ANTIFA Likely Permanently Blinded Federal Officers With Lasers, Officials Say

[Garoq]

We don't need this kind of publicity...

DHS/CBP Press Conference 7/21/20

I hope the officers didn't sustain permanent eye injury.

 

[Alaskan]

Too bad I don't personally know any ANTIFA members, I'd just love to have a meeting with one.

 

[Encap]

Unfortunately, same is getting a lot of media play. Now many articles are appearing in newsmedia if searched on google - example see: https://www.fox13news.com/news/fede...n-permanently-blinded-by-lasers-officials-say

Here is an interesting 19 March 2020 article from Harvard Political Review -- "Lasers: The Future of Protest"
https://harvardpolitics.com/covers/magazine-spring-2020/lasers/

Even Laser Pointer Safety now has pages on same: https://www.laserpointersafety.com/protests/index.html

What it will mean at the end of the day for the laser hobby and hobbyist if the insane anarchist criminal violence and "protesters" using laser pointers to "express" themselves keeps up, remains to be seen.

 

[Razako]

Uhg, I heard of this as well on the gun forum I go to. Honestly I'm shocked it took so long for this to be a thing, with cheap 1W blue lasers available for lunch money on ebay and such it was only a matter of time until the protestors figured out a new use for them. Hopefully none of the officers were injured too badly by this.

 

[RedCowboy]

I have wondered when the violent mob would start using more weapons, explosives, ect... and when they did I knew we would take the kid gloves off and whip some ass, I think blinding officers is comparable with any other aggravated assault and gives the officers the right to use lethal force.......they could start with bean bags and rubber bullets but any peaceful protestors need to learn that when those among you start committing aggravated assault it's time to FLEE, GO HOME, WALK AWAY and protest another day........you don't see gun owners getting violent at our gun rights marches and we police our own, but the so called protesters who shine lasers at officers are not protesters anymore and their activity is no longer protected.........how far do we let this go ?

You know the democrat goal is to use these violent protest to change our great nation into a socialist nightmare where we have no rights and everyone gets universal income no matter what your work which will destroy our hopes of prosperity and enslave us all, we will become helpless proletariat and the politicians will be the only bourgeoisie.

We must stand behind our officers and support a strong hand against these domestic terrorist, it needs to be known that if people among you shoot lasers at cops that rubber bullets will be coming back at you directly and if that fails then copper jacketed lead.......officers should have escalated when bricks and bottles started to fly......Bring in the National Guard, ROLL IN THE TANKS and arrest the evil doers or we will all be punished for their crimes.

 

[Alaskan]

The United States has pointed their fingers at other governments for being too heavy handed with their own people, but today, we are being faced with ANTIFA thugs intent on destroying our current government in order to take power and get what they can for themselves, that is all communism has ever amounted to, just another way for some individuals have found to rape successful systems for personal gain. The problem is, eventually they run out of other peoples money, communism doesn't work unless you harass, jail and kill those who oppose the corruption it always generates.

We've seen this story play out in Russia and have come to understand communism is just a shake down racket. At this point, it appears we either stomp the leftist movement down hard or let everything fall apart. In my opinion, this would not be happening now if the extreme leftist elements of the democratic party were not so hateful themselves to where they are willing to destroy America in order to get back on top too, but their victory would be very short as we go the way of Venezuela.

I am very concerned for the USA, we cannot let this happen and need to restore conservatism, if we don't, we won't have a good future and with what is happening in the world with China, if the US falls, their government will indeed eventually take over the planet and we all see what that would be. No one anywhere in the world will have a chance to be free.

 

[Garoq]

Yes, the situation is looking very grim right now. We need to speak UP and speak OUT as often as we have opportunity.

 

[Garoq]

Thanks for those links, Encap!

