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Mysterious surveillance planes fly over Baltimore after riots
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In the aftermath of the extreme riots in West Baltimore, citizens observed Cessna planes flying over the direction of the chaos. In a tweet initially posted by Benjamin Shayne, discussions and confirmations of others seeing surveillance planes in the same direction prompted some to ask where the planes come from and why. Issues over the government tracking down people and probabilities of breaching the freedom of association concerned many, including formal organizations.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
5/7/2015 (1 decade ago)
Published in U.S.
Keywords: Cessna Planes, Surveillance Planes, West Baltimore, Riot, Twitter, FBI, Police, Freedom of Association
MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - "Anyone know who has been flying the light plane in circles above the city for the last few nights?" tweeted Shayne, through his account @scanbaltimore.
After a few minutes, one of his followers replied, stating that it was a Cessna 182T. The reply from Pete Cimbolic also included a screenshot of the exact flight plan of the surveillance plane registered under the NG Research based on Bristow,
"A lot of these technologies sweep very, very broadly, and, at a minimum, the public should have a right to know what's going on," said a senior policy analyst for ACLU, Jay Stanley.
The FBI initially refused to provide a statement on the issue, but on Wednesday the FBI stated that the surveillance planes were for "providing aerial imagery of possible criminal activity" as requested by the Baltimore Police Department.
There were two Cessna surveillance planes over the area after dark from Thursday to Saturday, one propeller plane and a small jet, according to the flight records from Flightradar24 website.
"We have the right to demand to know what's happening. Whether the government will respond to that, that's the question," said Atty. Jennifer Lynch, senior staff for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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