As Predicted, Military Weapons Are Being Deployed Against Civilians Here in the U.S.
By Susie Madrak Wednesday Sep 16, 2009 6:00pmVia Teddy Partridge at FDL, the shocking news that military weapons are now being deployed against civilians in the United States, just as many of us predicted:
You think your town hall meeting's law enforcement presence was authoritarian and heavy-handed?
Check this out: San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore deployed (but did not use) military type sonic crowd-control devices at two town hall meetings, one held by GOP Darrell Issa and the other by Democrat Susan Davis. These devices are the same as those used to control crowds of insurgents in the Iraq war theatre and have been linked to ear and brain injury.
Both town halls took place without incident; however the use of the military device concerned San Diegians. The LRAD [Long-Range Acoustic Device] crowd control is primarily used in Iraq to control insurgents and can cause serious and lasting harm to humans.
According to the manufacture, American Technology Corporation, the LRAD provides “military personnel the capability to transition through the rules of engagement to determine a target’s intent and also provides greater assurance that innocent lives on both sides of the device are not lost due to miscommunication.”
[...]“It’s very concerning,” Kevin Keenan, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said. “ It is fine for the Sheriff’s Department to have new less-than-lethal weapons, but for their interactions with individuals these still-dangerous weapons need to be used only as substitutes for firearms. They can’t be used as just another tool on the tool belt. As we’ve seen with tasers and pepper spray, these types of weapons are being used to subdue people even though they pose the risk of serious physical harm.”
He added, “Even more concerning is having these weapons for public order policing. I can imagine no situation, or am not aware of any situation that’s ever happened in San Diego County or is likely to happen that would justify using these weapons for public order policing to control a crowd.
The main effect of having those weapons at public events is to chill people and chill free speech and free association.”
However, Defense Update, a British defense contracting publication, lists LRADs as “non-lethal directed energy weapons. The publication states: “LRAD works like a highly directional, high power megaphone, able to blast sounds (such as crowd-dispersal instructions in Arabic) in a narrow beam and with great clarity at a deafening 150 decibels (50 times the human threshold of pain). LRAD can also create deafening noises which can incapacitate people within 300 meters by “firing” short bursts of intense acoustic energy.”
Then there was this story in 2006:
It fell off the national media radar awfully quickly, but here's a followup:
The Wynne story came and went so quickly that radio journalist Charles Goyette from KFNX in Phoenix tried to follow up. An interview was scheduled with the Air Force Secretary's spokesman, USAF Major Aaron Burgstein, to get elaboration on the Secretary's remarks. But Burgstein cancelled at the last minute without explanation.
Burgstein's email to Goyette added that "SECAR (Wynne) is not advocating using non-lethal weapons on the American public," just that they be "fully tested first before they're employed overseas" because our enemy "uses any and all opportunities to wage a propaganda war."
Sounds benign enough. Unfortunately, it directly contradicts what Wynne actually said. "If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens," said Wynne, "then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation."
"If they are used in the US," Burgstein wrote Goyette, "it would be by the police, not the military." Burgstein equates these energy beams to tasers, perhaps unaware of the controversy surrounding a number of taser injuries and deaths.
Wynne, a major defense contractor turned Pentagon insider, tipped his hand. Pentagon planners intend to use high-tech weapons on Americans before turning them on Iraqis, either directly or by making the technology available to police and other agencies. And that's not a new story, either. ABC News reported in 2004 that there were active discussions to use sonic weaponry against demonstrators during the Republican National Convention in New York. When in "weapon" mode, the "LRAD" (long range acoustic device) "blasts a tightly controlled stream of caustic sound that can be turned up to high enough levels to trigger nausea or possibly fainting." [...]
As for the microwave beam, New Scientist reported that when it was tested, "experimenters banned glasses and contact lenses to prevent possible eye damage to the subjects, and in the second and third tests removed any metallic objects such as coins and keys to stop hot spots being created on the skin. They also checked the volunteers' clothes for certain seams, buttons and zips which might also cause hot spots."
