UC Berkeley Report: FN303 Launcher Causes Disproportionate Severe Injuries at Protests
A study of immigration-related demonstrations found the little-known weapon responsible for the worst injuries despite being used in less than 3% of misuse incidents.
What to know
- The FN303 less-lethal launcher caused a higher proportion of severe injuries than any other crowd-control weapon used at immigration-related protests from June 2025 to May 2026, despite accounting for less than 3% of documented misuse incidents.
- USC freshman Tucker Collins lost his right eye after being shot with an FN303 round at a Los Angeles protest on March 28, 2026; doctors removed plastic fragments and metal shards from his eye socket.
- A UC Berkeley and Physicians for Human Rights study documented over 400 incidents of crowd-control weapon misuse at immigration protests, the vast majority by Federal agents; the FN303's severe injury pattern emerged as an unexpected finding.
“I understood intimately that this is something that could happen. This is why I was there—to document these sorts of things happening.”
Tucker Collins, Protest attendee, aspiring filmmaker · Mother Jones ↗
Tucker Collins Protest attendee and USC freshmanDr. Rohini Haar Lead author, UC Berkeley Human Rights Center report; emergency room doctorHuman Rights Center at UC Berkeley Research institutionPhysicians for Human Rights Co-publisher of research reportFN Herstal Manufacturer of FN303 launcher
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
-
2
FN Herstal declines to address injury pattern
When asked about the FN303's history of severe injuries spanning its entire 23-year history, Henry de Harenne, Head of Communications at FN Herstal, declined to offer details on specific incidents.
“The review of specific incidents is a matter for the agencies concerned and the competent authorities.”
— Henry de Harenne -
M
This little-known weapon is responsible for some of the grisliest and most debilitating injuries in recent immigration-related protests across the US.
1 more of the top 2 · 3 posts in this stretch
-
J
Use of this weapon by DHS & police needs to be banned. [Mother Jones]: The Little-Known Weapon Behind Some of the Worst Protest Injuries in America DHS made a record buy of the FN303, a launcher with a 23-year trail of harm.By Beck Klein And Sasha Schell https://www. motherjones.com/criminal-justi…
-
-
1
UC Berkeley study reveals FN303 causes disproportionate severe injuries
A report by the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley and Physicians for Human Rights titled "Charting the Crackdown" analyzed misuse of crowd-control weapons at immigration-related protests from June 2025 through May 2026. Although the FN303 accounted for only 12 of 412 documented misuse incidents (less than 3%), it was responsible for a higher proportion of severe injuries than any other single weapon, with over half a dozen serious injuries documented.
“The FN303 is a unique example of something we were not looking for. To be honest, even I didn't know what an FN303 was.”
— Dr. Rohini Haar -
first by Mother Jones, 12d ago
-
-
background
Tucker Collins struck by FN303 round at LA protest, loses eye — USC freshman Tucker Collins was shot in the face with an FN303 less-lethal round while attending a No Kings protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. Doctors removed jagged plastic fragments and metal shards from his eye socket and removed his right eyeball.