Is hexachloride green gas being used by ICE agents
Executive summary
There is reporting that federal immigration agents have deployed chemical irritants and green-colored smoke during recent protests and enforcement actions, prompting concern that hexachloroethane-in-minneapolis-and-portland">hexachloroethane (often called HC or HCE smoke) may have been used; however, no publicly released, independently verified forensic evidence conclusively proves ICE used hexachloroethane in the Minneapolis incident or others cited to date [1] [2] [3]. Official responses have included denials or equivocations and calls for investigation, while local scientists, journalists and advocacy outlets have raised alarms based on visual evidence, symptom patterns and historical uses of HC smoke [4] [5] [6].
1. What reporters and residents actually observed: green smoke and chemical irritants
Witnesses, local reporters and outlets documented large volumes of tear gas and smoke canisters at recent ICE confrontations, including descriptions of green-tinted smoke and canisters left at scenes after an ICE shooting in Minneapolis, and families transported to hospitals after exposure to “chemical irritants” deployed by federal agents [1] [2] [7]. Community media and independent photojournalists described green smoke coming from devices they and protesters believed were fired by federal agents, and residents reported acute stinging eyes, respiratory distress and children taken to ambulances—symptoms consistent with chemical irritants used for crowd control [3] [2] [7].
2. Why hexachloroethane (HC/HCE) became a focal point
Hexachloroethane has a documented history as a component in so-called “HC smoke” formulations and in certain munitions and industrial uses, and its name has circulated in coverage of prior Portland deployments and in municipal inquiries into federal crowd-control munitions [6] [8] [9]. Local officials and advocates have explicitly raised concerns about HC smoke near ICE facilities in Portland, and toxicology profiles note HC-related risks when degassing agents or smoke compositions undergo high-temperature reactions—facts that have made hexachloroethane a plausible candidate when observers report green, noxious smoke [8] [10] [6].
3. Scientific and investigative claims — what has been asserted and what’s been verified
A small set of scientists and independent writers have asserted that a “green poisonous gas” used by federal agents in past Portland events was identified as hazardous and distinct from ordinary tear gas, but those claims have appeared in non-peer-reviewed venues and advocacy outlets, and the reporting available here does not include a publicly released chain-of-custody laboratory analysis tying a hexachloroethane signature to munitions fired by ICE in Minneapolis or elsewhere [5] [3]. Major outlets and local government statements confirm use of chemical irritants by federal agents but stop short of publicly confirming specific chemical formulas in the recent Minneapolis incidents [1] [2] [4].
4. Official posture, denials and legal context
Federal and state leaders have offered mixed statements: judges and local officials have found that federal agents deployed chemical irritants and ordered limitations or expressed outrage, while some political figures initially denied chemical-agent use before backtracking; those legal and political developments underline there is recognized deployment of irritants but not an accepted, public forensic admission that hexachloroethane specifically was used by ICE [4] [9] [11].
5. Bottom line and investigative gaps
Based on available reporting, it is accurate to say ICE and other federal agents have used chemical irritants and smoke munitions that produced green smoke and caused injuries and medical visits, and hexachloroethane is a plausible suspect given past uses and municipal concerns; however, none of the provided sources contains a definitive, independently verified lab result publicly linking hexachloroethane to the specific incidents attributed to ICE in Minneapolis or the Portland events in the documents here [1] [3] [5] [10]. Absent that forensic confirmation or an explicit admission from responsible agencies, the claim that “hexachloride green gas” (hexachloroethane) was used by ICE remains unproven in the public record supplied.