Domestic Drone Program Fully Engaged

So, you remember back in 2012 when Congress approved a bill that would allow the use of military drones over US soil? Well it's now an operation thats in full force.

Let there be no mixing words here: this is a US military operation against US civilians. The use of military resources is now (and has been for an alarming amount of time) being used against domestic targets... us.

After some brave folks with MuckRock decided to make a FOIA request the full list is available of all the agencies in the US who are actively droning their own people. Source: muckrock.com

The FAA is in no hurry to let the public know which police departments, universities and other government agencies have applied for drone waivers, much less which have received them. It took a lawsuit in April 2011 to get the first list released at all, and the FAA hasn’t released an updated one since January 2013....A status of “Active (Approved)” confirms that the agency received a waiver to fly drones in a particular geographic area. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), for instance, which reported spending some $600,000 on unmanned vehicles as of May 2013, has two active drone waivers that expire in April 2015 and January 2016, respectively. ATF had not appeared on previous FAA lists..

So what does this all mean? Once again the government has stepped on the constitution. The people's rights no longer mean anything to them and now military assets are being used against us. Any of you who think these drones aren't capable of carrying arms, or will not be used to spy on regular people living their regular lives are naive. It's happening everywhere. You can not hide from them. Infrared cameras with 1.8 billion pixel lenses, RQ-1 Predators, Reapers armed with heavy payloads, the Solar Eagle with a seemingly infinite loiter time; they are right above your heads. Along with all the fancy airborne toys local police departments are receiving from the DoD.

We've known about the feds, we've known about the NSA monitoring all our personal data... now welcome to the world of being monitored by the eyes in the sky. Welcome to the world where not only data is monitored but your physical actions, your daily routine, you sitting on your computer, you taking a shower, you making love with your wife. They see it all. Welcome to life under the rule of drones. Soon we may understand why Yemen and Pakistan hate this country so much.

I've taken the liberty of making a text dump of the list of agencies who are actively droning you, my countrymen.

http : // pastebin . com / YFVdrABb

I remember when all this started and so many members stated with absolute conviction that it will never happen.

Fools.

Many of us knew it was only a matter of time. Welcome to the prison without the need for bars.

Peace

Thank you for sharing and as well your added info.

I hope many see how serious this has become now.

Was something I had wondered about in general and found this when it was shared, From the MSM/2012,

Then there are the corporations. Forbes points out that companies like Google could ditch their Street View cars and start deploying advanced, autonomous drones to roam the country for incredibly thorough mapping. If the idea of fleets of corporate-owned drones monitoring us from above doesn’t scare you, then you are a much less paranoid person than I.

a reply to: AnonyMason

Sooner or later it'll get even worse.

I suspect that it won't be too long before the data monitoring, droning, nano spying and the like, are all linked up via an AI.

And all the while there'll be idiots still bleating "Well, if you're not doing anything illegal you've got nothing to worry about."

Worrying times.

Kind Regards
Myselfaswell

The NOVA documentary is about an hour long, and worth every minute of your time. The insight it provides on this subject is alarming. The pentagon and the White House have done everything they can to keep drones out of the lips of the media. Because of the overall lack of available data and the lack of accurate numbers regarding just how many non military combatants (foreign civilians) drones have actually killed, there is still widespread support for these programs abroad. But now that it's 100% right over our heads? Expect the government to try and shut out any and all news regarding drones all together.

The clip from a recent episode of 'Last Week Tonight' has valuable information as well. John Oliver's ability to deliver funny comentary is underscored by serious concern regarding the severity of exactly what these machines are capable of. The 'Last Week Tonight' Research team delivers equally important evidence of the secrecy under which drone operations are run. I want to call your particular attention to the 4:00 minute and 7:00 minute marks of that clip if you are unwilling to watch it in it's entirety.

The dictionary definition of imminent: adjective: imminent 1) about to happen. 2) overhanging.

The United States government definition of imminent: "imminent threat" "does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on US persons and interests will take place in the immediate future," -- maybe the US drone program should bone up on their English.

As long as the pentagon is "convinced it's an appropriate target", they don't even need to know the exact identity of the people they kill. The drone is a machine, it still takes an order, and a human being to pull the trigger. These people have no regard for human lives. Civilian, militant, terrorist, political dissident, child... to them it's just a blip on a screen.

"I have two words for you: Predator Drones. You will never see it coming" --Barack Obama

a reply to: AnonyMason

Didn't the Intel' agencies or one of them admit they killed on metadata?
That is a scary proposition. Now it's come home.

a reply to: EA006

I wouldnt say 'admit'. I would say there is compelling evidence to support the claim, however. Without a doubt.

