FBI Uses Surveillance “Air Force” To Monitor US Citizens, AP Finds
In the wake of the violent protests, looting, and riots that shook Baltimore to its core and left parts of the city smoldering in late April, Benjamin Shayne — who had just sat down in his backyard to enjoy a radio broadcast of an Orioles game — inadvertently uncovered a secret FBI aerial surveillance program when he noticed a small plane circling overhead and asked Twitter if anyone could explain the aircraft’s low, circular flight pattern. As it turned out, one of Shayne’s followers had some answers:
Anyone know who has been flying the light plane in circles above the city for the last few nights?
@scanbaltimore It’s registered to NG Research: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=539MY … For some other info: http://www.reddit.com/r/nova/comments/2bgj1p/plane_circling_over_mcleanlangley_area_last_few/ … pic.twitter.com/eGXFIKXCgr
That exchange would culminate in a Washington Post article which outlined the “aerial support” provided to the Baltimore Police Department by the FBI.
We went on to take a closer look and, in “Meet The FBI’s Secret Eye In The Sky Overseeing The Baltimore Riots”, we postulated that the Cessna’s monitoring the riots may have been equipped with night vision equipment provided by Persistent Surveillance Systems, a company which has worked with the Baltimore PD in the past. Here’s a schematic (via WaPo):
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
