Unusual fireworks activity

[barracuda]

It began about two weeks ago, nightly fireworks beginning about 8:00 pm and continuing late into the night. At first I thought it was simply an early start to the 4th of July, but my family began to complain, and that's when I began to notice people all over the country saying the same thing: what's up with all the fireworks?

As reported by ABC7, cities across the Bay Area, particularly in Oakland, have seen an enormous increase in fireworks going off during the night. Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo — who says his Fruitvale neighborhood roars with pyrotechnics late into the night — has acknowledged the problem.

https://sfist.com/2020/06/21/bay-area-c ... difficult/

"Reporting from Brooklyn, there was yet another night of extremely loud fireworks starting at 8 pm. and ending at about 2 a.m. This is the second week straight of this; every night during the same time period, like clockwork."

https://twitter.com/SonofBaldwin/status ... 1563938821

Now it's been two weeks and I'm seeing people theorizing the it's a .gov/cop psyop to disorient inner city populations through sleep deprivation. The fireworks seem to be large and professional quality which has others guessing this may simply be overflow from the covid-19 shutdown of public displays.

Are the bombs going off near you? Is this a US only phenomenon?

[LolaB]

^^ The same is happening in southern California.

[JackRiddler]

Yes, all over NYC. Lots of people complaining about it. I don't know that it rises to psychological torture levels quite yet, but definitely annoying. What I've heard here can be for hours sometimes, and usually maintains a constant rhythm. Have yet to see any of the tell-tale fireworks detritus on the street. Are they cleaning it up?! Noise was coming from across the street the other night and actually stopped when I walked towards it. (A rarity with July 4 fireworks.) Whoever it was melted away.

Can never rule out some kind of op or counter-groundswell to the protests, speculative though that may be for the moment. So many coppers are really angry, their spokespersons keep declaring war on politicians and civilian management for betraying them. You saw how the Buffalo riot force "resigned" (from that unit, not from their paychecks and future pensions of course) and you saw how seemingly most of the force in Atlanta did a wildcat strike, forcing a small payoff, in response to the idea that any of their number would ever be held accountable for things like killing a fleeing drunk guy by shooting him in the back or throwing down a frail old man and cracking his skull.

[dada]

My suggestion, and I have no proof to back up this theory, it seems to me that fireworks sales would be a money laundering-friendly business. Last year's fireworks need to explode in the air to make room in the warehouse, shipments have to keep moving. The show must go on.

I know, so far-fetched. Operation firework counter-protest, now there's a reasonable theory.

[JackRiddler]

No, of course, it totally makes sense that way too. Normally I'd say definitively more sense. But quite unlike the old days, there have been recent years with near-zero fireworks. Now comes this routine of someone keeping it going in one location at a time for hours, just pop-pop-pop endlessly at a constant rhythm. (I set off fireworks when I was a kid, and this would not have made for much joy.) That's what I've been hearing on this block. (Almost like a noisemaking machine, rather than gunpowder. Come to think of it, where's the smoke?) That's the noise others report from elsewhere. It is unusual. (Or maybe these thoughts are better suited to the mistaken memory thread. Maybe it was always this back when fireworks were normal, I dunno.)

Last night was different. At a greater distance, not in the park across the street, there was definitely professional grade material being set off, lending credence to the totally credible surplus-destruction theory.

dada, You're probably still in the city, so what's been your experience of it so far?

[kelley]

the fireworks have followed the nonstop copter noise over downtown Brooklyn

which is tapering off

and it's definitely strange to be hearing these explosions in such quantity

many stories and much speculation

the NYFD setting off fireworks?

Juneteenth celebrations?

symbolic aggression against the NYPD?

and a bizarre NYT feature which claimed fireworks are traditionally 'working class' and a normal summer activity enjoyed among populations in parts of the city such as East Flatbush and Crown Heights (or Brooklyn in general)

this last mention is incredibly specious

ideas about sleep deprivation are interesting and if coordinated or not it's my opinion fireworks will desensitize neighborhoods to the sound of gunfire and general mayhem

it's been awhile since shots have been routinely heard in the parts of Brooklyn which have become gentrified since the early '90s

[kelley]

and on a related note i wish to add

am not optimistic

a winter of quarantine

springtime curfews

summer protests give way to a second wave of infections, more extreme measures at local levels, continued voicing of dissent, and increased reactionary violence around the country

fall will undoubtedly see a contested election, a constitutional crisis, and the real possibiilty of martial law

how could it not?

so fireworks? as a conditioning device?

hells yes

[norton ash]

Why it feels like there are a lot more fireworks this year
Sales really are up, plus cities are quieter due to the pandemic.

