Federal police asked the National Guard whether they had a “heat ray” officers could use against protesters near the White House earlier this summer, USA Today reports. The inquiry came before demonstrators protesting on June 1 after the death of George Floyd were forcibly removed from Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. by authorities, some on horseback, using chemical irritants, rubber bullets and shields. President Donald Trump then walked to historic St. John’s Church and posed with a Bible, drawing wide condemnation. D.C. National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco said he was copied on an email from the Provost Marshal of Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, who was seeking two things: A device called the Active Denial System (ADS) and a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD.)
ADS is a weapon using short radio waves that “provides a sensation of intense heat on the surface of the skin.” This causes an intense burning feeling, leading to the tool also being called a “heat ray” or the “Pain Ray.” According to DeMarco, the email said military police officers were interested in the ADS because it could “immediately compel an individual to cease threatening behavior” and that the “effect is overwhelming, causing an immediate repel response by the targeted individual.” Developed by the military as a crowd dispersal tool decades ago, ADS has largely been abandoned amid doubt of its effectiveness and ethical questions. The tool causes searing pain, but no physical damage.