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Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

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Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#141

Post by JumpCrisscross »

__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #73
tonyhart7 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the only acceptable condition to use it maybe if there are riot or violence breakout in that area not for peaceful protest

If you were at a protest that was starting to get a bit rowdy and somebody used one of these on you, what would you do? I'd either come back prepared for actual violence, or switch from protest to sabotage. It just screams "escalation" to me.

> If you were at a protest that was starting to get a bit rowdy and somebody used one of these on you, what would you do?

Leave. The moment it turns into a riot you’re doing damage to your cause. (If you’re in a protest and see hooligans, restrain them.)

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#142

Post by EA-3167 »

tbrownaw wrote: post #121
pclmulqdq wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Police also regularly use tear gas against US citizens. These are weapons that would violate the Geneva convention, but we're okay with them to disperse a crowd.

> These are weapons that would violate the Geneva convention, but we're okay with them to disperse a crowd. Isn't that a category ban that came out of a couple specific members of that category that were used and had particularly nasty effects? And then countries' domestic law enforcement rules tend to be defined in different terms.

It is. People think that the "Frangible bullets and teargas banned by the Genevan Conventions" means that they're seen as too cruel to use in war. Unfortunately the "wisdom of crowds" that we've created on social media has decided that it does.

The reality is that we're talking about the views of people in 1925, as informed by a previous group of people in the late 1800's. They were far more concerned with avoiding the use of gas as a weapon than in dealing with the LD50 of the various gasses.

Likewise with frangible/hollow-point ammunition, it isn't even banned by the Geneva Conventions, it was banned under the now-defunct Hague Convention. For better or worse they thought that these "tumbling" or "expanding" bullets were designed to inflict intentionally greater suffering. Who knows maybe the versions that existed in the late 1800's did too, the ones today aren't used because they're worthless against even modest body armor.

But again, people just see text on a picture in a meme and take it to heart.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#143

Post by spacecadet »

camilo2025 wrote: post #33
observationist wrote: post #27

Serbia had the LRAD systems on hand, after buying them in 2022, most likely from Genasys, but possibly from HyperSpike. https://genasys.com/lrad-products/ It's a legal gray area in Serbia where the use against civilians isn't explicitly forbidden, so they're playing fast and loose and moving fast to crush opposition. It's better than troops just gunning people down, but for a modern, supposedly civilized country it's…

You are aware that these LRAD systems have been used against US citizens, aren't you?

My American Citizen score card:

LRAD + Tear gas 2009

Tear gas 2017

Tear gas 2021

Still got the exhausted canister from 2009 as a souvenir. Carry a bottle of water, the tear gas rinses out quickly.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#144

Post by ncallaway »

avaika wrote: post #125
neilv wrote: post #16

I wonder how the engineers and scientists who contributed to that less-lethal weapon feel about it.

This has to be about people who pushes the button. Not about the people who invents the technology. Otherwise you might want to stop all the kitchen knifes production, cause people occasionally use those to kill each other.

Okay, but if the tool is a weapon and is designed specifically to inflict harm on humans, then I think that analogy completely breaks down.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#145

Post by heraldgeezer »

g-b-r wrote: post #37
observationist wrote: post #27

Serbia had the LRAD systems on hand, after buying them in 2022, most likely from Genasys, but possibly from HyperSpike. https://genasys.com/lrad-products/ It's a legal gray area in Serbia where the use against civilians isn't explicitly forbidden, so they're playing fast and loose and moving fast to crush opposition. It's better than troops just gunning people down, but for a modern, supposedly civilized country it's…

[flagged]

Ah "but the USA!!". Cant tell if you are a suburb leftie who lives there or a russian troll.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#147

Post by alabastervlog »

Aeolun wrote: post #54
timewizard wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a weapon meant to deny the use of an area by threatening non-selective permanent physical damage. There are very few legitimate civil use cases for something like that.

Something like protecting the capitol from being stormed by a mob?

You could outfit the front steps with crewed machine guns, but apparently they only do that if they expect people protesting in favor of liberal values.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#148

Post by impossiblefork »

ta1243 wrote: post #110
impossiblefork wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once there's violence targeting you, the solution is to bring real weapons and resolve it using ordinary military tactics, that is, you kill the operator.

Operator is typically thousands of kilometres away

No, he's probably just around the corner, having just set up the speakers and put on his hearing protection.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#149

Post by Davidp00 »

casenmgreen wrote: post #66
alephnerd wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Serbia is one of the Russian-controlled Governments Serbia is a major weapons supplier for Ukraine [0][1][2] and has backed Ukraine's stance on Crimea as it has implications for Serbia's stance on Kosovo. Vucic only cares about Vucic, and will work with any country (Germany [3], Russia, China [4], America [5], Turkiye [6], UAE [7], etc) to continue to hold power and balance alternatives. By becoming close with ever…

I am corrected. Thank you, and very much; I had thought I knew where Serbia was in things, but I was mistaken. I don't want to be mistaken, especially not now, where the situation is so serious. It's an excellent post, and I'm very grateful to you for the time you spent pulling all the links together.

Given the correction, can you edit your initial comment?

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#150

Post by martin_a »

elaus wrote: post #23

Even without knowing the background of those protests: It is heartbreaking to see a crowd of peaceful people (seemingly during a moment of silence) being attacked by their own country and fleeing in panic and pain.

Here's some background: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2g8v32q30o
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