a consensual brawl rather than a random assault was incorrect.
Without apology, Ibrahim was told to 'move on', to buy his own water with which to quell the burning of his skin, and to stagger alone and wet into the cold evening and try to get home.
Oleoresin Capsicum foam is a standard method of riot control. It is considered a humane alternative to more brutal methods of police control, like batons or guns.
I have seen other people sprayed, and their pain is unbearable to watch. They whimper and shout like wounded animals,