For the past decade, as inexpensive laser pointers have become more available, protesters around the world have added them to their tool kits. They are used to distract or obstruct riot police and their cameras and drones, as a colorful way to celebrate and show solidarity in groups, or as a method of communication. Recently, in Hong Kong, police officers have arrested people for the possession of laser pointers, classifying the devices as offensive weapons that could injure someone’s eyes—which has prompted even more protests. Gathered here, images from unrest in Chile, Hong Kong, and Iraq over the past few months, where demonstrators are using lasers as tools of defiance.
1. Demonstrators point green laser lights at riot-police officers during a protest against policies of Sebastián Piñera and long-standing inequality on November 15, 2019, in Santiago, Chile.
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2. A protester holds a Chilean flag near a riot-police officer and vehicle amid laser beams during a protest against Chile's government in Santiago on November 12, 2019.
Ivan Alvarado / Reuters
3. A police officer stands guard with a gun as protesters aim laser pointers at him outside the Mong Kok Police Station on September 6, 2019, in Hong Kong, China.
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4. Demonstrators use laser pointers during a protest against the government in Santiago on November 15, 2019.
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5. People point lasers at a hovering helicopter during a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the Umbrella Movement, in the Admiralty area of Hong Kong on September 28, 2019.
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6. Demonstrators point lasers at riot-police officers during a protest in Santiago, Chile, on November 15, 2019.
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7. Lasers light up riot-police officers on November 15, 2019, in Santiago.
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8. Demonstrators use laser pointers during a protest against the government in Santiago on November 15, 2019.
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9. Anti-government demonstrators shine laser pointers at police during a protest in Santiago on November 14, 2019.
Esteban Felix / AP
10. Protesters aim lasers at the face of a man who was confronting them in Hong Kong, on August 31, 2019.
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11. Protesters use laser pointers during a rally to demonstrate against the arrests of people caught in possession of laser pointers, which police classified as offensive weapons because of their ability to harm people's eyes, in Hong Kong on August 7, 2019.
Kin Cheung / AP
12. Protesters shine laser pointers on the Hong Kong Space Museum during a rally to demonstrate against the arrests of people caught in possession of laser pointers on August 7, 2019.
Kin Cheung / AP
13. Iraqi demonstrators use lasers during ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 6, 2019.
Thaier Al-Sudani / Reuters
14. Demonstrators and riot-police vehicles are seen amid laser beams during a protest against Chile's government in Santiago on November 12, 2019.
Ivan Alvarado / Reuters
15. A policeman stands guard in Mong Kok Police Station as protesters point lasers at him from the Prince Edward MTR station in Hong Kong on September 6, 2019.
Philip Fong / AFP / Getty
16. Demonstrators use green laser lights during a protest in Santiago on November 15, 2019.
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17. Protesters shine laser pointers during a demonstration at the Yuen Long MTR station on August 21, 2019, in Hong Kong.
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18. A pro-democracy protester points a high-powered laser pointer at other protesters who had gathered on Lion Rock from a human-chain and lantern rally held on Victoria Peak on September 13, 2019, in Hong Kong.
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19. Anti-government demonstrators point lasers at riot police during a protest in Santiago on November 15, 2019.
Luis Hidalgo / AP
20. Laser lights shine from behind a demonstrator during a protest in Santiago on November 18, 2019.
Pablo Sanhueza / Reuters
21. Pro-democracy protesters gathered at a rally in Hong Kong point laser beams at the Hong Kong Space Museum after a student leader was arrested for possession of a laser pointer on August 7, 2019.
Billy H. C. Kwok / Getty