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Military police considered using controversial heat ray against D.C. protesters
- airstrike 6y agoIt seems like NPR has changed the title to "Military Police Leaders Weighed Deploying 'Heat Ray' Against D.C. Protesters" EDIT: Also, why is this on HN? I'd understand it if the article were discussing the technology, but as it stands it's just a (valid) political piece. Sadly, the comments already resemble an ugly trainwreck.
- akvadrako 6y agoI think possible deployment of a new weapon in a new context is tech related.
- deathgrips 6y agoWhat do you expect them to use instead? Rubber bullets blind people and tear gas is very damaging to people with asthma. They can't let riots run free like in Portland because they have to protect the essential government buildings. Should the military beat protesters with nightsticks? What should they do when words are insufficient?
- gdyuytgh 6y agoI was thinking about ultrasound or infrasound, but that's dangerous too. A better idea is some kind of organic dirt: about as dangerous as rain, but also disgusting enough to stop all but the most determined types.
- tyingq 6y agoLRADs are pretty commonly used against protestors. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device
- lowdose 6y agoJust a hose of horse shit mixed up cow dung.
- dang 6y agoCould you please stop creating accounts for every few comments you post? We ban accounts that do that. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. You needn't use your real name, of course, but for HN to be a community, users need some identity for other users to relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames and no community, and that would be a different kind of forum. https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix&page=0&query=community%20identity%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...
- liability 6y agoI'd rather they use tear gas because at least cameras can see and document that being used.
- staplers 6y agoThings I've seen police do at the protests: Tackle calm non-violent citizens and then repeatedly punch them in the head while on top of them, fire teargas into traffic and then slash the tires of vehicles stuck in the protest, severely maim civilians holding signs via impact munitions to the head.. just a few things I've witnessed.
- deathgrips 6y agoWhat would you do when you haven't antagonized protesters and they still advance towards Congress or the White House?
- staplers 6y agoAs an elected representative for them I would probably ask why they're upset and appease their grievances if warranted. Lawless murder and intimidation by the police is a violently oppressive grievance I would consider warranted. Instead citizens who demand justice are met with surprise more injustice by the police.
- deathgrips 6y agoAnd what about the citizens who show up and demand free shoes?
- tehjoker 6y agoGenerally, the US has been so focused on concentrating wealth and power upwards that I would say give it [the free shoes] to them so long as its a universal program.
- refurb 6y agoThat worked great for the mayor of Portland. He ended up moving out of his home because the protestors showed up there to harass him.
- 6y ago
- wsatb 6y agoThe Portland riots myth is right wing propaganda. I suggest you diversify your news intake.
- deathgrips 6y agoThe Tienanmen Square Incident is also right wing propaganda. I suggest you diversify your news intake.
- gwicks56 6y agoWell, it's certainly true that the cops were rioting.
- tylerjwilk00 6y agoSo no one set any buildings on fire? [1] It's all a conspiracy? These are deep fakes and propaganda news? [2] 1. https://nypost.com/2020/08/24/blm-protesters-set-portland-police-station-on-fire/ https://nypost.com/2020/08/24/blm-protesters-set-portland-po... 2. https://youtu.be/4XSlXVgHYok https://youtu.be/4XSlXVgHYok
- wsatb 6y agoNo, I should have never commented in the first place, but I guess what I meant to say is the media keeps making Portland out to be some sort of BLM free-for-all. Your NY Post article is a great example of propaganda: "Black Lives Matter militants." It was a BLM protest, not necessarily everyone there or inciting violence was associated with BLM.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoThere are some media organizations which imply that all of Portland is constantly a free-for-all, and that's certainly not true. But I think it's hard to look at many of the videos (the most recent example I've seen is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2CCeFlxIiU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2CCeFlxIiU) and not conclude that there's a localized, temporary free-for-all. I think anyone would be terrified if this were happening just outside their window.
