First victims of FN 303. Massacre in Geneva
On March 29, 2003, at the Geneva-Cornavin railway station (Switzerland), about 150 anti-capitalists, participants in a peaceful demonstration against the WTO, were preparing to board the train. Suddenly, the demonstrators were attacked by police officers (30-50 people) and began to beat them with truncheons. Since there were not only demonstrators on the platform, random people also fell under the blows of truncheons. The police even broke into the carriages and beat everyone there, indiscriminately. As a result, there were dozens of victims with various injuries. However, a woman with an unusual wound stood out among them. She had a small but very bleeding wound in the area of her right temple.
Union secretary Denise Chervet was injured. A foreign object hit the cheekbone and got stuck in it. During the operation, many fragments of transparent plastic were removed. However, not everything was extracted: some fragments penetrated so deeply into the bone that, due to their proximity to the facial nerve, they could not even be removed surgically.
According to experts, the recovered fragments belonged to a projectile fired from FN 303. At first, police representatives strongly denied the presence, and even more so the use of this product. But the scandal was gaining momentum, and under the pressure of the media, as well as public organizations, the authorities were forced to admit that a new (at that time) non-lethal weapon was used at the station against the demonstrators.
A week later (April 5, 2003), Geneva police chief Christian Coquoz submitted his resignation. And two years later (November 2005), news flashed in the press: Federal Prosecutor Christian Kokoz is heading the investigation into the Kudinov brothers' case (money laundering received during the construction of the Moscow Ring Road). This is not a namesake. It turned out that just 2 months after the scandal in the “Cornavin case” (June 2003), Monsieur Kokoz had already announced his candidacy for the post of magistrate in court (Cour de Justice). And I got this post. Apparently, he turned out to be a more worthy candidate than his competitor.
Police officer with FN 303 at the Swiss Railways carriage. Pay attention to the color of the body of the product. FN offers a choice of orange or black
Tragedy in Boston
This happened on October 21, 2004, after a baseball game (Major League Baseball 2004) in Boston, USA. The match ended with the victory of the local Boston Red Sox team over the New York Yankees. It is worth noting that there is a long-term “enmity” between these teams, which has been going on since 1919. This is perhaps the longest and most violent rivalry in the history of North American professional sports. Of course, the confrontation takes place not only between the players, but also between the fans. So, after the match, the fans of both teams staged riots on the streets of Boston. The fans of one team were jubilant, while the fans of the other, on the contrary, were worried about the defeat of their favorite team. There were also clashes between fans of different teams. Moreover, several hundred people participated on both sides.
Around 01:30 after midnight, police (both horse and foot) dispersed a crowd of about 3,000 fans. When the crowd departed, a girl was left lying on the sidewalk, bleeding from her nose and mouth. Several of her friends were bustling around, trying to help her. The guys later reported that they were just standing by the hot dog cart. Suddenly, someone nearby threw a bottle at the mounted police officer, which crashed near the horse and frightened her. The reared horse became the signal for the police to attack. Moments later, the girl standing next to the hot dogs screamed and then fell bloody.
The injured was Victoria Snelgrove, a 21-year-old journalism student at Emerson College. She was wounded in the eye. On the same night, the girl died in the hospital. The doctors reported that the fatal wound was caused by a projectile fired from FN 303. The projectile was filled with a filler like PAVA (with pepper extract). It hit the victim's eye, penetrated the brain, and there it shattered into fragments. Hot pepper. In the brain. Can you imagine?
The next day (October 22, 2004), Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that he would insist on banning the sale of alcohol outside the stadium during major competitions. The mayor did not resign, as did the chief of police in Geneva, Switzerland a year earlier. Mayor of Boston remained in office until 2014. At the time, the Boston Police Commissioner was a woman, Kathleen M. O'Toole. She was appointed by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino in February 2004. She also did not resign. There was a note in the media that on May 2, 2005, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole will release information regarding the settlement between the city of Boston and the family of the late Victoria Snellgrove. And on May 9, 2006, O'Toole turned 52. Then she officially announced that she was leaving the post of Police Commissioner, and moved to Ireland. And that's all. The incident is over.
Perhaps it was after the events described that the FN 303 product began to be classified not non-lethal (non-lethal), but less lethal (less lethal). Let me remind you that in addition to weapons, the manufacturer persistently offered me the INIWIC (Nonlethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course) training course. I suspect that this is directly related to the mutilation of a participant in the demonstration in Switzerland and the tragedy in the United States.
