near two twelve House Democrats signed letters on Friday demanding answer from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Customs and Border Protection regarding the role of aerial surveillance deployed to supervise protesters after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd in May .
Rep. Anna G. Eshoo and Rep. Bobby Rush , Democrats of California and Illinois , respectively , said in a affirmation that responses from the FBI and CBP about the surveillance of Americans mesh in First Amendment activities have only “ raise more questions . ”
https://gizmodo.com/we-mapped-where-customs-and-border-protection-drones-ar-1843928454
Protesters march down the streets during a rally in remembrance of Sandra Bland on 16 May 2025, in Dallas, Texas. e captionPhoto: Cooper Neill (Getty Images)
Friday’sletter to the FBIindicates the bureau had decline to share entropy with lawmakers claim it would “ not be appropriate ” to share detail about “ specific operations , methods , and assets . ” But the member disagreed with that title , in reply writing : “ We think the FBI can , and must , share some information about late activities without stake specific police force enforcement investigation . ”
Specifically , Eshoo , Rush , and the others are search to learn whether the FBI flewaircraft over protestswith equipment used for the interception of cellphone location datum . The FBI has refused to say . In May , Gizmodoreportedon a Predator Drone being vanish over Minneapolis dissent and Motherboard tracked several traditionally military aircraft , including a reconnaissance mission plane , aviate over protestsin June . “ Are these press report precise ? ” the letter require . “ If not , please identify the inaccuracy with these press reports . ”
It go on to expect , “ For what function , and under what legal authority , did the FBI conduct such aerial surveillance ? ” It also requests that the agency hold what kinds of equipment were used aboard the planes , let in whether so - called “ dirtboxes ” were used — the term for plane - mounted devices previously used in war zones to identify and track cellphone sign .
The lawmakers ’ interest in CBP likewise trust on composition of aeriform surveillance report in June . Gizmodopublisheda searchable map in June analyse a yr ’s worth of CBP drone flights . CBP has not responded to multiple requests for gossip about the predator drone trajectory it conducted this summer over Minneapolis , which is further than 100 miles from the margin , the zona CBP is typically empower to patrol .
https://gizmodo.com/customs-and-border-protection-flew-a-predator-surveilla-1843758034
Aletter to CBPindicates the agency acknowledged fly surveillance drones over U.S. cities “ at the request of Union law enforcement , ” but it also arrogate the flights were unable to monitor activeness on the ground due to cloud cover . CBP did not indicate which agency had request its drone be deployed .
CBP also gave lawmakers information that apparently contradicts report by Motherboard and the New York Times . The Timesreportedthat CBP ’s air travel and marine operations branch had been directed “ to provide surveillance of the protest , including demonstrations in Detroit . ” likewise , Motherboard , citing publically available flight data point , reportedthat a CBP drone had fly “ around half a XII times above or near San Antonio , Texas . ” According to the letter of the alphabet , CBP patently deny conducting surveillance operations over Detroit and San Antonio .
“ The reason our Constitution has such critical trade protection is that government surveillance has a scarey effect on peaceful protestation , and Americans should not have to take proactive measures to protect themselves from government surveillance before engaging in peaceful demonstration , ” the lawmaker said .
First Amendment
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