Demand Investigation and Accountability for Chemical Agent Use in Minneapolis

I am writing to demand immediate action regarding the deployment of toxic chemical agents by federal agents in a residential Minneapolis neighborhood this Wednesday night. This incident represents a dangerous overreach of federal authority that endangered American families in their own homes. Federal agents deployed green chemical gas containing hexachloroethane in a residential area with houses, apartments, and families. This is not standard tear gas. Independent testing from previous use in Portland confirmed this gas produces zinc chloride smoke when deployed. The U.S. military discontinued its use decades ago due to toxicity concerns. Health effects include burning skin and eyes, coughing, vomiting, chest pain, serious respiratory injury, and risk of delayed and long-term lung damage. It poses particular danger to infants, children, pregnant people, and those with respiratory conditions. The gas spread beyond the street into yards and homes. Federal agents also threw flash bangs at a family attempting to leave the area due to smoke. This family had small children including a 6-month-old infant who required hospitalization by ambulance. The parents were not protesters but simply trying to get home. The mother appeared on Good Morning America with her four children in distress. ICE and other federal agents exceeded their authority. They are not supposed to perform crowd control in residential areas. Their jurisdiction is limited to specific federal functions, and crowd control in city streets is not among them. This was not federal property or a federal courthouse. These were American homes. I urge you to demand a full investigation into this incident, hold accountable the agents and agencies responsible, prohibit the use of hexachloroethane-based chemical agents against civilians, and clarify the jurisdictional limits of federal agents operating in residential areas. American neighborhoods are not hostile territory, and our families deserve protection from government overreach.