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/6/22 ... ern-cities

America, or at least its urban precincts, is awash in small-scale and likely illegal nightly fireworks displays. Or at a minimum, it is awash in reports of such displays, with everyone from Oprah magazine to the New York Times weighing in on the increased firework activity.

New York City saw a massive increase in complaints about fireworks filed this June; Boston also has a large, verifiable increase in complaints. Most cities don’t make this data available, so it’s harder to assess exactly what’s going on. But I certainly felt like I heard more fireworks in DC this month than I have in my previous 16 years in my neighborhoods, and colleagues around the country feel the same way.

The apparent trend, paired with a lack of clear information and a growing climate of distrust in institutions, has sparked some fairly extreme theories, including a potential police department psyop.

[kelley]

oh and another thing

rumors where the entire NYPD calls in sick on July 4 to grant the city its 'independence'

this doesn't seem as far-fetched as it sounds given NYPD seems to be turning a blind eye to general mischief and etc during the past two weeks following large-scale protests with motorcyclist stunts, random yet regular fireworks, and the impending possibility of the city becoming a gigantic open-air bar

it's noticeable and not something i've noted discussion of anywhere

[dada]

Maybe it's some modern urban warfare tactic I'm not familiar with, what do I know.

I'm not in the city anymore, I'm north and west, about half-way between NYC and Scranton PA. Just a short drive to Avengers HQ. Love it up here, can't believe I spent all those years in the boroughs.

But yes, there have been some fireworks, and sounds of fireworks here, too. I hadn't given it much thought. There are all kinds of noises at night up here that I can't explain. Sound of heavy machinery far off. Sometimes a strange pulsing hum. The occasional report of a rifle. I don't get hung up on the sounds, though. They don't interfere with the nightlife. And by nightlife I mean the sounds of nature.

Some strange lights up here, too. But then, Stewart airport isn't very far away, so, you know. Although sometimes things get really strange. But again, I don't let it bother me. Just comes with the territory.

[Blue]

I live in the deep south and it is a very irritating thing that folks buy lots of them and big ones (they're sold everywhere) and shoot them off quite often for holidays and after football games. Weird how I had not heard any in months until just NOW typing this post...I'm hearing them go off.

My guess is that it's being spread through the low IQ social nets that love their Qshit and just round them up to do some.thing. And of course they all support the Blue Wall.

That's their way of doing protest without having to actually leave their home and beer.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Been hearing about that for awhile

Here's a twitter query from May 1 to June 1 for "fireworks every night" -- tons of them.

[JackRiddler]

Allow me to outline some possibly relevant context...

Is C19 on its way to being a factor in some 200,000 deaths in the US, after which it goes away except for small limited outbreaks? Or will it continue until it kills more like 5 million, just in this country? I'm certain it will be very close to the first, but both scenarios still live as common claims. Some are still in daily terror of it, others laugh it off or even deny there's been excess death. Other than the call to wear masks and keep distance, most of the various institutional warnings and recommendations about what to do have not stayed consistent for long. The corporate media lives off the FUD.

In New York, apparent professionals looted exclusive downtown and midtown locations for a couple of days with nary a protest, riot, or uniformed cop in sight. There was widespread belief in disinfo that a force of thousands, even 9-10 thousand "antifa" or white supremacist agitators from outside the state of Minnesota, descended on Minneapolis to cause riots and discredit the Floyd protests. Then melted away, unrecorded, unarrested. There are very likely hundreds of such people (not as sympathizers -- that would be a big number -- but organized and willing to try such actions around the country). Some groups are very likely integrated into the off-books police and spook networks. Crowds of armed counterprotestors have formed on unfounded rumors that their town was about to get a visit from an "antifa" that never showed. Some people seriously still claim to see a Russian hand behind the events, or of course attribute mastermindery of every last detail of what is unfolding to a well-known Democratic Party donor or an ongoing color revolution op.

So even more than usual, we're at a point with a lot of room for mass self-delusions to arise off rumors or misconceptions; and for more elaborate deceptions and psyops to be carried out and believed.