In other words, this beam doesn't only inflict agony on its targets. If you can't move out of the way quickly enough it can cause serious burns and potentially even fuse contact lenses onto their wearers' eyeballs.
The ACLU is the only group fighting "reasonable" abuses like this. If you don't already belong, you should join.
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The Oligarchs have screwed up badly but they have been made whole on the backs of the people.
They intend on hanging onto their ill gotten gains.
-----
The ACLU here
I give as much as I can. They are doing work our corrupt bought and paid for congress…
SHOULD BE DOING.
Before long they'll not only taser you for asking questions but also deafen you...
from the lies your Congressman was going to tell you.
Only going in public in a Faraday cage for my safety (tasers) but the filaments will create hotspots if an LRAD is used. Oh my.
/will go back to tin-foil
Isn't this like the sonic weapon Ayn Rand wrote about in Atlas Shrugged?
Even harder on hearing than this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sdVLD4wjBU
:)
new world fucking order, man..
No just more poorly,
But more windmills.
Three different versions of the LRAD, all with varying degrees of output are sold, the highest rating to the US military, and the others to Law Enforcement and security firms. Japanese whalers used one against anti-whaling groups in the Antarctic
Nothing to see here...move along....
Why yes, I believe we have. It's gonna be a bumpy ride for us little peons.
the 60's and 70's. It was to prepare for this. It is BizarroWorld. You are right!
I went to a Mettalica concert once as a kid, and boy was it loud. I wonder if I can get the ACLU to sue Lars Ulrich.....
You volunteered.
"I wonder if I can get the ACLU to sue Lars Ulrich....."
I hope so, and the rest of Metallica, for being complete a-holes and sell outs!
...on the streets of New York 5 years ago, @ the 2004 republican national convention in NY City.
So yeah, this is old news...
(The FEMA coffins are real too) here is (Alex Jones) covering this same thing on the streets of New york
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mS9HrV0pvk&fe...
Why would we need those? We never have a need for coffins in this country, do we? We never have natural disasters like Katrina, Earthquakes, Tornado's. WTF do we need those for?
I know, lets just wait till we needem. Huh?
How many times has FEMA been called on in the last ten years?
Mudsharky.
Do those FEMA coffins have enough water to last until I get to heaven?
I thought that was from all the formaldehyde gassing off in their trailers.
Camping? Every single trailer has that problem.
I don't know if that problem has been fixed yet. But I sure hope it has.
The people who built them used cheap Chinese hardboard which contained higher that permissible levels of Formaldehyde, theres also a major problem with cheap imported drywall used in the millions of Mcmansions too.
And of course kickbacks and blind eyes from the Bushco consumer standards customs officials.
Of course cheap means cheap to the importer, not to the comsumer/customers. We will end up with the invoice to clean up the mess.
Better take some Gatorade. And maybe some alka seltzer.
each time they were called...they didnt do shit!!!
(Heckuva job brownie!)
...every time the are called, it's a chance for govt/fema to run through half a billion dollars and do absolutly nothing productive!
...how many fema trailers rotted in the Oklahoma sun? ...and why did we need those?
. But yeah, they do have a way of screwing thing up.
Who needs FEMA? Until you need them.
I feel sorry for you Milktoast.
You want no govt intrusion into your life, no matter what. Right?
What are you going to do, if and when, a natural disaster hits your neck of the woods? Because it will happen. So, when it does happen. I hope you turn your back on the help the govt' will provide you.
...they cant regulate wall st.
...cant regulate banks...
...cant regulate corporate polluters...
...cant regulate insurance companies...
...cant run a social security program..
...cant follow the constitution...
...or keep lead out of our kids toys...
...The FDA approves drugs that kill us...
...and puts fluoride in the water...
...conducted the tuskeegee experiments...
...lied about the gulf of Tonkin...
...lied about 9/11...
...lied about Iraq...
The only thing gov't is good at is covering their own ass!
(I don't know why you trust em'...) ...and I will turn my back on them. (I ain't goin to a FEMA camp) ...like those people did in Katrina.
You'll change your tune.
...what the hell make you think FEMA is gonna bring me some?
