Americans are familiar with unmanned spy drones providing surveillance of Iranian nuclear complexes and Taliban armed militants combating American troops along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now the Obama administration has quietly authorized Predator drone use by law enforcement officials in the United States to spy on American citizens.
According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, “The drones belong to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which operates eight Predators on the country’s northern and southwestern borders to search for illegal immigrants and smugglers. The previously unreported use of its drones to assist local, state and federal law enforcement has occurred without any public acknowledgment or debate.”
National attention has focused on a story about a sheriff in North Dakota who called in the reinforcements and an Air Force Predator Drone MQ-9 Reaper to assist in surveillance of a farm and six stray cows. The farm was owned by Rodney and Susan Brossart. And the Brossart family was known locally for being armed and apparently anti-government, hence the need for all the government resources.
This is part of a pattern by the Obama administration of bringing highly sophisticated military technology developed for war and deploying them against Americans. Law enforcement routinely uses night vision optics, heat sensors, and even armor and military grade firepower in the battle field called America’s cities.
Spying on Americans by Predator in the United States could explode in the next year. Also according to the LA Times, “For decades, U.S. courts have allowed law enforcement to conduct aerial surveillance without a warrant. They have ruled that what a person does in the open, even behind a backyard fence, can be seen from a passing airplane and is not protected by privacy laws.
Drones are particularly helpful in rural areas that are not blanketed with surveillance cameras the way most major cities are today. Americans living in densely populated major cities can easily spend all day on camera. Just look up. You will be surprised to see camera domes have replaced gargoyles as the building decoration of choice. This combined with greatly improved facial recognition software means everyone can be tracked and traced.
A predator drone flies high and out of ear shot. Using the sophisticated radar, sensors and optics onboard the Predator Drone, operators can identify you, know if you are carrying a firearm, and pinpoint your location.
Currently their use is limited because of FAA regulations, but two liberal Senators are pushing to change the rules. Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore, introduced an amendment to the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Act this past year, “to increase the number of ‘National Airspace System’ test sites for ‘unmanned aerial vehicles’ (UAV) from four to 10, and require that at least one of those test sites include a significant portion of public land.”
Schumer said at the time, “drones are more important than ever to our troops overseas, our cops walking the beat and our border patrol agents keeping drugs off our streets, not to mention accurate mapping and more.”
So add drones to the list of tools that can be used domestically to spy on you. The list is getting long….
Read more from Floyd and Mary Beth Brown at FloydReports.com.
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He needs to leave us alone, PERIOD!! STOP SPYING ON US, DAMMIT!!
These Drones are being used in rural areas where American Patriots have entrenched themselves against government intervention in their lives and business such as ranching and farming and or in general living off the land…..The government believes they are illegal hoarders of food, guns, ammunition and the Bible….Those who belong to right wing Patriot groups are being targeted by our Government for destruction!….Drones let the government know where and when these individuals families and or groups are most vulnerable for attack by the national authoritarian police!….Please remember Obama's words when he was campaigning…..If and when he is elected President he will maintain a civilian police force as geat or greater than our standing US military!….For What?…."When will They ever Learn"!….Peter, Paul and Mary
Did anyone ever read a novel by Dean Koontz, along the same lines as this very real story in the making, In America………..I forget the name of the novel, but it had drones in the sky, watching a couple who had gone awry of the “government” somehow. Koontz said that this was very possible in our future……….hello everyone, our Future is here! It happened because we have all been asleep at the wheel of our nation, and let a bunch of stupid fools drive the vehicle, called America. Maybe it really is time for us to take back the steering wheel, and drive our own nation in the direction that she should go. Take our Future back, and our Present as well. From the hands of this insulting peice of muslime trash, who means to ruin everything that is still beautiful in our country. Take it back from this destructive force that comes in the name of “president” of The United States of America. I cannot speak for the rest of you, but for myself, this insult is not my president, I do not, and never have, claimed this antiAmerican trash as my “president”.
To whomever he belongs, please do take him and his offspring, and his wife, back to whatever hole that he crawled out of.
I hate Obama. How is it possible that this low life drug addicted former homeless person is sitting in the Oval Office and has so much power? It is the stuff of nightmares. It is enraging. It is as if someone just picked him up off the street, cleaned him up real good and gave him speeches to read through the teleprompter and everyone was impressed because he was a well spoken black man. Just like in the movie Trading Places!
the govement can go to hell.
He's giving them to our enemy and watching us also. obama is one busy little boy.
Good one Gayle,you beat me to that one.We should just send them to all the people that hate us.We had the opportunity to destroy them.
This is nothing new. The government has been spying on Americans since the first spy satellite went up. For many years they have used a satellite that can pier right through your walls and into your home. The "new" telephones on the wall are capable of remote use to listen in to the home. Read any electronic magazine and you'll find out about the new two way televisions. Even your webcam can become a "spy tool".
These are just the final steps of control. Thanks to cameras on the street and now cameras "on call", there are no places left to hide.
Wake up America. It's almost too late.