Replies in this thread have convinced me that the goods probably are coming off the stockpiles originally intended for organized legal fireworks shows that were canceled or aren't expected to happen, as dada seems to be saying if I've understood him.

While I said I've yet to see the expected debris on the street in Brooklyn, I found photos showing big piles of exploded high-grade fireworks detritus all over a street in the Bronx. (I don't know whether "high-grade" is the right word, I mean stuff made for professional use in fireworks shows.)

That doesn't rule out many concurrent scenarios. People can be whipping themselves up, or being intentionally whipped up by media, into imagining things that are not happening, blowing street fireworks out of proportion. Or organized bad actors can take advantage of the opportunity to conduct forms of psy-war, whether with goals or for the lulz. One of those scenarios could be actors who want to add to the impression that things are completely out of control, hoping for an ordo ab chao response. This idea is now out there regardless of whether that's happening. As is the idea of cop wildcat strike or no-show on July 4.

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[JackRiddler]

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Just heard unconfirmed story people were setting off fireworks in front of De Blasio's house (the real one, in Brooklyn) last night at 3 am, supposedly to send the message that if they can't sleep, he won't sleep.

Where is that supposed to head?

In the 1970s, the week before July 4 was pretty much one uninterrupted crackity... crackity... crackity... boomboom! crackity, crackity... climaxing on the day itself in SurroundSound(tm) battlenoise (or what Americans who haven't been to war think sounds like a battle). And that's declined every year, and has gone almost completely away now.

Here is a thorough piece. She considers every factor and theory mentioned so far, plus the current general proliferation of weird new realities, claims, rumors, FUD and pyswar. She did some online legwork; it's festooned with links, especially to establish the availability and current pricing of various fireworks.

Your thoughts?

medium.com
Explosive Theories on Increased Fireworks
Kitty Stryker

Jun 21
https://medium.com/@kittystryker/explos ... 42a96a47d3

Note: I’m willing to see data that shows me I’m wrong. More data is good. I’m willing to change my mind — email me leads at miss.kitty.stryker at Gmail. I hope more people research this too! I just haven’t seen anything that leads me to think that this is that complex. And policing the hood or snitching on neighbors? Less into that.

I’m seeing a lot of anxiety spreading on social media that the CIA is pawning off professional fireworks to Black teens to destabilize the BLM movement due to one person’s tweet.

Which… What?

For context, I am maybe one of the most anti-government, anti-cop people I know. I am for full abolition of the police and prisons. I am not super keen on the federal government. I’m usually pretty quick to believe that the government and the cops are Up To No Good. But I have to say I don’t see this adding up, both from my experience talking to folks in my neighborhood, what I’ve witnessed, and seeing interactions other folks have had.

I’m also seeing a lot of calls to “record suspicious activity you see in your neighborhood” which… I don’t really get. For whom? For what purpose? How is this not super Karen-y behavior?

Let’s say you miraculously film a cop dropping off fireworks in a neighborhood. Clearly marked, in a patrol car, undeniably a cop. Who are you going to report this to, again? Cops don’t even hold each other accountable for murder, lolsob. And what if they aren’t a cop? Do you report them for naming and shaming to local organizers? Are you going to turn local organizers into the police force for your neighborhood?

Do you not talk to your neighbors… or do you only talk to them when you’re lecturing them on their behavior?



Let’s talk a little bit about COINTELPRO. Yes, there are absolutely examples of the government and the police infiltrating political movements to destabilize them. This was specifically used to great effect during the Civil Rights movement, and was busted open when the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI busted into their offices and released some of their files.

One of the FBIs favorite tricks to encourage dissent? Letters full of fake information to encourage paranoia and exacerbate rifts. It’s absolutely fair and reasonable to be wary that such things might be happening again. Let’s also just be wary of spreading our own rumors — the left really doesn’t need its own QAnon.

I don’t want to wear a tin foil hat, they’re just not flattering.

If this was a COINTELPRO operation? I just don’t believe that it would be handled this sloppily. Videos of firefighters setting off fireworks, or fireworks going off near police precincts without the cops doing anything, or videos of a street filled with cop cars with fireworks happening nearby… these are all really high key for a shadowy operation. It’s just as likely that Americans just like to see things go BOOM, especially when they’re not supposed to have their hands on it.