- coffeefirst 6y agoNo government buildings in DC were damaged. Small groups, in some cases as small as three people, destroying private property in the first few nights were a major problem because they were moving across the city and MPD couldn’t be everywhere at once. You are correct, there’s no such thing as a safe way to use indiscriminate force on a crowd. But you’re also mischaracterizing the situation on the ground here.
- beaner 6y agoHow was the poster mischaracterizing? He did not say government buildings were damaged, only that they should be protected.
- na85 6y agoIt's a classic tactic of online trolls to construct a straw-man argument and then direct their efforts towards attributing their argument to you. It works because they twist your words into something inflammatory and you waste time/energy defending yourself and trying to discriminate between your point and the point they paint you as making. Meanwhile to a casual observer you get made to look like the extremist. In this case, asking "how will you protect government buildings?" is like asking "how will you prevent protesters from leaking classified military secrets?". Nobody said that classified military secrets were being leaked, only that they should be protected.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoThe question isn't whether the violence actually happened, but whether it was a reasonable possibility to plan for. It's not good for anyone if riot control tactics can only be discussed once a riot is in full heat - everyone involved will surely overreact if they don't know what the plan is.
- na85 6y ago>What do you expect them to use instead? Rubber bullets blind people and tear gas is very damaging to people with asthma. They can't let riots run free like in Portland because they have to protect the essential government buildings. Should the military beat protesters with nightsticks? What should they do when words are insufficient? I can tell you're fishing for the answer "go ahead and microwave the protesters en masse" but instead: How about stop murdering black people?
- deathgrips 6y agoGreat solution. Go tell the DC National Guard that they just need to stop murdering black people and that will keep the essential government buildings safe. Why even have police at that point?
- na85 6y agoIf police are going to just flout the law and literally murder the citizens they're supposed to be protecting, why even have police?
- deathgrips 6y agoBecause then America would turn into one big CHAZ/CHOP where gangsters become the new cops and begin oppressing everyone all over again.
- na85 6y agoSo, it would become the current situation you have now?
- deathgrips 6y agoNo. When gangsters are in charge and murder people, there's no mass outrage because no one expects any better.
- phkahler 6y ago>> The ADS was developed by the military some twenty years ago as a way to disperse crowds. There have been questions about whether it worked, or should be deployed in the first place. It uses millimeter wave technology to essentially heat the skin of people targeted by its invisible ray. I remember reading about that years ago. The new name is misleading. It's not some kind of infrared beam, its microwaves. Cooking protesters doesnt sound good though.
- staplers 6y agoJust imagine living in the neighborhood and watching your child's skin start turning red in the living room. Using war crime weapons on US soil (tear gas is one) is something political leaders have no problem with.
- bsagdiyev 6y agoI’m not a smart guy, but I’m pretty sure microwaves don’t work like that through walls.
- rkhassen9 6y agoThe kid could be on the porch.
- bsagdiyev 6y agoBut the parent post specifically said in the living room.
- happytoexplain 6y agoLiterally true, but that isn't very charitable to the point they were making.
- srtjstjsj 6y agoWindow could be open.
- non-entity 6y agoFrom what I've read a concern about using these kn larger crowds is that if it causes a panic of people feeling, it could easily turn into a stampede like event where people are knocked down, stuck only to have longer, dangerous exposure to the microwaves.
- chmod600 6y agoLet's say there was an "ideal" nonlethal weapon that could zap people and immobilize them from far away with no harmful effects. Would that be a good thing? In a way, it sounds scarier than a gun.
- bulla 6y agoSounds perfect.
- rblatz 6y agoTo whom?
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoYeah, I'm with you. A truly harmless long-distance weapon would surely be abused, whether to instill fear or just cause chaos.
- spicyramen 6y agoOrange man bad
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoWhat happens to your buttons, zippers, belt-locks, frames of glasses, jewelry, piercings, and so on?
- jadell 6y agoNot to mention any medical devices you might have on or in you.
- vaccinator 6y agoA bit like this[0] but bigger? 0. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FIU8WZR9DNA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FIU8WZR9DNA