Northwestern “disturbed” by NIPAS threats against student protesters Northwestern released an official statement saying it was “disturbed” by threats of violence toward student protesters by police officers from the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System. The threats — emails and texts by NIPAS officers, made public via Freedom of Information Act requests — included discussions of the use of chemical munitions against protesters on Halloween. Several texts mentioned pava powder, a synthetic riot control agent fired from pepperball weapons. “My trigger finger was jittering,” one text read. “As much as a shattered kneecap woulda been nice alas I was not ten feet away. Pepper ball did just fine.”