Unfortunately, same is getting a lot of media play. Now many articles are appearing in newsmedia if searched on google - example see: https://www.fox13news.com/news/fede...n-permanently-blinded-by-lasers-officials-say

Here is an interesting 19 March 2020 article from Harvard Political Review -- "Lasers: The Future of Protest"
https://harvardpolitics.com/covers/magazine-spring-2020/lasers/

Even Laser Pointer Safety now has pages on same: https://www.laserpointersafety.com/protests/index.html

What it will mean at the end of the day for the laser hobby and hobbyist if the insane anarchist criminal violence and "protesters" using laser pointers to "express" themselves keeps up, remains to be seen.

 

[WizardG]

After what we've watched on the news from other countries I figured this was just a matter of time. The protesters are rightfully angry (IM
HO) but blinding LEOs isn't gonna win them many friends. Red is right, it's gonna get them shot with one type of munition or another.

I'd like to offer my services to the protesters. Put away the lasers and I'll help you build your own LRAD devices.

 

[Alaskan]

These protestors have become a threat, destroying property and harming, sometimes killing, you wish to help with that? You wish to destroy?

 

[RedCowboy]

Protesters are jamming police communication too.

We need to end policing for profit, traffic tickets should result in points as they do but there should not be any monetary fines and although I don't smoke marijuana or consume any of it's derivatives I don't think it should be illegal when alcohol and tobacco is legal, I see too many traffic stop videos where people get hauled in for a little bit of non tobacco, it's ridiculous and a lot of our laws are overreaching, it's not just cops but the policy and laws, stop and frisk is unconstitutional as are roadblocks and no-knock warrants should not exist, red flag gun laws are unconstitutional and have resulted in bloodshed and until they are corrected to include due process it will continue.......if someone is a danger to themselves and others you don't just steal their property and leave them with their car keys, you take them into custody and ascertain their condition before stealing property, it should be just like having someone committed, but in some states all it takes is for an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend to make a complaint and as this is abused by liberals more blood will be spilled.

I sure as hell don't want to see police de funded and replaced with a new " socially just police force " or a " national police force " who end up following orders against citizens without weighing those orders against our rights and don't be surprised if we do get a national police force when they become more militarized than ever before, many liberal mayors/governors are fostering this unrest for political gain and plan to stand on the dead bodies and proclaim the need for more laws and less freedom to be safe all while really working to further their agenda, gotta ban those dangerous laser pointers because tyrant politicians want a monopoly on the use of force and they don't care how many people get hurt as long as they are in control and the people are powerless to stop their corruption.

While I support some police reforms I am totally against the cancel culture and these riots must stop before counter-rioters get in the streets and blood is spilled, rioting and looting is not protesting, it must stop.

 

[LSRFAQ]

Quote
'
I'd like to offer my services to the protesters. Put away the lasers and I'll help you build your own LRAD device"

Do me a favor and don't do that. I worked for one of the companies in that market for a while. Trust me on that...

Give them an inch and they'd take a mile, trust me...

Steve

 

[WizardG]

All due respect Alaskan, but I'm here in Oregon and I can tell you from personal experience that things in Portland aren't the chaos you see on the news. Yes, there are a very small number of hardcore idiots that choose to 'express themselves' with vandalism and violence but they are few and could be dealt with via more conventional tactics.

Sending in a federal goon squad, especially one doing blatantly unconstitutional things with no identification or accountasbility, is guaranteed to inflame tensions and bring more wackos out of the woodwork.

And yeah, I'd rather see the protesters fire back with their own LRAD type eqipment than blind people. But that would be my second choice, the best option being de-escalation and negotiation on some meaningful reforms to our law enforcement. I'm pretty pro union but the way the police unions have helped defend and keep bad cops on the street is a disgrace. There needs to be more meaningful accountability.

 

[Alaskan]

I prefer the use of goon squad, even if a small group in Portland causing this grief, they will grow to a larger group to the point it is more out of control and be duplicated in other cities which are democrat run. I've had more than enough of this stuff going on, how many lives does it take to matter? The goons ought to go into Chicago too, shut that crap down. If BLM, why not?

