But that in no way means that HERF guns aren't also part of the picture. Until some terrorists take credit for it in public, we are unlikely to learn the truth. The problem is simple. The primary reason that people go along with governments, even to the point of working as de facto slaves for several days a week to pay their bills, is so that those governments will protect them. To a certain extent, governments do.
Government is, above all else, a protection racket.
Governments protect their citizens primarily from other governments. They also at least go through the motions of protecting citizens from criminals, terrorists in particular. Modern technology has placed in criminal and terrorist hands weapons against which there are no defenses. As this gradually sinks in to the public consciousness, people's willingness to pay for protection they aren't receiving will inevitably come into question. Let's examine one possible use of RF weaponry that fits easily into established terrorist patterns.