The signal cut at 8:43 PM. Official broadcasts went to a "Technical Difficulties" slate. But on the ground, three IMA-accredited streamers kept rolling.
This wasn't a glitch. It was a containment strategy. By severing the mainline feed, authorities hoped to control the narrative of the standoff at the municipal plaza. They didn't count on the decentralized mesh network established by local independent journalists.
The Mesh Holds
Using bonded cellular backpacks and a localized LoRaWAN relay, the "Dallas Three" (as they are now being called) routed their streams through a private server in an adjacent district. The result? 40,000 concurrent viewers witnessing what was supposed to be a dark operation.
"We knew they would kill the towers," said Marcus Thorn, one of the streamers. "That's why we brought the relay."
Verification Matters
Crucially, because these streamers were verified IMA members, their footage was immediately accepted by international wire services. The "Raw & Real" watermark acts as a chain of custody—proving the footage wasn't deepfaked or temporally manipulated.