Aerial surveillance of protests in Washington, D.C
Information Certainty: Rumoured
Deployment Purpose: Surveillance
| Summary |
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| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | Unknown Products 0010 |
|---|---|
| Institutions ⠉ | Unknown Institution 0050 |
| Datasets | Unknown Dataset 0029 |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Concluded |
|---|---|
| Events | ? (5 June 2020, Documented, , No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | Unknown Institution 0050 |
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| Managed by | US Marshalls |
| Used by | US Marshalls |
Location:
| City | Washington (DC) |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | USA |
Description[ ]
Following the murder of George Floyd by police officers in the summer of 2020, large protests against police brutality were held around the US. At two large protests in Washington, D.C, it was found that US Marshals flew drones over the protestors. The source of the information are documents and emails that the ACLU obtained via a Freedom of Information Request. It is not known why, or by the request of whom, the drones were flown. It is suspected that there was collaboration with other federal bodies.
Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union that same year via the Freedom of Information Act were also heavily redacted, providing only murky outlines of how the agency was conducting aerial surveillance. These ACLU documents stated that the Marshals possessed a “rapidly deployable overhead collection device that will provide a multi-role surveillance platform to assist in [redacted] detection of targets.” Another document provided to the ACLU noted that the marshals deployed surveillance drones through their Technical Operations Group, or TOG, which “provides the U.S. Marshal Service, other federal agencies, and any requesting state or local law enforcement agency, with the most timely and technologically advanced electronic surveillance and investigative intelligence available in the world,” according to the Marshals Service website. The Marshals’ spokesperson, however, told The Intercept, “No USMS UAS flights were conducted at the request of any other agency” 1
References
- a b "U.S. Marshals Used Drones to Spy on Black Lives Matter Protests in Washington, D.C.". (2021) <https://theintercept.com/2021/04/22/drones-black-lives-matter-protests-marshals/> Accessed: 2022-06-02