Military use of the FN 303
Facts confirming the use of FN 303 in Kosovo and Somalia were not found, but there is evidence that "humane" weapons were used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The American military in Iraq began to receive it around 2003. Before their trip to Iraq, future FN 303 operators took a special course at the Center for the Study of Non-Lethal Weapons at the Fort Leonard Wood military base (Missouri, USA). Until 2006, a non-lethal system could only be found in the arsenal of the military police. This fact is confirmed by an employee of the US Army Arsenal, Colonel John Coster. However, later, infantry units began to receive the FN 303, who used it along with their standard M16 and M4 rifles.
In Iraq, FN 303 were armed with 1-2 soldiers of the infantry squad (numbering 9 people). At the same time, some of them expressed concern that the use of humane weapons restricts their combat capabilities in a region where anything can happen at any second.
A soldier from the 172nd Assault Brigade then stated in an interview with the Army Times that their unit most often uses the FN 303 to shoot at vehicles that get too close to American convoys. The soldier added that they did not use them during the fighting in Mosul, as they were issued after arriving in Baghdad.
Another soldier stated that the main reason for adopting the FN 303 was the fight against slum dwellers from Sadr City (northeastern Baghdad). They constantly pelted American soldiers with stones. According to him, most of the stone throwers are children, throwing boulders at passing American cars from a distance of about 3 meters. At such a distance, the FN 303 projectile, when hit in the head, can inflict a fatal wound, - the fighter explained.
In addition to US Army personnel, FN 303 has also been seen in the hands of their coalition allies. In particular, the German Armed Forces.
In service
In the United States, the FN 303 is in service with the police, the Marine Corps, the Navy and Air Force, as well as the Border and Customs Service.
In addition to the United States, there is information that this special tool was purchased and operated by more than 10 states.
1. Argentina: special police forces.
2. Belgium: special police forces, police in Liege and Antwerp.
3. Bulgaria: ground forces and military police.
4. Georgia: police.
5. Libya: police.
6. Luxembourg: special police units.
7. Singapore: Coast Guard.
8. Turkey: special police forces.
9. Finland: police.
10. Switzerland: police.
11. Japan: Aichi Prefecture Special Investigation Department.
Application
Law enforcement
• Operations to prevent riots.
• Marking suspects in the crowd from a safe distance.
• Prevention of illegal activities.
• Detention of violators.
• Suppression of prison riots.
Army units
• Training of military personnel in conditions as close as possible to combat.
• Protection of special facilities where the use of firearms is impossible.
• Release of objects and hostages.
• Conducting special operations in urban environments.
Tuning FN 303
Sometimes it happens. I found out about this on one of the English-language portals. The user writes that he bought the FN 303 starting device for the occasion. Although used, he got it in good condition and fully equipped. He decided to use it for "peaceful purposes": paintball. How he got this special means - he does not write. One of the readers of that American post was right when he noticed that this cannot be bought in the Walmart supermarket chain. And it seems that the device is good for everyone, but the new owner, as an inveterate player, wanted to improve something in it and turned to a specialist. He thought about it and offered the owner a list of improvements. The owner agreed, they were carried out and he is pleased, uploads a photo with explanations to the forum.
Firstly, the “native” trigger was replaced with another one, such as ULT (Ultra Light Trigger) - with a shorter trigger travel. According to the owner, this not only increased the rate of fire, but also made it possible to save gas. It seems like the valve is open for a shorter period of time and the gas is consumed more economically. Secondly, a custom HammerHead barrel was installed on the marker. The upgraded marker has been painted in digital camouflage.
But that's not all. The changes also affected the sighting devices. The marker was fitted with a mechanical bow sight from HHA Sports and optics from Leupold. And in order to shoot battles "from the first person" (as in computer shooters), an action camera GoPro with a 22x zoom was mounted on the device. By the way, Finnish policemen also began to mount cameras for FN 303. Apparently, in order to prove the legality of their actions, if necessary.
Product FN 303 in the cinema
And closer to the end of the article, I traditionally cite shots from movies and video games in which FN 303 products were used.
RED (USA, 2010)
The Rippers / Repo Men (USA, 2010)
Games
The Hidden: Source (2005)
Double Agent / Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (2006)
At the end of the article, I want to add that, in addition to the described device, FNH also produces more compact weapons, for the same ammunition. There, too, is twisted - be healthy!
But I will write about him in the next article.
The author thanks for the help:
Bongo (Sergey Linnik)
Professors (Oleg Sokolov)
Alexandra Milyukova
