When the US border control agents used tear gas against migrants seeking asylum at the southern border, it was a high-profile incident in a decade that has seen rising use of tear gas around the world.
Non-lethal weapons are a multibillion-dollar-a-year business and the industry seems to be growing. The industry could be worth more than $9bn by 2022, according to Allied Market Research, a company that does industry forecasting. CSI supplies not only Egypt, but also Israel, Bahrain and US police departments, like the one in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to Amnesty International and internal letters published by the Egypt Independent newspaper, Combined Systems, Inc shipped tens of thousands of rounds of tear gas to the Egyptian government between 2011 and 2013, even as the crackdown on protesters became more deadly.
The backlash against tear gas grew as more was sent to the country. After a particularly brutal series of clashes in 2011, dock workers in Suez refused a shipment of tear gas from CSI, saying they did not want to participate in further pain or death.
-BBC
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