U.S. soldiers forced to steal water in Iraq!
http://www.truthout.org/051209T
unless you were talking about blackwater?
Government isn't the problem in those issues you cited. Unrestricted bribes to 'elected' officials is the problem. The revolving door between govt and the industries they are supposed to regulate is the problem. Legal personhood for for-profit corporations is the problem.
So how do we fix it? Wait around for Congress to pass a law that makes it illegal to bribe Congress? Or should we be more direct - sign an online petition, perhaps? Oh wait, I know! We can vote all the crooks out at the next election!! Maybe the next wave of crooks will be marginally less crookish than the ones we put out to pasture.
Sometimes when I'm feeling really cynical, I think the best bet might be to just stand aside and let the rightwingers have their way. They're hellbent on burning everything to the ground in the righteous flames of Christ's love (or some other equally mad pathological delusion). They won't stop until they do. Fighting them just prolongs the inevitable, let them burn it all down and then start over with something better. The problems we have can't be fixed with small incremental changes via legislation, the cancer is far too advanced for that.
Before you know it, god d**ned Blackwater will be marching down mainstreet U.S.A. - carrying Glenn Beck on their shoulders, and humming the battle hymn of the republican's.
within the US, this probably has already happened.
in a place like Six Mile, SC
Onward Christian Soldiers?
And Blackwater was sent into NOLA after Katrina.
“Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” √
Crazy Time! Is this true :-O
→ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16jNQra1v9s&NR=1
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
--Thomas Jefferson
that sent in tasers and helicopters to bust up a Democratic Congressional candidate's fundraiser recently?
Just like fox news- scary people and music...
The sort of hilarity that would occur if these weapons fell into civilian hands and used on cops would be priceless!!
Any high school kid with reasonable electronics skillz could make one. I am surprised we don't hear about them being used by criminals during bank robberies and similar.
Please Step Away From The Keyboard... NOW! ;-)
[ http://www.noruscai.co.uk/downloads/LRAD/lrad... ]
Police using LRAD on protestors.
1000 devices in use in Iraq.
What happened to protecting the citizens?
For law enforcement for awhile now. I first saw that thing on the History Channel back in in the early part of the century. If I remember correctly that thing was first developed for law enforcement, then adopted by the military.
If the burns happen when used for a few seconds as it's meant to be, there's a problem. Otherwise it's vulnerable to abuse like handcuffs or pepper spray. Cops can put cuffs on too tight and cause damage. When used at range for a few seconds as a dispersal and deterrent it sounds better than sending in a wall of riot police with sticks.
does not cause burns. The microwave device mentioned in the post is something totally different. And last I heard about it was still in the development stage and has not been used in action. There are several problems with it, including that it does not function well in the rain, it is very delicate, and its size(has to be mounted on a large trailer for transport).
Y'all have no idea how much of this kind of BS goes on in this county. This is mild.
Government, bankers, and private contractors, have crossed the Rubicon ... developing war weapons that make their way into domestic law enforcement. This is no accident ... In essence it is no different than using the military to control the citizens. It's a total violation of law and a clear warning that a fascist totalitarian state is developing where the elite powers run the government and the people. These powers operate in shadow in elite circles. They have bankrupted the working class for 50 years on purpose.... Their goal is to restructure the US as a corporate state where the individual is completely subservient to the profits and powers of the corporation and it's representatives in government. This sounds like a futuristic movie ... but it is exactly what is happening. They know the people will eventually rise up in mass protest .. and they know it will become violent directed toward them so they are tactically setting up law enforcement and preparing them to see citizens as enemy combatants. These shadow elite players and parasites enjoy the spectacle of our deaths ... they revel in it .. the power of it. They are evil.
In the civilian realm. Thermal imaging that cops use to find guys at night, from the military. The MP-5, M-4s and various other firearms used by SWAT teams, from the military. The 9mm pistols that replaced the .38 revolvers, from the military. Body armor, from the military. The helicopter, from the military.
How is this any different?
If another civil war begins in this country, it will probably be when said teabaggers shoot at the operators of these weapons during a protest.
So...any bets on when that happens?
The National Guard shot at and killed unarmed students protesting the Vietnam War.
