This could become the new cry of protesters in the near future.
In the military and government’s ever lasting quest to find new and futuristic ways to “non-lethally” “disperse” demonstrators, the National Institute of Justice (how Orwellian) is testing a new weapon called the Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response, or PHaSR, for short.
No, not exactly like Star Trek
Image courtesy of Memory Alpha
But slightly bulkier and a little more threatening looking than Star Trek
Image courtesy of the US Air Force by way of the New Scientist
The technology is based on the Pentagon’s Active Denial System, which focuses microwave energy that “penetrates a living tissue (such as human skin) to a depth of 0.5 millimeter and almost instantly produces a heating sensation that within seconds becomes intolerable and forces the subject to flee.”
Image courtesy of Defense Update
The ADS can target a crowd up to the distance of seven football fields away. When it was publicly tested, the New Scientist reported “the sensation from the exposure was like a blast from a very hot oven, too painful to bear without scrambling for cover. The burning sensation is achieved by high-power energy waves that heat the skin to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Centigrade).”
You can watch several demonstrations of this machine in action on Youtube by searching Active Denial System. In many of the demonstrations, miltary personnel simulate protest situations by chanting slogans and shaking their fists. Soon, they are warned that if they do not disperse, the system will be deployed. Eventually, you see them all scatter quickly out of the way, laughing after they get out of the way of the invisible pain beam.
As soon as the test subjects get out of the way of the beam, they report a burning sensation. Most people can laugh off pain like this when they know it’s coming. We’ve all done silly things that we knew would be painful and laughed about it later (ever been in a bottle rocket war or a roman candle duel?). We’ve all seen videos of people tasing themselves or their friends and laughing about it when the pain stops.
The implications of this technology are no laughing matter.
Over the past few years, America alone witnessed hundreds of protests and demonstrations relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, potential war with Iran, civil liberties violations, and workers strikes. The military already trains on American soil to assist police in crowd dispersal. Demonstrations and protests aren’t likely to stop anytime soon as the economic crisis grows and we continue putting boots all over the globe. Regardless of intention, one can’t deny that “non lethal” weapons do pretty significant damage – just ask anyone who’s been pelted with a rubber bullet, tear gassed, maced, clubbed over the head, or tasered.
Now imagine police or soldiers, already armed with these weapons and encouraged to use them, with the ability to shoot a beam at someone causing them blinding pain. Imagine what that looks like in an interrogation room. Imagine what that looks like in a crowd of 5,000 – when the people in the center can’t disperse and folks start trampling each other. Imagine what that looks like on a picket line.
Imagine this in the hands of a mall security guard.
Remember this?
Image courtesy of Civil Rights Movement Veterans
How about this?
Image courtesy of Indybay
Security guards, cops, and military personnel are charged with the duty to “protect and serve” the public – and those brave men and women in uniform generally do. However, the officials giving people in uniform orders are the same officials who’ve been shredding the constitution, started wars for their own personal gain across the globe, pilfered this nation’s economy, and generally frown on criticism and dissent. They’re the ones who buy the jackboots and tell the people on the ground to use them against people who use what’s left of their constitutional rights.
As their arsenal and perceived need to employ it grows, our freedom shrinks a little more.
Welcome to the future.
–by Aaron Cynic
