ICE to Spend Up to $20M on Electric Shock Gloves Marketed as 'Low Optics' Tool

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would spend between $10 million and $20 million to purchase gloves that emit painful electric shocks. The devices, called G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), are manufactured by Compliant Technologies in Kentucky and advertised as a "humane, low-optics, de-escalation solution."

According to a Mother Jones report published Monday, these gloves will make federal agents' use of force nearly invisible to the eye and harder to prove.

"Low-optics" is the key term. The new gloves are designed not to stoke public outrage like traditional weapons and leave no marks—making them a tool for avoiding excessive force lawsuits.

Law Enforcement Endorsements

In a promotional video for Compliant Technologies published in 2024, Adam Glueck, then-assistant chief of the Cape Girardeau Police Department in southeastern Missouri, explained why officers had grown so "attached" to the devices:

"In today's society, you know, everybody's filming everything, everybody has a cell phone. [The glove] looks better on camera, and it looks better to those witnesses. With a glove, there are no burn marks or scars."

Bob Couey of the Floyd County Sheriff's Department recommended the glove for "anybody that's looking for a utility they can use that is conducive to not leading to lawsuits."

Capabilities and Concerns

Video footage shows the gloves causing grown men to crumple to the ground in seconds.

While classified as "less lethal," federal agents may feel more empowered to use them against a wider range of individuals. The manufacturer warns against using the device on:

• Elderly people
• Pregnant women
• Children
• People with severe disabilities

These are groups that have not been spared from the Trump administration's sweeping crackdown on immigrants.

Navy Reviews Aircraft Carrier Redesign to Match Trump's Aesthetic Preferences

In the midst of a faltering war with Iran—which has caused U.S. sailors to jump ship, gas prices to skyrocket, and President Trump's approval rating to plummet—the U.S. Navy is now reviewing plans to redesign its Ford-class aircraft carrier fleet.

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the Navy is conducting an internal review on moving command towers from the starboard side of the carriers to the middle, mimicking older World War II warships that Trump prefers. The decision was spurred directly by Trump's aesthetic preferences, with a Navy official telling The Hill that the president requested the Navy "implement design changes to our future aircraft carriers." The review is due in "several weeks," according to a former official.

Trump has also ordered the Navy to switch from electromagnetic catapult systems to steam-powered ones—another aesthetic decision that would force the military to spend time and taxpayer funds on making ships look more antiquated, while they remain stationed in the Persian Gulf with the Strait of Hormuz closed.

Naval maritime strategist Hunter Stires told The Hill:

"The placement of the island on the Ford class was chosen to support the ship's design purpose of maximizing aircraft sortie generation—which for an aircraft carrier, directly translates to combat power. A good-faith exploration of future carrier design based on real-world operational requirements is one thing. Expending millions of taxpayer dollars and the time and energy of the Navy's engineering organizations redesigning the nation's premier capital ship to indulge the president's aesthetic preferences is another."