We have more to worry about from FBI aircraft spying on our citizenry, than we do from UFOs coming to take over the world.
It’s not paranoia, its “dee planes, dee planes,” and it’s just another intrusion of government on what’s left of our privacy. Like COVID 19, this government malady is airborne.
In 2016, there were numerous flights by the feds over New Mexico, which led the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter to state, ‘The routine aerial surveillance of our communities by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies should be deep concern to any American who values their privacy.’[1]
Valuing the privacy of American citizens was never a high priority for the FBI. In fact, in a 2015 article on the ACLU website, it revealed, ‘the FBI maintains a secret air force with scores of small aircraft registered with 13 front companies under apparently false names, and that these planes fly over American cities frequently.’[2]
Also, in 2015 Charles Grassley, then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee stated:
‘But whenever an operation may also monitor the activities of Americans who are not the intended target, we must make darn sure that safeguards are in place to protect the civil liberties of innocent Americans.’
What is interesting as quoted from that same Associated Press article is the chilling fact that ‘Some of the aircraft can also be equipped with technology that can identify thousands of people below through the cellphones they carry, even if they’re not making a call or in public.’[3]
So, what do the “Special Agents” in the Federal Bureau of Investigation say to reassure us they are only looking for bad guys?
According to a 11/24 article from Government Procurement.com:
‘Despite civil liberty concerns, the FBI emphasizes targeted use for criminal investigations. As threats evolve the FBI is expected to incorporate unmanned systems while balancing security needs with transparency.’
And if you want some more Federal fodder? Here it is:
‘These aircraft are not equipped, designed, or used for bulk collection activities or mass surveillance, and are not routinely equipped with cell site simulators.’[4]
We can trust the FBI at their word, can’t we? They’re just after bad guys aren’t they?
Well, in 2008 it was revealed they had a particular interest in American population centers that weren’t predominately white because:
‘[In] December 2008 the Justice Department and FBI adopted new policies that included the initiation of a racial and ethnic mapping program throughout the United States. The program authorized FBI agents to collect demographic information from the U.S. Census to map American communities by race and ethnicity, to identify racial and ethnic “facilities,” and track certain racial “behaviors.”’[5]
Now, to accuse the FBI in being selectively racist in their surveillance efforts, whether airborne on the ground would be unfair. It wouldn’t take into consideration FBI interests in seizing property from those who were never accused of a crime.
Witness the following from a 12/19/23 article from the Institute for Justice, by Andrew Wimer:[6]
‘In March 2021, the FBI raided US Private Vaults, a Beverly Hills safe deposit box company. Even though the warrant authorizing the raid only permitted the FBI to open boxes to identify their owners and safeguard the contents, agents opened hundreds of boxes, ran currency they found in front of drug sniffing dogs, and made copies of peoples’ most personal records. It later came out that, months before applying for the warrant, the government had already decided to try to permanently keep everything worth more than $5,000 from the boxes, all without charging any box renter with a crime.’
Okay, so now we have racism and attempted theft. What else do these good guys in the FBI do to American citizenry?
They allow bad guys who cooperate with them to continue to engage in criminal activity. Straight from the horse’s mouth:
‘The Confidential Informant Guidelines permit the FBI to authorize confidential informants to engage in activities that would otherwise constitute crimes under state or federal law if engaged in by someone without such authorization. Such conduct is termed "otherwise illegal activity" or "OIA.”’[7]
So, when the FBI tells us they are playing according to the rules when engaged in flying surveillance over our skies, it’s not only a question of the veracity of that statement, it’s a question of whose rules?
Sometimes, to find an answer, it’s important to keep up with the Joneses.
For instance, the 2012 United States Supreme Court case of United States v. Jones. That’s a case involving improper GPS surveillance by the Feds, where Justice Sotomayor in her concurring opinion stated:
‘People disclose the phone numbers that they dial or text to their cellular providers, the URLS that they visit and the e-mail addresses with which they correspond to their Internet service providers, and the books, groceries and medications they purchase to online retailers. [...] I would not assume that all information voluntarily disclosed to some member of the public for a limited purpose is, for that reason alone, disentitled to Fourth Amendment protection.’[8]
It is precisely that type of information that airborne FBI surveillance planes can — and do-gather against the citizens of the United States of America — including those who aren’t committing any crimes.
Why You Should Care
We have a United States constitution. That document has certain amendments to it, for example, the Fourth Amendment says, ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.’
There are thousands upon thousands of cases where both state and federal courts have found over the years that law enforcement agencies have violated the fourth amendment rights of citizens.
These are rights, not suggestions.
The Fourth Amendment guarantee ‘to be secure’ is your right, and you don’t want it violated. That’s regardless of whether the violation occurs on terra firma, or in the not too friendly skies where one finds FBI surveillance planes.
[1] FBI PLANES FLEW OVER ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico Political Report 4/8/16 https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2016/04/08/fbi-spy-planes-flew-over-albuquerque/#:~:text=A%20Buzzfeed%20investigation%20found%20that,throughout%20the%20country%E2%80%94including%20Albuquerque.&text=The%20investigation%20found%20that%20the,could%20track%20cell%20phones%20below.
[2] WHAT’S SPOOKY ABOUT THE FBI’S FLEET OF SPY PLANES, Jay Stanley,6/2/15 https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/whats-spooky-about-fbis-fleet-spy-planes
[3] FBI BEHIND MYSTERIOUS SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT OVER US CITIES, Sullivan & Tucker 6/2/15 https://apnews.com/united-states-government-4b3f220e33b64123a3909c60845da045
[4] EXPLORING THE FBI AIRCRAFT FLEET, 11/1/24 Government Procurement.com https://www.governmentprocurement.com/news/exploring-the-fbi-aircraft-fleet-capabilities-and-surveillance-impact
[5] THE FBI’S CIVIL RIGHTS DEFICIT, 9/18/13, Murphy, ACLU website Murphy, 9/18/13 https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/fbis-civil-rights-deficit
[6] FBI CAUGHT TRYING TO SWEEP ITS VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS UNDER THE RUG, Wimer 12/19/223 Institute for Justice https://ij.org/press-release/fbi-caught-trying-to-sweep-its-violation-of-constitutional-rights-under-the-rug/
[7] The Attorney General's Guidelines Regarding the Use of Confidential Informants 9/2015 https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/0509/chapter3.htm#:~:text=The%20Confidential%20Informant%20Guidelines%20permit,activity%22%20or%20%22OIA.%22
[8] UNITED STATES V. JONES 565 U.S. 400 (2012)