Shot them dead - right on the Kent State Campus.
You don't think that the government will do that to us again if we get too uppity?
Does that flag still wave o'r the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Yes, No, Maybe, Occasionally?
It's about legal v. illegal.
I hate Tasers. But the problem isn't that they are non-lethal as opposed to a gun being lethal. It's because the taser is supposed to be used instead of a firearm -- ie, when lethal force is warranted -- but rather, they are being used instead of just about anything else. Officer doesn't like what you're saying? You get tased. Taking too long to comply, even if it's due to a physical condition? You get tased. Confused and upset because you woke up from a nap on your own couch to find officers had broken into your home to arrest you for burglary? Oh you better believe that's a tasing.
This is that same mentality taken to its logical conclusion. They deployed this thing at a town hall meeting, which is a foundation of our democracy. If a riot broke out and this were used, it would not distinguish between ordinary citizens coming to voice their opinions to their elected representatives and the people who decided to get violent.
It's not like I'm thrilled that these teabagging choads are crashing town hall meetings to bully. They're just doing as they were told by the tee vee, after all. But to overshadow an important piece of democratic expression with the threat of military force is disgusting and wrong, and it's not made right by the fact that it's the "other side" that's "causing it."
Soon, we will all behave ourselves just like the numb, shallow eloi in HG Wells The Time Machine. That will be great.
Worse than tear gas, flash bang grenades, rubber bullets and tasers? I'm only curious, because if not, get rid of the rest and use this.
Also, a rock concert reaches 125 db and a 747 is 150. So even if they are saying that the maximum a human being can take is 50, we daily expose ourselves to much louder noises voluntarily. I still disagree with use of force to disperse crowds, but based on what I've seen these wacko right wings doing recently, I have to rethink about it.
...it takes a doubling of output power to achieve a 3db increase. 150 db is much, much louder than 125 db.
Moldable in-ear earplugs covered in tape would render this sonic weapon useless.
Experiment IV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6hvNe11r9U
They need to develope a LRBB Long Range Ball Breaker to make FOX viewers feel like they've been kicked in the nuts, so people like Sean Insannity and Ann Coulter can't make little Douchebag marchers.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military. DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many technologies which have had a major effect on the world, including computer networking, as well as NLS, which was both the first hypertext system, and an important precursor to the contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface.
"You think your town hall meeting's law enforcement presence was authoritarian and heavy-handed?"
At my Town-Hall we had roughly 300 people and one local cop. How long would you allow a couple kids to fight before you broke it them up? How long would you allow 50 kids to fight before you broke them up?
Rep. Susan Davis-D Calif. and Rep. Darrell Issa-R Calif. held town halls that exceeded capacity (10,000+ total attendees)
Imagine what may of happened if they had used this in Iran? Maybe... just maybe, some would of lived to fight another day? RIP Neda ♥
Of course, trying to bring it up to those who could have been telling about it didn't fly....as much as I really like KO (and now, RM), I would imagine I'm the most radical 'conspiracy theorist' they have heard from..
But I did try to get this out way back then.
Nothing has changed.
The Sonic Agonizer shall impose moral clarity upon all those who would oppose the righteous order of the State. Never again will you pitiful humans dare to raise your pathetic protests against the will of the mighty.
On your knees and bow your heads, American swine!
*Sonic Agonizer now available for 20% off through Thanksgiving!
**Batteries not included.
http://www.amazon.com/Plague-Sound-Avon-Flash...
Another group fighting the covert use of directed energy weapons against an unsuspecting populace is Freedom From Covert Harassment ansd Surveillance. The ACLU has actually largely ignored the plight of thousands of people being victimized by these weapons. I published a book about the true account of a woman in Texas who was stalked. drugged and raped by a former FBI agent using satellite surveillance technology to victimize her. A New Breed: Satellite Terrorism in America is at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and at www.satweapons.com. Everyone needs to learn about this horrible technology!
" potentially even fuse contact lenses onto their wearers' eyeballs."
I wear glasses, and it said they had to take those off too. What does it do 2 your eyes if u have glasses?
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