this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2025
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Belgrade authorities have used sound weapons on the crowd of protesters. The video description has some educational links.

There are lots of videos around.

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[–] AccountMaker@slrpnk.net 166 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Honestly, we avoided a massive tragedy at that moment. People described that it sounded like a car or airplane was coming at them at full speed, so they instinctively ran away from the roads. People further away didn't see or hear anything, they just saw a crowd running in panic and so they ran as well. I was maybe 50-100m away from where it happened, and all we heard was noise, yells, and then people running, so the people around me also started running, but we all stopped after maybe 5s.

A lot of people think that our overlord wanted to cause a stampede which would lead to thousands of injuries and just chaos in order to discredit the protests. Or maybe they wanted to launch the cannon after the 15 mins of silence were over, which would cause mass confusion since nobody would have any idea what was going on, but triggered it early. In any case, the psychopath used an illegal weapon to attack people literally standing still and being quiet.

[–] Mubelotix@jlai.lu 27 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Fortunately once people are aware of such tricks, they won't be effective anymore

[–] Jonas@mastodon.nl 2 points 1 month ago (7 children)
[–] Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 month ago

Sound is moving air and carries energy. With the right frequency and intensity it could definitely physically fuck you up even if your ears are covered.

Wikipedia:

Studies have found that exposure to high intensity ultrasound at frequencies from 700 kHz to 3.6 MHz can cause lung and intestinal damage in mice

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[–] thisphuckinguy@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (3 children)

How would you fight that tech?

[–] Iloveluigi@feddit.org 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)
[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Surely it's not as simple as ear plugs.

[–] thisphuckinguy@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It’s why I’m asking. People should know how to combat this.

[–] TheLadyAugust@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

My understanding of this is that it is caused partly by bone conduction. It might be possible that closing your ears by pressing frimly on your "tragus" or on the "mastoid process" could reduce the associated effects. The mastoid process is where the jaw meets the ear.

[–] Prandom_returns@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

Pne of the most sliky, pathetic strategies.

  • use the sound cannon
  • stampede
  • many people injured
  • protest are now illegal bc safety
[–] Peter_Arbeitslos@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago

Hoch die internationale SolidaritΓ€t from Germany! (Raise high international solidarity/Cheers to international solidarity.)

[–] kingofras@lemmy.world 59 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Comment and upvote boys, not reddit, no meta, not shitter, not legacy media will report on this. This is why we exist

[–] antonim@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

A thread about this is literally pinned on r/europe.

Edit: Also on front page of r/popular with >66k upvotes.

[–] Ooops@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I got links to videos on Twitter (although I didn't use that shit so maybe they are deleted by now), saw multiple post on Reddit and the video here is hosted on f***ing Youtube.

Yes, a lot of those are shit in general and should be avoided. But somehow it seems they are still not shitty enough if you have to invent bullshit about how they all refuse to report on this.

[–] kingofras@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yes brave oppositional soul. But when it starts being taken down on the others we will stand tall.

[–] all4theTomatoes@lemm.ee 56 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Americans, take notes. The US government will use these tactics to disrupt protest, no doubt about it.

[–] Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 month ago

Some police forces have used sound cannons against protesters, for example during the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit,[7] the 2014 Ferguson unrest,[8] and the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protest in North Dakota,[9] among others.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 month ago

Agents provocateur are much easier and less obvious. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[–] brot@feddit.org 41 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There's also this alternate view from the top:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GotCNOgMN80

And let's be honest: Whoever uses a weapon like that in a crowd like that is playing with lifes. That can led to a crowd panic, which will kill people.

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago

That may have been the point: cause stampede, people die, ban protests, "LRAD? What's that?"

[–] nf999@lemm.ee 30 points 1 month ago (1 children)

So what did the government do, planes/jets? Says sound cannon, what is that? And furthermore, WTF! A peacefull protest, what were they trying to achieve? How sad do you have to be to order this action, let alone to actually do this as an employee??

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

LRAD. Wouldn't surprise me if they were field testing the gear for the yanks or whoever. Would also explain why they did it in the middle of a "moment of silence".

[–] dukatos@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

The government hates that silence because it reminds them they killed 15 people on the train station in Novi Sad.

Protests started when they attacked students giving the respects to victims.

[–] Noizth@lemmy.blahaj.zone 30 points 1 month ago

Seems like peaceful protest is no longer an option. They just forced people to go for the second option.

[–] pinheadednightmare@lemm.ee 23 points 1 month ago

Crazy shit. Expect this nonsense to hit US rallies as well.

[–] SanPe_@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago

What the actual fuck.

[–] peaches@lemm.ee 13 points 1 month ago

What kind of bastards! They were protesting with silence!

[–] Cocopanda@futurology.today 8 points 1 month ago
[–] dergewerkschafter@feddit.org 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's still not entirely clear to me: did the government really use these weapons? I don't recognize enough from the photos. :( And don't understand myself in such weapons either. What I would like to add to the conversation, however, is that Novak Djokovic and several other prominent athletes FINALLY support the protests.

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago

It's not really the type of weapon that you can just buy off the shelf (for such a scale).

[–] Roundeyegweilo@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Well it's good to see that Serbia hasn't changed much since Arkan left.

Edit: /s