An Army National Guard major who was at the scene of protests in Lafayette Square in June has informed a House committee that the military inquired about using a heat ray and gathered thousands of rounds of ammunition as officials prepared to clear protestors before President Donald Trump walked to a nearby church, multiple media outlets are reporting.
Protestors had gathered in the park outside of the White House, to speak out against institutionalized racism and police brutality after the death of George Floyd.
The protest was broken up to allow Trump to walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which is a block away from the White House across the park for a photo opportunity, The New York Times reported.
Maj. Adam DeMarco sent a letter as a follow-up to questions after he testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources in June. The letter was written in August, CNN and NPR reported.
DeMarco called himself one of the senior National Guard officials on the scene on June 1, CNN reported.
He said he was copied on an email from the Provost Marshal of Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, NPR reported.
DeMarco claimed the head military police officer was asking if the DC National Guard had access to a “Long Range Acoustic Device" or “the Active Denial Systems," CNN and NPR reported.
A “Long Range Acoustic Device” sends a wall of sound at crowds.
The “Active Denial System”, or ADS, uses “a directed energy beam that provides a sensation of intense heat on the surface of the skin.” It is likened to a heat ray, CNN reported.
ADS uses millimeter wave technology that is invisible, NPR reported, and it’s considered a “safe, effective and non-lethal manner” to engage potential adversaries that are outside small arms range.
ADS was considered to be used against migrants before the 2018 midterm elections but the now-former Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, said “she would not authorize the use of such a device and that it should never be brought up again in her presence,” The New York Times reported.
DHS said such an option was never considered, the newspaper reported.
The device was developed twenty years ago, but had been abandoned over questions of not only effectiveness but also morality, the Times reported in August.
Reporters who have been part of demonstrations of the ADS called it painful, The Washington Post reported.
Some likened it to “being exposed to a blast furnace.” Another called the pain “intolerable,” according to the Post.
Neither system was used to break up the crowd of protestors in Lafayette Square. Instead, law enforcement used a bullhorn to tell the crowd to disperse, smoke canisters and rubber bullets.
But a military official said the inquiries were routine in finding out what weapons were available, CNN and the Post reported.
DeMarco said there was also a weapons transfer to the DC National Guard that afternoon that had “approximately 7,000 rounds of ammunition,” CNN reported.