What rubber bullets REALLY look like: Protestors and journalists post photos of the projectiles to demonstrate how big they are and the severe damage they can do - leaving others stunned

Americans who have hit the streets to protest the murder of George Floyd and other unarmed black people — and the journalists covering these protests — are now taking to social media to combat the misconception that rubber bullets are small, harmless things.

Police have fired rubber bullets into crowds in cities across the US, leaving protesters, reporters, and even bystanders bloodied and injured.

Now several have posted photos of the rubber bullets that have hit them or been left behind, as well as snapshots of their injuries, which range from bruises to permanent blindness.

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Shocking: Protesters and journalists are sharing photos of rubber bullets on Tiwtter

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Serious: The images are combatting the misconception that rubber bullets are small, harmless things

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Scary: While they are intended to be less lethal than regular bullets, they are by no means harmless and can cause serious injury

Several protesters — including celebrities like Halsey and Matt McGorry — have been hit with rubber bullets in the past week. Some of the bullets have also struck non-participants in the protests, as well as journalists there to report on the scene.

Rubber bullets are rubber or rubber-coated projectiles which can be fired either from riot guns or regular guns.

While they are intended to be less lethal than regular bullets, they are by no means harmless and can cause serious injury. 

And for those in doubt, several Americans on the scene have posted photos of the very rubber bullets police are using.

The shocking images show that the bullets are quite large, with the smallest ones about the length of an adult's thumb and nearly just as big in circumference.

Bigger projectiles, called foam baton rounds, can be an inch and a half long.

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Yikes... TV host Tamara Dhia shared a photo of the large rubber bullet she found

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'For anyone that wonders what a rubber bullet looks like. This was found by one of our photographers last night after the protest downtown,' wrote UT Fox13's Spencer Joseph

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Updates: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, a reporter for KPCC in Los Angeles, got hit in the neck while reporting on the Long Beach protests

Twitter uses are sharing bullets they find on the ground following protests, as well as ones they have actually been hit with. 

'For anyone that wonders what a rubber bullet looks like. This was found by one of our photographers last night after the protest downtown,' wrote UT Fox13 reporter Spencer Joseph, sharing a photo.

The images have left social media users shocked and appalled.

'That is a ridiculously sized bullet, but honestly for a cop to be shooting any bullet at an unarmed civilian should be illegal,' wrote one.

'Wooooow for sure didn’t think it looked like this!' wrote another. 

Many social media users are particularly aghast that the rubber bullets are being fired at face-height, hitting people straight-on in the head, mouth, nose, and eyes. 

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A protester shares a photo of his injury and says a reporter was shot right after him

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Peaceful: Protesters are sharing photos of the injuries they sustained while even while sitting on the ground with hands in the air

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Shot: CBS sound engineer John Marschitz was hit when Minneapolis police fired directly at the press

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Reporting: 12 News reporter Josh Saunders of Phoenix, Arizona, got hit in the left thigh and called it 'extremely painful.' He later shared a photo of a large, bloody bruise

That was not their intended use: Rubber bullets were developed by the British in 1970, and were originally aimed at the ground. The intention was for them to bounce up and hit crowds at much lower force. 

But with police shooting these projectiles directly into crowds, many are getting seriously hurt.

Among them is 12 News reporter Josh Saunders of Phoenix, Arizona, who got hit in the left thigh and called it 'extremely painful.' He later shared a photo of a large, bloody bruise.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, a reporter for KPCC in Los Angeles, got hit in the neck while reporting on the Long Beach protests.

In one of the most horrific cases, Linda Tirado, a 37-year-old journalist from Nashville who was taking photographs in Minneapolis, was hit directly in the eye by a rubber bullet on Friday. 

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Horrific: Linda Tirado, a 37-year-old journalist from Nashville who was taking photographs in Minneapolis, was hit directly in the eye by a rubber bullet on Friday

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Silencing journalists: Another photojournalist was spared bodily injury, but his camera was broken by a rubber bullet fired into the crowd

The freelance writer and author told DailyMail.com: 'Protesters said police were tear-gassing. I put on my goggles and respirator. 

'It was pretty chaotic — people were moving in every direction. Then I kind of felt my face explode.'

The mother of two young girls added: 'I put up my hands and shouted "I'm press, I'm press."'

With her eyes filled with blood, protesters 'acted as my eyes when I couldn't see past the blood and the swelling' and got her to hospital.

'I was in surgery 20 minutes after that,' she told DailyMail.com after returning from hospital on Saturday. 'I woke up this morning with an eye patch on.'

Doctors have told her she is going to be left with scarring on her face and will be permanently blind in one eye, although she hopes in the future she may be able to gain the ability to see light and shadows through the damaged eye.

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Damage: Amara Green says she was peacefully protesting in Minneapolis when she got hit in the face, and now may need multiple surgeries to fix her lip and chin

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Hospitalized: Brad Levi Ayala , a 16-year-old 'standing quietly on a hill' in Austin, Texas when he was hit in the head and left in pain

Photojournalist Andre Mercharles, 27, told The Cut about his own experience getting hit during the protests.  

'At first it hurts in a concentrated area, but then the pain expands from the swelling,' he said. 

'When you hear the word “rubber,” you feel like, “Eh, it’s gonna bounce off and you might be in a little pain.” But I’ve gotten hit by a baseball before and this is 100 times worse. 

Quite a few people hit with bullets have raced to the hospital, with a few turning to GoFundMe to pay their bills.

Amara Green says she was peacefully protesting in Minneapolis when she got hit in the face, and now may need multiple surgeries to fix her lip and chin.

Brad Levi Ayala, a 16-year-old 'standing quietly on a hill' in Austin, Texas when he was hit in the head and left in pain.

In fact, GoFundMe currently has dozens of fundraisers for victims of rubber bullets.