And let’s be real— cops stepping back and letting fireworks go off unchecked got a lot of you to change your tune from “defund the police” to “I wish the police would do proactive policing again”.

If there’s a secret operation going on, it seems much more “AND THEN THEY’LL BE SORRY” than sleep deprivation.

Is the left being spied on? Absolutely. Are neighborhoods being given bog standard illegal-but-not-hard-for-a-consumer-to-get-across-state-lines fireworks for free by the secret police? I doubt it. It’s grim to say, but it would be more likely for faulty fireworks to be the things getting distributed if the government wanted to terrorize and intimidate a community.

It’s also really interesting to me that the person responsible for this wide fireworks panic seems to consider anyone disagreeing or offering proof contrary to their theory “government agents”, and told followers that it’s dangerous to just go and talk to your neighbors to find out what’s going on, that it’s better to just film in secret and guess at motives… rather than ask questions yourself. Seems like that will encourage fear, not dissipate it.

Remember those bricks? Turns out they were by construction sites. Remember the outside agitators? Turns out they were angry locals, pissed that they had been held hostage by the police and capitalism for so long. Sometimes the obvious answer is, actually, the answer.

This is why I am very very wary of outside agitator narratives. The white woman who set fire to the Wendy’s Rayshard Brooks was murdered at? Apparently, that was his girlfriend. People (on the left!) were so quick to spread her photo around to sniff out the “outside agitator” that they instead doomed a comrade to jail. I mean… who do YOU protect, and who do YOU serve?

There are a million way more reasonable explanations in my opinion for why there’s more fireworks this year, and even why they’re bigger fireworks.


These look big, but you can find Jail Break with a BOGO for $99, and Dragon’s Breath also BOGO for $199

Increased fireworks are probably more prevalent in part because a lot of these folks are essential workers who don’t have anywhere to spend money, so when someone comes through from Nevada (or wherever) with the 4th of July haul, people are buying enough to set them off more frequently. Fireworks stores, after all, say sales are up.

And I mean hell, they’re not legal in Oakland, but it’s perfectly easy to drive for an hour and pick up some fireworks from a local stand. If you wanna go even bigger, it’s 9 hours to drive to Vegas. It’s not that difficult, and that’s without looking at the underground market. This guy got caught with 500lbs of fireworks. Fireworks being sold out of car trunks and duffel bags just isn’t that uncommon. This guy got busted with 3000lbs of fireworks in 2018. Maybe you just didn’t know this market existed?

Those big booms that aren’t fireworks? Possibly M80s, which are illegal to buy and to make but aren’t impossible to get your hands on. At least some of them? Seal bombs, not terribly hard to get a hold of in an area known to use them as a seal deterrent. Dropped in a milk jug full of water, they make a big explosive noise, low and reverberating.



Why aren’t cops showing up? Well, cops know they’re being watched and are picking and choosing their battles. Traditionally, fireworks were a show of defiance, with different neighborhoods setting theirs off in stages so the cops never caught them in the act and were just racing from one spot to another. Right now, cops as far as I can tell aren’t in a rush to arrest people for fireworks, and also, are often busy dealing with protests, so it’s not a priority.

Additionally, cops across the US have said they were going to have the “Blue Flu”, trying to make a point that maybe people *do* want to call cops for nonviolent crimes. Cops aren’t showing up in an attempt to prove you’re too scared to be without them, and they’re doing this as retaliation because of calls to defund them and hold them accountable. People were overpoliced for years over small shit, and now that the cops are having a petulant tantrum wherein they refuse to overpolice, people are taking advantage. Cops are ignoring these noise complaint calls — therefore, more fireworks.

It’s not just more fireworks, though. It’s also more food carts, who also aren’t getting harassed by cops about whether they have a permit or not.

Its also drag racing & side shows. It’s graffiti. Sex workers are getting left alone more, as are homeless folks.

There's lots of stuff going on now that the cops are hands off. Without proactive policing, yeah, we see more graffiti and bacon wrapped hot dog carts.

As for the question of these being bigger or more professional — well, you’d be amazed what you can buy, just at a normal fireworks store, for a start! Laws have relaxed more and more each year. There are some pretty big explosives available, and they’re pretty cheap currently. And that’s if you’re not even looking at the fireworks underground market, which also exists. With street sounds down, too, because of the pandemic, we might just notice noise more acutely. If someone shoots a firework closer to the ground vs up in the air? That’ll echo more loudly.

