Fears after gov't unleashes suspicious pink gas on Kenyan protesters

Videos circulating online show a peculiar pink cloud outside a Java House outlet, it's general look appearing to mirror tear gas smoke.

This is the first time the substance has been released onto protestors leading to questions on what exactly it was and how potentially dangerous it might be.

Kenyans on X have been divided on what it might be - some are calling it a 'poisonous gas' while others have gone as far as claiming that it could be Agent Orange, a herbicide mixture used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

The Agent Orange talk gained currency after Auma Obama, President Barack Obama's half-sister, condemned it and even shared information regarding the deadly warfare substance.

Reacting to a tweet shared by Dictator Watch, Obama wrote, "Evil Evil Evil!"

On their part, Dictator Watch had written: "William Ruto has now gone for poison gas. The orange substance is highly toxic. This is a crime against Humanity."

Despite the rumors and tons of what may be misinformation, it has not yet been officially identified what, exactly, is the substance or its components.

All in all, what is Agent Orange? According to the Aspen Institute, Agent Orange was a herbicide mixture used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Much of it contained a dangerous chemical contaminant called dioxin.

Production of Agent Orange ended in the 1970s and is no longer in use. The dioxin contaminant however continues to have harmful impact today. 

Dioxin is a highly toxic and persistent organic pollutant linked to cancers, diabetes, birth defects and other disabilities.

Agent Orange was one of a class of color-coded herbicides that U.S. forces sprayed over the rural landscape in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971 to defoliate trees and shrubs and kill food crops that were providing cover and food to opposition forces. 

The Red Cross estimates that three million Vietnamese have been affected by dioxin, including at least 150,000 children born with serious birth defects.

Millions of Americans and Vietnamese are still affected, directly and indirectly, by the wartime U.S. spraying of Agent Orange and other herbicides over southern and central Vietnam.

Even though it is not yet clear whether the Kenyan police actually used Agent Orange on protesters, one Kenyan shared her experience after the substance was unleashed.

"They shot someone in the eye today and when people tried to help him they tear-gassed the entire street with dioxin. My friends and I could not breathe. One of us is asthmatic and still feeling the effects of the gas. #RutoMustGo by any means necessary!" she wrote.