DHS Official: 113 Eye Injuries to Federal Police During Portland Protests

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The deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security said recently that 113 federal officers guarding a courthouse in Portland (OR) suffered eye injuries from activists armed with lasers.

According to the New York Post , Ken Cuccinelli testified before a Senate subcommittee hearing on the violent protests in Oregon, saying that a number of officers have had "days-long blindness."

"So far they’ve all kind of come back, if you will," Cuccinelli said. "But you also get what's called flash blindness. Think of it as the old Kodak cameras where you get that blue spot and you can’t quite see your entire field of vision for a period."

Cuccinelli said that rioters appear to be aiming the lasers to maximize damage to officers' eyes.