Did you know a regular firework that can bought from a retailer can go from 50–250 feet in the air? Know how high a professional firework like they use for the Macy’s parade can go? OVER 1000 FEET. They use shells 2–3' in diameter. That’s not what these kids have, I promise. If you’re living in a state that makes all aerial fireworks illegal, you may think aerial fireworks are all professional grade… but that’s simply not the case.


[more images of ads for sales on fireworks]

If the fireworks people see in neighborhoods turn out to actually be professional-grade fireworks (which most of the ones I’ve seen in person and online were not, by the way- they were big and loud, but not that big and loud), I’d be curious if there’s not some factor involved around most 4th of July gatherings having to cancel because of COVID-19. It looks like there’s been an awful lot of fireworks being pushed cheap by businesses that are struggling with so many displays being canceled. Those big explosive booms? Often end up being M40s, cherry bombs, and other explosives that are illegal but people still get their hands on them somehow. I mean, Youtube is filled with white rural kids playing with explosives.





I also think it’s important to remember that it’s mostly happening after 8 because that’s when it gets DARK.

It’s not because of some conspiracy to give Black and brown folks sleep deprivation. Fireworks during the day are just not as cool! I saw a bunch on Saturday, and while they look glittery and are still loud, it’s just not the same. Some people are doing in the day because they still like the BOOM but generally, yeah, it’s gonna be at night.

What I‘m concerned about being perpetuated is this patronization of Black folks as setting off fireworks only because they’re pawns of a white intelligence agency manipulating them. This taps into some white savior shit wherein people want to snitch on each other for buying/selling fireworks in order to rescue them from manipulation by the police. It’s respectability politics shit. It ignores that you are then being manipulated by such rumors into being the police. Stop and think for a minute.

This happens every June to July. That fierce, defiant joy is brighter this year because the cops are finally learning to pick their damn battles. It started in May this year? Well, what happened in May that pissed off people across the globe?

People are very angry at a system and government that has terrorized them for years. Some folks feel this is fair play, something gentrifiers can’t ignore. Something that shakes people up. And some are celebrating the police just barely beginning to get their just desserts.

When we’re so quick to trust Black people who tell us to snitch on other Black folks? That really deserves interrogation.

The fact these conspiracies about how Black people behave are spread by mostly non-Black folks also deserves interrogation. This sounds an awful lot like the “outside agitators” rumors, which also, incidentally, turned out to be false overall.





I do feel for those with PTSD and animals who are scared. I really do. I know this season always sucks for you and even if you do go and talk to your neighbors it won’t completely stop the behavior. That blows and I wish there was a way to make it easier.

That said, I also feel for the Black teens who are fucking furious at all of us for pushing their needs aside while their friends and family were murdered and jailed for years. We’ve ignored them for so long. Now, they’re making sure they’re heard. Are we surprised?

I don’t know there’s a great way to address both types of trauma in a way that feels just and fair for both. Talking to each other seems like the first step. Let’s build more trust, not less.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

PS- just to clear this up — the Boogaloos and white supremacists? They aren’t using fireworks to terrorize people. They’re straight-up shooting people.

WRITTEN BY

Kitty Stryker
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Professional Bleeding Heart. Sick & Tired. Patronize me: http://t.co/RSd5cSVGE5 Image by @mayakern

So I'm going to STFU about this and if it starts tonight I'm not just strolling but getting on a damn bike and going around and checking out wtf is going on.

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[bks]

Every night, for at least a couple of weeks, in Philadelphia.

By my rough calculations, there must be tens of thousands of cancelled events in April and May where large fireworks displays would have been part of the festivities. I'm thinking mostly about minor league baseball games, major league baseball games, other outdoor events that got cancelled, etc. Further, belt-tightening in an economic depression may mean that, say, 25% of municipalities that were planning large July 4 shows no loner are. So there's bound to be a large production excess of high-end fireworks that suppliers need to dump at pennies on the dollar, yes? That would account for the increased frequency.

Mix in nationwide rallies against systemic racism that threaten the hegemony of police, and it's not at all implausible that cops are both less likely to respond to disturbance calls, and happy to have the inoculating effect of people ignoring loud bangs that sound like gunfire (should they need to use that inoculation effect to their advantage sometime in the near future).