Folks at today’s #seattleprotest should be aware that the visible blue dye is only one layer of identification.

SPD disclosed that they're using synthetic DNA to mark targets invisibly to the naked eye. DNA marking is unique per incident and cannot be seen except under UV light.

DNA markers are designed for unique incident identification. This means each individual canister should be assumed to spreads a unique DNA marker.

So, different days and different locations of #seattleprotests will imvolve different markers.

Removal is designed to be difficult and will depend on which specific base compound was deployed in a given usage.

It’s possible that different canisters may potentially use different base compounds.

SPD could, for example, tag targets with two different versions of base compounds in any single interaction to make removal more complicated.

If you see two canisters deployed in a single instance, then assume they may involve different bases to increase removal difficulty.

Clothes & shoes should be destroyed. They may betray you weeks later when you least expect it.

For skin, one may try a variety of approaches such as alcohol wipes, gritty mechanics soap, baking soda with lemon juice, and/or scrubbing with vinegar.

Check results under UV light.

If the UV light shows none of these approaches are working, then your last resort is frequent hard scrubbing to remove dead skin cells until you eventually shed the DNA marking off.

So, a bit more background for those curious.

DNA is what you think it is: biological material which is fundamentally a big, long, unique code (e.g. GATTACAGGCTAAGCT…) for identification and tracing.

Targets which have this DNA on them can be reliably linked to an incident.

Prosecutors can tell the court “We know this person was involved with XYZ incident because they had this unique tracking code on them”.

That weakens your legal defense if you’ve been charged with a crime because it effectively acts like a witness against you.

DNA marking was originally derived from botanicals and use to apply unique codes to property to prove ownership. For example, it helps people recover stolen bikes or jewelry.

Later, it became a security spray used by merchants to tag smash-n-grab thieves as they exited stores.

These days the unique codes are whipped up in synthetic DNA labs and combined some base substance that might be a spray, mist, or vapor. Put that in a canister and you can deploy it against crowds.

Anyone it touches gets marked with that tracing code GATTACAGGCTAAGCT…

Police keep record of which code was used when & where.

If you’ve got that code stuck to your skin or clothes or shoes or umbrella or camera or whatever, that serves as proof you were at that place at that time when & where a crime happened.

And that’s basically how it works.

Ugh.

For those claiming there is no such thing as DNA marking spray, it’s been in use around the world for at least a decade already and I cordially invite you to search as many credible sources as it’ll take for you to realize DNA marking spray is real. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dna+marking 

For those looking for additional citation, journalists from @WWConverge were reporting live on the scene at Broadway/Pine earlier today about the use of DNA marking spray.

DNA marking spray is real and has been around a while.

Someone shared this photo of an orange marking round manufactured by CTS. Based on their website, it seems CTS does not appear to make DNA-based markers. So, it should be safe to conclude this particular orange marker would not be a DNA marker. https://twitter.com/okrrrralexa/status/1287204122593120256

Here is the original snippet from @WWConverge today. Afterward, they expressed on the stream a desire for additional clarification from SPD.

If tagged with DNA marking spray, at least one knowledgable scientist suggests using hydrogen peroxide could be highly effective at removal from exposed skin.

Clothing, shoes, phones, and other objects would seem more difficult to decontaminate. I'd recommend discard/destroy.