Pittsburgh police on Thursday used an audio cannon manufactured by American Technology Corporation (ATCO), a San Diego-based company, to disperse protesters outside the G-20 Summit — the first time its LRAD series device has been used on civilians in the U.S.
An ATC sales representative confirms to DailyFinance that Pittsburgh police used ATC’s Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). “Yes, we sold one LRAD unit to a government agency — I don’t know which one — which was used in Pittsburgh,” the representative said. American Technology Corp.’s stock was trading up over 15 percent in heavy activity late Friday.
Daily Finance: Louder than bombs: LRAD ‘sonic cannon’ debuts in U.S. at G20 protests
September 29, 2009 at 6:38 pm
One of my professor was up at the G-20 protests. She commented that she felt that the technology was used at the protests were a “dry run”. When I asked her to elaborate she said she thought that state was seeing how new technology could be used for control. I told her I used to say things like that and people would call me a conspiracy theorist.
September 29, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Sorry in advance for all the spelling and grammer errors in my response!
September 29, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Kinda like “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you”, just because it’s a conspiracy theory doesn’t mean there isn’t a conspiracy.
That said, I am not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t believe in shadowy groups who control the world. I believe it is decentralized; the behavior of the ruling class and their bureaucratic minions, derived directly from their worldview. They do what they do individually and in concert with one another, not as an organization, but as a people, as a system designed to run and support that worldview. It is that worldview, that system of belief which is our greatest threat. I believe that those who hold it are traitors to their country, are enemies of freedom, and are unfit for public service. They must not be permitted to hold positions of power in the media or in government. Fascism is its most accurate descriptor, but they have successfully sought to delegitimize and obfuscate the term. Fortunately, claims of fascism from the left are slowly beginning to gain momentum among progressives.
I am hopeful that we can outlaw the use of these illegal and unconstitutional practices against peaceful protestors.
September 30, 2009 at 12:09 am
I’m pretty sure these weapons are not regulated, the plans to make them have been published for decades and no special components are required. Anyone who is concerned about these weapons being in the ‘wrong hands’ has but to reach out and put them in their own hands. I made my first sound cannon in the late 1980s.
September 30, 2009 at 2:50 pm
That’s bloody disgusting. Thanks for bringing it up.