The G20 summit was this weekend, and like all major events where people make decisions, there were protesters outside who knew how to make them better. And like a lot of major events, police were called to quell them. Only this time, they were shot in the ear with sonic weapons.
For a lot of people, sound-based weapons only exist in science fiction stories and the imaginings of morbid children. People who aren’t Somali pirates or Iraqi insurgents, who have already experienced the weapon firsthand. But to the hundreds, yes, not thousands, just hundreds of people gathered to protest the G20 summit, their party was cut short when they were hit with one. When asked for comment, one of the peacekeepers said, “It’s a SOUND CANNON. For cripes sake, you’d test your iPhone if you just got it, wouldn’t you?” When asked for comment, one of the blasted said, “Please talk louder.”
It’s nice the government has stopped testing weapons on outside sources, and effectively eliminated the middle-man. We don’t want pesky bureaucracy leaking into the business of capping people. Today marks the first time the cannon was tested in public. Other weapons the US is trying to develop, based off the physics of sound? Ultrasound that can liquefy tissue, and low frequencies that can decimate buildings. It’s nice that they let the boys in R&D watch James Bond movies, but for the love of god…
Here are the videos. In person, the sound levels are so high that they may be able to cause permanent damage, or brain aneurysms. Scary stuff. First video is just of the truck, the second of it in action.
It’s a loud siren. How is that a weapon?