SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators outside of the White House, June 1, 2020 in Washington D.C., during a protest over the killing of George Floyd. (Photo by Jose Luis Magana / AFP via Getty Images)
Whistleblower Report Alleges Military Police Sought Use of a Heat Ray to Disperse Crowd at White House Protest in June
"Our government shouldn't be conspiring to use heat rays against us for exercising our constitutional rights."
Sep 17, 2020
The ACLU once again Wednesday night demanded an independent investigation into the use of force against protesters outside the White House on June 1, after a whistleblower told members of Congress that U.S. military police in Washington, D.C. sought the use of a heat ray to disperse the crowd.
Major Adam DeMarco of the D.C. National Guard told the House Committee on Natural Resources that the provost marshal of Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region sought an Active Denial System (ADS) to use at the protest.
Developed by the military about two decades ago, the ADS uses millimeter wave technology to create a sensation of intense heat on a human target's skin. The device has been used by the military to disperse crowds. According to the Associated Press, Pentagon officials declined to use the technology in the beginning of the Iraq War, believing it "could be misconstrued as a torture machine."
According to DeMarco, who has sought whistleblower protection, the provost marshal told the National Guard that the heat ray could be used to "engage potential adversaries at distances well beyond small arms range."
"The effect is overwhelming, causing an immediate repel response by the targeted individual," the National Guard was told. Officials reportedly told the military police that it had no such weapon.
"Our government shouldn't be conspiring to use heat rays against us for exercising our constitutional rights," the ACLU said in response to the revelations.
The military police sought the use of the ADS a week into nationwide demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. At the June 1 protest, law enforcement ultimately used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters outside the White House, shortly before President Donald Trump walked through the area to get to a nearby church for a photo-op.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The ACLU once again Wednesday night demanded an independent investigation into the use of force against protesters outside the White House on June 1, after a whistleblower told members of Congress that U.S. military police in Washington, D.C. sought the use of a heat ray to disperse the crowd.
Major Adam DeMarco of the D.C. National Guard told the House Committee on Natural Resources that the provost marshal of Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region sought an Active Denial System (ADS) to use at the protest.
Developed by the military about two decades ago, the ADS uses millimeter wave technology to create a sensation of intense heat on a human target's skin. The device has been used by the military to disperse crowds. According to the Associated Press, Pentagon officials declined to use the technology in the beginning of the Iraq War, believing it "could be misconstrued as a torture machine."
According to DeMarco, who has sought whistleblower protection, the provost marshal told the National Guard that the heat ray could be used to "engage potential adversaries at distances well beyond small arms range."
"The effect is overwhelming, causing an immediate repel response by the targeted individual," the National Guard was told. Officials reportedly told the military police that it had no such weapon.
"Our government shouldn't be conspiring to use heat rays against us for exercising our constitutional rights," the ACLU said in response to the revelations.
The military police sought the use of the ADS a week into nationwide demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. At the June 1 protest, law enforcement ultimately used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters outside the White House, shortly before President Donald Trump walked through the area to get to a nearby church for a photo-op.
The ACLU once again Wednesday night demanded an independent investigation into the use of force against protesters outside the White House on June 1, after a whistleblower told members of Congress that U.S. military police in Washington, D.C. sought the use of a heat ray to disperse the crowd.
Major Adam DeMarco of the D.C. National Guard told the House Committee on Natural Resources that the provost marshal of Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region sought an Active Denial System (ADS) to use at the protest.
Developed by the military about two decades ago, the ADS uses millimeter wave technology to create a sensation of intense heat on a human target's skin. The device has been used by the military to disperse crowds. According to the Associated Press, Pentagon officials declined to use the technology in the beginning of the Iraq War, believing it "could be misconstrued as a torture machine."
According to DeMarco, who has sought whistleblower protection, the provost marshal told the National Guard that the heat ray could be used to "engage potential adversaries at distances well beyond small arms range."
"The effect is overwhelming, causing an immediate repel response by the targeted individual," the National Guard was told. Officials reportedly told the military police that it had no such weapon.
"Our government shouldn't be conspiring to use heat rays against us for exercising our constitutional rights," the ACLU said in response to the revelations.
The military police sought the use of the ADS a week into nationwide demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. At the June 1 protest, law enforcement ultimately used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters outside the White House, shortly before President Donald Trump walked through the area to get to a nearby church for a photo-op.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.