According to a former drone operator for the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) who also worked with the NSA, the agency often identifies targets based on controversial metadata analysis and cell-phone tracking technologies. Rather than confirming a target’s identity with operatives or informants on the ground, the CIA or the U.S. military then orders a strike based on the activity and location of the mobile phone a person is believed to be using.

Source: The Intercept

O hai, NSA.... yet again.

a reply to: AnonyMason

Thanks for posting the John Oliver segment. Saved me a job because I was going to post it before but had to sort out dinner for the kids. Speaking of which, the part that is still fresh in my head is those kids speaking about how much they fear a clear blue sunny day, and welcome gloomy overcast weather where they know they will be safe from an air strikes.

When you've got kids thinking like that, you seriously have to have a think about what a cess-pool of hate and weapon waving this world has become. But I know that this will still be the same in 50-100 years, it's so shameful.

a reply to: AnonyMason

Aren't all of these types of activities allowed because of the "War on Terror?"

Federal Register: September 18, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 181)
Presidential Documents
Page 48199

Proclamation 7463 of September 14, 2001


Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of
Certain Terrorist Attacks

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

A national emergency exists by reason of the terrorist
attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York,
and the Pentagon, and the continuing and immediate
threat of further attacks on the United States.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States, I hereby declare that the
national emergency has existed since September 11,
2001, and, pursuant to the National Emergencies Act (50
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), I intend to utilize the following
statutes: sections 123, 123a, 527, 2201(c), 12006, and
12302 of title 10, United States Code, and sections
331, 359, and 367 of title 14, United States Code.

Obama quietly extends post-9/11 state of national emergency

Twelve years after the worst terrorist attack in American history, President Obama yet again extended his predecessor’s Declaration of National Emergency for another year. The declaration, which was originally put into place on September 14, 2001, was renewed on Tuesday.

This is the True Reason of 9/11...

Sure Afghanistan and Iraq, but truly they are nothing of an enemy of this State as You or I am.

This is Now and This is our Future.

We got Screwed.

a reply to: KnightLight

Indeed, they are. Drones are to protect you. You must be afraid of terrorists at all time. *Imminent* attacks await you when you step out of your front door! TERROR! Be afraid of TERROR and submit all your personal liberties to the government. They know whats best for us all, just listen to them, do what they say and TERROR will be kept at bay.

How long til the kids playing with Legos right now are building anti-drone drones in their basements? It wouldn't be that hard to program a small fast quadcopter to home in on a nearby police drone and just slam into it.

Either we'll learn to adapt to a technologically changing world, or we won't. Let the drone wars begin.

I guess that I shouldn't be surprised to see that my county is on the Approved (Active) list.

Not only can my county fly a drone, there is a Border Patrol headquarters in my city (Canada is less than 10 miles across Lake Erie). Double drones!

Here's a picture from a local paper last week:



This use of MRAP and SWAT was to bust a burglary ring that had been very active the last couple months. The funny thing is that people whose cars had things go missing admitted that they'd left their car doors unlocked or just straight up open. Two others that helped identify the thieves said that they walked in on the intruders taking food from their fridges.

The thing that saddened me about this photo? The huge number of comments supporting the use of the MRAP and proud that the city had one! I'm sure those same people will brag that the county now also has a drone

a reply to: halfpint0701

Very disturbing. The DoD is handing out MRAPS like candy on halloween. My county has 5 of them between local PDs, sherif's department and the school district. How many heavily mined areas does the effing school district and the cops plan on runing up against? These departments have more armor then most active duty marine's over seas.

Don't feel like it's just you. The majority of us living in major cities (or close to them) around the country have active drone programs right in our local areas. Several air bases near me are on the list i shared. The big question i have is how do we counter such intrusive measures? I'm pretty sure messing with one of these things in flight would be a crime.... even tho the real crime is that they are active above civilian skies in the first place.

Appreciate the input. I wish i had some better answers, but alas, i do not.

Stay safe.

a reply to: AnonyMason

Well when/if the public becomes aware that the county can fly a drone, I wonder what the reason will be for even needing one. Because that picture I shared showed them rolling up in the MRAP to serve a search warrant. This, however, is what the Police Chief said when they received the vehicle

Police plan to use them at crime scenes such as stand-offs, shootings and whenever a person is barricaded inside a building. Both vehicles are equipped with air conditioning and heat, Watkins said.
“I hope it is intimidating,” Watkins said.

No one was barricaded inside, there was no stand-off, and zero of the robberies involved any interaction with the victims. The times when they did see someone while they were stealing, the crooks ran off empty-handed with no confrontation so there was no reason to think they were violent.

I can think of no legitimate reason to have drones flying overhead!