Assaulted by State Parks sanctioned technology that emitted microwaves on Seabright Beach

It sounds like a dispersement tool rather than an announcement tool. If it scares mammals away, and people can "feel" it, than it must be uncomfortable. What bothers me is why is this not in the news? If they are going to use this on crowds and they are truly worried about crowds, announcing the use would probably sway some from coming -- not that I condone such a device.

Could it be they just need a crowd to test it on?

Why has our City not told us? Hello City Council?

That beach is one of the most polluted in the county, but home to many birds including the great heron and many other migratory birds. The water is so polluted signs say its unsafe to touch. So were going to blast the wildlife to keep them from??? crowds? I think they can figure that out all by themselves. The crowds have come sine the early 70's. I spoke to a ranger after last year regarding the effect on the wildlife from fireworks and crowds. I noticed the next day the birds and wildlife seemed un-fazed. I video them often. He told me that they were very used to the yearly event and they had zero worries about the wildlife, only the trash and violence. The ranger was cleaning up the garbage and I thanked him. He said all in all, there was far less garbage last year. More people were packing there trash, yet still there was a mountain of it.
Tim Rumford

An Associated Press photographer said a military vehicle arrived toward the end of the demonstration, which lasted several hours and became violent at times.

Located about a quarter mile from the demonstration, the vehicle emitted several bursts of sounds, about one minute in length each time. Although the sound was not loud, it caused people to cover their ears and grab their heads in discomfort.

About 400 people, including Palestinians and foreign and Israeli activists, participated in the demonstration, marching toward a site where Israel is building its West Bank separation barrier.

The crowd was prevented from reaching the site, and began rioting and throwing rocks at soldiers, the army said. One soldier was moderately wounded in the eye.

In addition to the sound machine, soldiers used other means to disperse the crowd, including clubs and stun grenades.

Israel has completed about one-third of the planned 425-mile barrier, which it says is necessary to keep out suicide bombers from the West Bank. Palestinians say the barrier is a thinly veiled land grab because it dips into the West Bank in some areas.

NPR - Day to Day, September 21, 2005 · Crowd control is a constant challenge to law enforcement -- how to stop potential troublemakers without endangering those who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rubber bullets can kill, tear gas drifts with the wind.

Several police departments across America are planning to try a new device that uses focused sound, turned way up. These so-called non-lethal acoustic devices are already in use by U.S. forces in Iraq -- and some are already in place in areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.

These devices are more than just fancy speakers. California-based HPV Technologies recently demonstrated a "magnetic acoustic device" or MAD that can broadcast a targeted beam of sound for a more than mile. At close range, the sound from these devices can be terrifying and painful.

The same devices can also be used as public address systems, projecting instructions or warnings at lower settings -- and at higher settings, forcing crowds to disperse. The sonic devices could prove less deadly than so-called "non-lethal" weapons such as Tazers and pepper spray guns that have actually caused some fatalities.

That's not to say that sonic weapons can't do harm. Earlier this year in Jerusalem, the Israeli Army used a device nicknamed "The Scream" to scatter protest groups. The Scream sends out noise at frequencies that affect the inner ear, creating dizziness and nausea. The device can also cause hearing damage.

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another back view

Microwaves do not transmit sound. I wish people would get their facts straight before they write a sensationalist and erroneous headline like this. It looks like it is the sound amplifying device that if cranked up really messes with you body. If you ever want to be taken seriouly you have got to stop with the tabloid type reporting.

I consider this merely a plea for information Dragon. I realized it was not microwave tech. right off, but there is allot of tech being used for crowd control as he described minus the microwaves. I think we should know if they plan on using it here. Its ok to alert us to what you see and hear. I read the many links. I also looked at other places its been used. Sound wave devices for crowd control. It Did not look fun. In fact, it made some very ill. I live VERY close to the beach and am sick enough already. I don't go near the beach on these holidays but I do want to know what may be used against a crowd, don't you? No its not journalism; its a report and he used some wrong wording. No biggie. I would rather hear about it than not. I know of others who witnessed the same thing so its not like it did not happen.

Thanks for the post.