Real bullets, real guns, real threats.
A man dressed in army green took to Facebook live last night to show off his arsenal and threaten to kill anyone protesting Myanmar’s military takeover.
The man, identifying himself as a military officer named U Swe, said he shoot anyone engaging in any form of civil disobedience when he went out on patrol at night while taking turns aiming different guns at the camera.
“I will shoot anyone I see on the streets with this gun,” he tells viewers. “I will shoot your fucking faces, got it?”
Over the course of several minutes, he brandishes a handgun, an M14 battle rifle and chambers rounds of ammunition while taking turns invesisting that each is genuine and “not a toy, understand?”
“I’ll knock your head off as soon as you drum the pots and pans,” he says, referencing a widespread sign of dissent to the coup d’etat earlier this month. “”These are not toy guns, are they? Look here for real bullets. Real bullets!”
There was no way to know for sure whether he is actually a soldier or just the boot leather-sniffing incel he appears to be in the video.
On the one hand, photos posted to his Facebook account appeared to show the man with other soldiers. On the other hand, he handles the weaponry like a wannabe.
His promise to coup dissidents is clear – don’t expect to be shot anywhere polite or survivable.
“I won’t shoot other parts of the body. Will shoot only head. Come on [civil disobedience protesters] and pan-drummers. I will shoot only your heads!”
Although he never specifies which city he is assigned to patrol, other posts on the account indicate the man recently lived in the northern Shan State city of Muse. Most of his Facebook friends were from around Naypyidaw.
The accounts bears all the hallmarks of a Facebook-radicalized ultranationalist. He attacks filmmakers, artists, Muslims and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains wildly popular after being deposed by the coup.
“Stop with the Aung San Suu Kyi bullshit!” he exhorts viewers near the end of a clip still in circulation after the original was taken down.
The threats didn’t go over well online.
“Civilians who do not have a single needle in their hands are not afraid of you and are always against dogs and animals like you. The only cowardly ones are people like you, when they see an armed man [from the ethnic armed groups]. Fuck off!” a Chan Maung wrote.
At least two civilians have been killed protesting the Feb. 1 coup, and at least 20 people were injured Saturday when police fire bullets to disperse demonstrators in Mandalay.
The junta who carried out the coup d’etat yesterday threatened to crack down on media who continue to use the term “coup d’etat.” Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup and seized power for himself, insisted action would be taken.
Journalists at some major outlets have resigned in protest, and many reporters boycotted Min Aung Hlaing’s news conference. Still, some outlets have gone along and referred to the regime as the “State Administrative Council.”
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