 

[LSRFAQ]

Overdriven LRADs of a more sophisticated type can be very bad for civil rights if misused. Just Less then Lethal, not Non-Lethal, is the way to think about the terminology of some of these devices. I'm not going to get into details, because I have the odd nightmare still and a conscience, but if you have an unlimited budget, things get bad fast... Point being you don't aim some of these things at school kids and prisoners. I'm not in to tasering little kids, but it seems like some of the protesters on both sides might be.

This is 'Merica damn it, and unless these demonstrators are being funded by trans-national actors off US soil, the Constitution still applies. Even then it still applies, but I'd tolerate a greater level, far more aggressive level of enforcement if your taking offshore money to disrupt my Nation. We have plenty of sworn Federal and State and Local cops, You don't need to resort to unmarked snatch and grab or suspending rights or ending Posse Comitatus or dumping people off the back of C130s into the ocean.

I live seven miles from Kent State, and have not seen the drama or conspiracy theories diminish in my lifetime, at all. Every May around here it is a media frenzy.. Fact of the matter is some of the ones who were shot at long range were just walking to class. I do not want to see the Radical Polarization I have seen as a student of history occur any further in this Nation.

That is about as political as I've ever been on the net, but I mean it.

Trust me, protests should be civil and never elevate to the Laser/Lrad level.


Steve

 

[18LJ]

I agree that nothing good can come of this from a laser hobbyist standpoint but unnessecary regulations and bad laws. As a person of color who has had two friends in the past crippled and killed by police abusing their authority I feel like those officers should consider themselves lucky they were hit with lasers and not bullets. I'm reading a lot of comments on this thread that are coming from people who it's painfully obvious are living in a sheltered privileged bubble. If you think millions of people across the country are leaving the safety of their homes amid a pandemic to risk being beaten, tasered, chemical sprayed, shot, and arrested just to cause trouble or because they're bored with nothing better to do then maybe you should stop and think about the history of our country and reflect of what actons result from a legacy of abuse and oppression. If u think this is all just a viral trend spreading because of a couple YouTube videos try going on YouTube and looking up just how many videos there are of police beating and killing unarmed people. Now like I said before I don't agree with people using lasers to assault police because it goes against the philosophy of non violence being the core principal of bringing about equity for marginalized and oppressed people, however if your being assaulted and are unarmed a laser is one of the more benign ways of defending yourself than say a gun or a homemade bomb. (Protestor in Hong Kong eventually abandoned lasers for petrol bombs when they learned that police decided indiscriminately shooting protesterswith live rounds i's what's to be expected from getting hit by a laser) Also I think it's worth pointing out that 12 protesters compared to 3 officer's were blinded by pepperspray rounds and rubber bullets. Personally if I had a choice I'd choose getting blinded by a laser hands down any day. So if you don't understand the reasons why all of this chaos is happening around u then I strongly encourage you to open your mind and educate yourself. If you have an opinion that's ignorant there's nothing wrong with that if your willing to educate yourself and unbiasedly expose yourself to information that may challenge how you think the world is and try to view facts from not only your own perspective but from someone else's shoes. But if your ignorant because you want to be and you think your right and are unwilling to consider the reality of what other people are experiencing because your happy and comfortable with the way things are....well that's pretty much the definition of what people are talking about when they use phrases like "white privledge" & I cannot help but pity you because change is coming. The societies of our entire planet are shifting their values and the balance isn't being shifted towards those that have traditionally enjoyed positions of privledge, preference, and power. If you have a hard line stance against all the recent protests it's likely because your prejudiced or enjoy privledge in our society and that privledge is being threatened by those groups protesting that have been living in the shadows of inequity. You can either share that privledge and work with those marginalized groups to create a more equitable society going forward, or you can have it taken from you and watch the society you have enjoyed living in be shattered and rebuilt without regards or concern for you. Choose which side you want to be on. But if I were you I'd consider what lessons history has to offer. Do u really think it's wise to side against the groups that align themselves against facism? Or would you stubbornly hold yourself loyal to those in power that are shooting unarmed people, tear gassing and beating protesters, snatching people off the street by unidentified people with guns in unmarked vehicles and holding them without charges? I know which side of history I want to be on.