Conspiracy theorists, some calling themselves the “Ilfracombe Blade Runners,” are vandalizing traffic light sensors, claiming they are “phased array electronic assault weapons.”
While some conspiracy theories, like those surrounding Flock cameras and birds not being real, are more fact-based than others, this particular conspiracy is a little harder to take seriously.
The Blade Runners believe that the traffic light sensors are used to place these “phased array electronic assault weapons” on city streets, which they say can perform mass surveillance and even cause cancer, dementia, and unexpected death.
The reality is that the equipment is designed to help traffic signals respond to people and vehicles waiting at intersections.
That sort of logic hasn’t dissuaded the Blade Runners. Recently, in video that has been circulated online and viewed tens of thousands of times, a woman appears to be tampering with equipment connected to a traffic signal in Ilfracombe, a town in England.
The video was shared online by the Facebook account Citizens Onpatrol, which then uploaded other recordings showing the two individuals being taken into custody and the woman leaving the Barnstaple Police Station after being granted bail.
Boomers appear to be involved in several of the videos
And it wasn’t some teens just trying to stir things up. According to the Guardian, they were a woman in her 60s and man in his 70s.
The “Ilfracombe Blade Runners” claimed in an online message that the sensors installed at the town’s pedestrian crossings pose an “imminent threat to life.”
The London Daily News reported that the Cambridgeshire County Council said that about 200 sensor units had been vandalized at around 50 sites across the county. Most of the incidents were in Cambridge, although other locations were also affected. In one week, the council recorded vandalism at 20 junctions and crossings.
In Sleaford, Lincolnshire County Council said two sets of traffic lights were targeted, and the equipment damaged included 10 sensors used to manage traffic flow and help pedestrians at crossings. The Blade Runners claimed responsibility on social media.
Two days ago, Citizens Onpatrol shared another video showing someone disabling a traffic light sensor. “THE ILLEGAL AI HARDWARE WILL BE REMOVED OR DISABLED UNTIL THE ESTABLISHMENT BENDS TO OUR WILL,” the caption read, adding, “YOU NEED TO LOSE THE FEAR AND STEP UP – START DISABLING OR REMOVING THE PHASED ARRAY WEAPONS ON TOP OF THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS.”