“Fancy having one of them lovely things, with its Heat-Ray wide and free!”
— H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds.
While Trevor Mallard makes a goose of himself with childish tactics like turning on sprinklers and playing Barry Manilow, the Australian Federal Police are not playing such silly games. The AFP are accused of using Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) and Active Denial Systems (ADS), aka, “Heat Rays” on Freedom Convoy protesters in Canberra.
The issue came to light when protesters began noticing strange changes in the mood at Camp EPIC, the Canberra campgrounds where thousands of protesters stayed, last Sunday. After days of jubilant camaraderie, as in Wellington, the mood suddenly seemed to sour, many said. According to the Australian Free Independent Press Network (AFIPN), “gone was the feelings of unity and goodwill and replaced with anger and negativity”.
More notably, many began reporting strange symptoms such as ringing ears, headaches, exhaustion, anxiety and feelings of anger. Others reported unusually severe sunburn, including blistered lips.
Of course, all of this could be put down to camping for days in the hot Canberra sun. Except that, under questioning in a Senate hearing by One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts, AFP confirmed that the weapons were on-site at Parliament House on the weekend.
The AFP refused to confirm if the devices were used, citing operational security. However, eyewitnesses reported that the devices were tested in the morning. AFIPN have also confirmed that police at the site were wearing ear plugs.
LRADs are used by police in the US, but their operation is mired in controversy. LRADs are capable of emitting (inaudible) sounds at up to 160 decibels — which is louder than a jet taking off. Exposure to any sound above 85 db can cause permanent hearing damage or loss, depending on the length of exposure. The potential harm of LRADs is exacerbated by the fact that they are inaudible (think of those high-frequency sounds only children, dogs or bats can hear) and, unlike most sound devices, do not project sound waves in all directions — and LRAD focusses its blast into a 15 degree cone.
Use of LRADs has lead to court actions, such as the Pittsburgh professor who successfully sued the city for permanent hearing damage. A similar lawsuit in New York City is ongoing. The American Association of Audiologists advocates that LRADs should be banned as crowd control.
If you are at a protest where LRADs may be in use, it’s advised that you should wear easily and cheaply available foam ear plugs. If an LRAD is turned on you, the best advice is to move to either side to get out of the range of its cone as quickly as possible. Signs that a high-power LRAD is being turned on you include migraines, dizziness and hearing loss. The immediate effect, according to one expert, is a “pinch in the guts” feeling, causing nausea and even involuntary bowel movements.
But what about the sunburn that Canberra protesters have reported? Here, the story becomes potentially more sinister.
Unconfirmed video shows what purports to be a Trifield TF2 EMF meter at Camp Epic showing extreme radiofrequency (RF) levels. The meter apparently shows RF peaking at nearly 20000 µW/m².
Many protesters are complaining of severe sunburn, despite wearing sunscreen. One protester wrote on Facebook, “My lips have been on fire since! I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something and the sunburn I copped on my face, despite wearing a brim hat was insane”.
Active Denial Systems (ADS) are another “non-lethal directed-energy weapon” designed for combat as well as crowd control. ARDs are nicknamed “Heat-Rays” because they work by heating the surface of the target. That includes the skin of human beings they are aimed at. People who’ve taken part in tests of ADSs report that “For the first millisecond, it just felt like the skin was warming up. Then it got warmer and warmer and you felt like it was on fire.”
Tests show that precipitation, such as rain or mist, tends to render ADS ineffective. Reducing the amount of exposed skin on the target also appears to diminish its impact.
Whether or not the devices have been used against protesters in Canberra, their potential is an ominous sign. We can only imagine Trevor Mallard salivating at getting to play with such toys.
So, perhaps the protesters at the Beehive might want to stock up on earplugs and heavy clothing and pray for more of that Wellington rain.