Concept:
We had a tough time thinking of the protester equivalent of the rubber pellet shotgun and ended up with the idea of going full ham 'do-it-for-the-memes' mode with a highly accurate but low damage Paintball gun, death by a thousand cuts.
Why we made it:
Basically because it sounded fun and slightly hilarious to be peppering Police officers with these until they collapsed. But also it filled the big gap in the Protester arsenal of having a consistent ranged weapon that can dissuade the Support Officers.
Their in-game role:
Their main purpose will be suppression and assisting other teammates, keeping the enemy behind their shields and helping secure takedowns, their accuracy also plays a decent role in making sure other ranged users don't go unchallenged.