Use of bayonets for crowd control

[1] Prior to the advent of less-lethal weapons, police and military forces called upon for riot control were generally limited to firing live ammunition, or using bayonets or sabre charges.

[2] In modern times, bayonets have generally been used for the psychological effect their display has in calming an aggressive crowd, or to corral mobs by making it impossible for them to advance down certain streets or avenues by blocking them with lines of police or soldiers holding rifle-fixed bayonets in the "on guard" (or, en garde) position.

[3][4] According to reports of eyewitnesses and Human Rights Watch, police in Burundi used bayonets to control crowds during the aftermath of the failed 2015 Burundian coup d'état attempt.

[10] The British Army continued its use of the bayonet as a crowd control weapon into the 20th century, using it during operations during the Hong Kong 1956 riots.

[14] Two years later, in the protests that led to the Kent State shootings of 1970, two persons were injured after being bayoneted by soldiers of the Ohio National Guard.