fallcaesar:

It is necessary to understand that the police army at Standing Rock wants to start killing the water protectors. You don’t deliberately inflict hypothermia on people, especially older people, unless you are cognizant of the fact that this can be lethal. Their use of water cannons in this context is lethal force. I imagine they’re delighted at the opportunity; they’ve only held off on live ammunition this long because massacres are bad PR. 

(Oh, and a quick sidenote: “rubber” bullets are not made of rubber. They are metal pellets with a thin rubber coating. You can absolutely kill or severely injure someone with a rubber bullet.)