Border Patrol flies anti-terrorism drone over Minneapolis protestors
Thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis on Friday to protest the death of George Floyd, a local black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest. All the while, a Customs and Border Patrol drone kept a careful eye on the unfolding unrest.
The drone, using the tracking signal CBP104, took off from Grand Forks Airforce Base at 9:08 am Central Daylight Time and shortly afterward headed directly to Minneapolis, this feed from live flight tracking service FlightAware showed. The drone then circled the city six times from about 10:45 until noon. The aircraft maintained an altitude of about 20,000 feet.
Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Force's 319th Reconnaissance Wing. It is also a site Customs and Border Patrol personnel use for takeoff and landing of the Predator B unmanned aircraft system. CBP uses the drone in anti-terrorism operations by helping to identify and intercept potential terrorists and illegal cross-border activity.
Also at The Drive and Business Insider.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @12:00PM
>> Customs and Border protection? What on earth are those guys doing patrolling a riot in Minneapolis?
It's right there in their title: "Customs" and Border Protection. It's the custom in the USA to repress uppity black folk, so they're just ensuring the custom is upheld.