A new 'Sheriff' in town

As usual, muckraking DC journo Wayne Madsen is on top of his reporting game again today with information on a new military weapon (DARPA, Raytheon, usual suspects) that uses a high-powered microwave energy beam, aka "Sheriff," which can be used to scare and burn rioters. A demonstration of the "Sheriff" weapon, reports Madsen, was given at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.

Writes Madsen: Using enlisted airman, acting as "rioters," as "guinea pigs," a beam was directed at them from a parabolic antenna located 500 yards away atop a Humvee. The wave heated the skin of the "rioters" to 130 degrees, creating the feeling in the targets that they were being burned alive, scattering them in the process.

Madsen continues to note that this weapon was demonstrated for journalists in advance of the major anti-war march planned for this weekend in Washington and cities like here in Oklahoma City. Of course Alex Jones (who had a great interview with director David Lynch on his show today) noted these energy beam, crowd-dispersal weapons in 2004 when he attended the Republican National Convention in New York City.

Yes, there will be government operatives in all these cities, and in some cases they may try to rile people up in order to give itchy-trigger-fingered cops a reason to test out their new toys. I remember when I marched in New Orleans in late '02, prior to the start of the illegal Iraq war, me and everyone participating in the march had their photo taken by men who were clearly cops/agents of some sort.

And now it appears we have a new "Sheriff" in town. More can be read about this supposed "nonlethal weapon" (yeah, right, like the Taser, huh?) in this 2004 story in the Boston Business Journal.