A whistleblower told Congress that military police asked for a “heat ray” to use to disperse protesters from a park outside of the White House.
D.C. National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco revealed in testimony that he was copied on an email from the provost marshal of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region who was seeking a device called an Active Denial System, which is a weapon that uses radio waves to provide “a sensation of intense heat on the surface of the skin,” and a Long-Range Acoustic Device known as an LRAD.
The email said the ADS, which has been dubbed a “heat ray” or “pain ray,” has an effect that is “overwhelming, causing an immediate repel response by the targeted individual” and would “immediately compel an individual to cease threatening behavior.”
Federal law enforcement wanted to use the weapons to control the crowd that had been protesting outside the White House in late May and early June following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in Minneapolis police custody. DeMarco’s letter to Congress is part of the House’s investigation into the Trump administration’s decision to clear protesters from the White House prior to President Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photograph.
Neither the Active Denial System nor the LRAD, which emits a piercing noise to deter crowds, were used to clear the crowds near the White House. DeMarco noted that the “D.C. National Guard was not in possession of either an LRAD or an ADS” for federal police to use.
DeMarco testified in July against the Trump administration before the House Natural Resources Committee, where he disputed the administration’s claims that protesters were not behaving peacefully when they were cleared. The inspectors general with the Justice Department and Homeland Security Department announced in July they would be investigating the use of force from federal police in Washington, D.C., and Portland.
