The Federal Aviation Administration put a drone no fly zone within 3,000 feet of “Department of Homeland Security facilities and mobile assets,” according to a notice to airmen posted by the government. The no fly zone is the same type that the U.S. uses to restrict consumer drones over military bases and Department of Energy (DOE) research centers and facilities. The order appears to attempt to criminalize the use of drones to film Immigration and Customs Enforcement and DHS employees who are detaining people all over the country. The order is particularly notable because it does not apply just to static locations like DHS offices, but also to “vessels and ground vehicle convoys and their associated escorts.” The notice classifies areas within 3,000 feet horizontally and up to 1,000 feet of altitude as no fly zones and as “national defense airspace,” meaning the skies up to a half mile from ICE vehicles in Minneapolis, for example, could fall under this new jurisdiction. The notice states that people who violate the restrictions can be charged criminally, could face civil penalties, and may lose their authority to fly drones in the future. “In addition, [drone] operators who are deemed to pose a credible safety or security threat to protected personnel, fac [facilities], or assets may be mitigated,” it adds, noting that “mitigation may result in the interference interception, seizure, damaging, or destruction of unmanned aircraft deemed to pose a credible safety or security threat to protected personnel, facilities, or assets.” The order replaces a previous no fly zone that applied only to military bases and DOE sites. Military bases and DOE sites are static locations that don’t move. The new no fly zone, called a temporary flight restriction (TFR), applies to DHS employees and vehicles wherever they may be. ICE is notoriously performing raids all over the country with no notice.With the rise of cheap consumer drones, some activists and protesters have used them to film law enforcement and to document police abuse. This no fly zone criminalizes that activity, further cracking down on the tactics protesters can use to keep people safe or film ICE brutality. It is unclear whether any specific incident led DHS to push for the no fly zone. DHS and the FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.DHS itself has used its own drones to surveil protesters, including in Minneapolis. In 2020, a Customs and Border Patrol Predator drone surveilled people protesting the police killing of George Floyd, and last year DHS flew Predator drones over anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. Those aircraft were detected using open source flight records and air traffic control audio. On Monday, videos of aircraft circling over Minneapolis were widely shared on social media, with many people saying the aircraft appeared to be drones. 404 Media has not yet been able to confirm what the aircraft are.
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