The Egyptian military relies on arcane—and dangerous—technology for crowd control

At 2am, early Tuesday morning, just half a block from the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, crowds start fires and chant slogans against the ruling military junta. Down the street, men from the nearby Abdeen district stand in front of their homes with sticks, knives, and guns, ready to defend the neighborhood.

The night is punctuated by shouting and gunfire. It’s been nearly three hours since the entire civilian Egyptian cabinet submitted letters of resignation to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), and downtown Cairo is still gripped by chaos.

The protests have been raging since Friday, when peaceful demonstrations against the increasingly authoritarian military devolved into violent clashes. Images of military police beating protesters and dragging dead bodies sparked widespread outrage. Coming just a week before planned parliamentary elections, the ongoing violence has cast a long shadow over