This story and picture of paint-covered magazines really doesn't add up, so I did some digging and found some interesting stuff. 1/many
First of all, the paint goes entirely unremarked on and makes no sense. However, reporting from various sources indicates that federal agents claim that they are being hit with balloons full of paint. 🤔
Oh really, you don't say? Well, here's a Reuters photo from yesterday of a DHS police officer covered in red paint.

Source (slide 2): https://mobile.reuters.com/news/picture/top-photos-of-the-day-idUSRTX7M1JR
Somewhere in the comments, someone pointed out that those look like Magpul PMAG magazines: https://mobile.reuters.com/news/picture/top-photos-of-the-day-idUSRTX7M1JR
Huh, would you look at that: Colt sells an M4 variant to law enforcement that comes stock with several Magpul accessories, including 30 round PMAGs.

https://www.colt.com/detail-page/enh-patrol-rif-556-115-301
You know who buys a lot of guns from Colt? CBP. ~$325k dollars worth in the last two years:

https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=DEPARTMENT_FULL_NAME%3A%22HOMELAND+SECURITY%2C+DEPARTMENT+OF%22+GLOBAL_VENDOR_NAME%3A%22COLT%27S+MANUFACTURING+COMPANY+LLC%22&x=0&y=0
The most recent of those purchases came from the ICE Office of Training and Tactical Programs, and was for $75k worth of (get this) "Colt M4 Repair Parts".
In 2019, ICE bought $192k worth of Colt "replacement parts and accessories."

https://fpds.gov/common/jsp/LaunchWebPage.jsp?command=execute&requestid=109454109&version=1.5

Strange that they have such a large investment in accessories for exactly the guns that use the magazines pictured above. 🤔🤔🤔
I mean, I dunno what happened, but the simplest explanation is that a DHS officer with a Colt M4 was carrying those magazines in a chest rig, and then got hit in the neck region with a red paint balloon. How they ended up in a bag (if there ever was a bag), I have no idea.
This lie is so transparent that it only took me an hour to find everything in this thread linking the paint covered magazines back to DHS.
If the mags did come a DHS officer who got hit with paint, then I’d have to wonder:
- What use do they foresee for live ammunition?
- Why were the mags left behind? (Seems reckless.)
- Where did the Molotov cocktails come from and why were they (supposedly) in the same bag?
Your guess is as good as mine why a DHS officer would be carrying Molotov cocktails, but some of the potential explanations are deeply unsettling.
A few corrections, starting with the link to the mags. I pasted the wrong link in that tweet, but here's the product page for Magpul PMAGs: https://magpul.com/firearm-accessories/pmag30ar-m4genm3-5-56x45.html?mp_global_color=118
I have severely undersold how much money has been invested in Colt weapons. DHS as a whole has spent a metric fuckton of money on Colt weapons in the last five years, including $3.9 million dollars on M4A1 rifles purchased by CBP in 2015.
Also:
- $1.25m on Colt weapons parts (ICE, 2017)
- $1.1m on Colt weapons parts (ICE, 2015)
- $700k on Colt firearm parts (ICE, 2015)
- $500k on Colt firearm parts (ICE, 2015)

More here: https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?q=DEPARTMENT_FULL_NAME%3A%22HOMELAND+SECURITY%2C+DEPARTMENT+OF%22+PRODUCT_OR_SERVICE_CODE%3A%221005%22+VENDOR_FULL_NAME%3A%22COLT+DEFENSE+LLC%22&s=FPDS.GOV&templateName=1.5.1&indexName=awardfull&x=0&y=0&sortBy=OBLIGATED_AMOUNT&desc=Y
Many people reasonably pointing out that the mags are very common and compatible with a wide range of AR style weapons: https://twitter.com/alyssam_infosec/status/1287872383320068097?s=21 https://twitter.com/alyssam_infosec/status/1287872383320068097
My thinking runs in the other direction: it’s not that the magazine automatically means it was a particular gun, it’s that the preponderance of AR-style weapons at the protests appear to be carried by federal law enforcement, and those are the magazines that they would have. 🤷🏼‍♂️
😂
https://twitter.com/stuartpb/status/1287878909103493121?s=21 https://twitter.com/stuartpb/status/1287878909103493121
https://twitter.com/sarahdvictoria/status/1287883487026884609?s=21 https://twitter.com/sarahdvictoria/status/1287883487026884609
https://twitter.com/sarahdvictoria/status/1287884237954195457?s=21 https://twitter.com/sarahdvictoria/status/1287884237954195457
Another photo of an officer covered in paint: https://twitter.com/mathieulrolland/status/1287511718499766272?s=21 https://twitter.com/mathieulrolland/status/1287511718499766272
Here’s video of CBP officers carrying rifles who have been hit with paint: https://twitter.com/bgonthescene/status/1287332233338949633?s=21 https://twitter.com/bgonthescene/status/1287332233338949633
Here are some federal agents carrying rifles with the magazines visible who are covered in paint.

https://twitter.com/bgonthescene/status/1287492154609164288?s=21 https://twitter.com/bgonthescene/status/1287492154609164288
Close up of the magazine.
Twitch screen cap of a busted paint balloon from @ConcreteReports: https://twitter.com/alex281832/status/1287684596935647232?s=21 https://twitter.com/alex281832/status/1287684596935647232
More paint pics:
https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1287842935816491009?s=21 https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1287842935816491009
Police were even confiscating orange paint: https://twitter.com/mikebalsamo1/status/1287606656608555009?s=21 https://twitter.com/mikebalsamo1/status/1287606656608555009
https://twitter.com/stuartpb/status/1287901639743963136?s=21 https://twitter.com/stuartpb/status/1287901639743963136
Estimated cost of the ammunition at publicly available prices is $70-80, which seems unlikely to be randomly left behind by a civilian: https://twitter.com/keisisqrl/status/1287784718042140672?s=21 https://twitter.com/keisisqrl/status/1287784718042140672
The original tweet from Portland police, which told a somewhat different story and was later changed: https://twitter.com/blue_corolla/status/1287780737874137092?s=21 https://twitter.com/blue_corolla/status/1287780737874137092
Justice Department says they were also confiscating paint and sprayers: https://twitter.com/thejusticedept/status/1287902077050593283?s=21 https://twitter.com/thejusticedept/status/1287902077050593283
Using paint was suggested two days ago on Reddit (probably not the first time, but garnered a lot of attention): https://www.reddit.com/r/AntifascistsofReddit/comments/hxse80/just_an_idea_to_our_friends_in_the_us_portland/
Just an Idea to our friends in the US (Portland for now)

Posted in r/AntifascistsofReddit by u/MrskeletalGOON • 536 points and 28 comments

https://www.reddit.com/r/AntifascistsofReddit/comments/hxse80/just_an_idea_to_our_friends_in_the_us_portland/
For everyone suggesting that the mags were painted intentionally: https://twitter.com/adam_northam/status/1287923314011377665?s=21
Posted already, but adding this to the end of the thread because it partially confirms my conjecture above but highlights EXACTLY where the magazines were being carried by feds hit with paint: https://twitter.com/karlhigley/status/1288111271603126273
You can follow @karlhigley.
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