FBI admits to flying drones over US without warrants

FBI admits to flying drones over US without warrants

rt.com

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has used drones for domestic surveillance purposes in the United States at least ten times without obtaining warrants. In three additional cases, drones were authorized but “not actually used.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday published a letter from FBI Assistant Director Stephen D. Kelly, who admitted that the agency used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) domestically, without gathering any warrants.

(visit the link for the full news article)

“The FBI uses UAVs in very limited circumstances to conduct surveillance when there is a specific, operational need,” the letter reads. “Since late 2006, the FBI has conducted surveillance using UAVs in eight criminal cases and two national security cases.”

The bureau said that it would only be required to obtain a warrant to use a drone in cases for which a person “would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.” The FBI stated that it has not yet needed to ask for a warrant, but that all requests for drone use must be reviewed by an agency lawyer and approved by a senior management official.

We now get proof that the US government has been utilising drones against its citizens...all without the use of warrants. This comes unsurprising considering all the other information which has been recently revealed about the US government.

While the drones have been put to good use (one of the operations mentioned, involved the rescue of a 5 year old boy), i still believe that authorities should get warrants in order to spy on civilians.

rt.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

If an illegal act is happening, anyone who stands against any and all use of available means to stop it: is a terrorist.

The vast majority seems to think rights being violated in the name of saving/preventing crime is okay, the raw fact is YOUR GOVERNMENT DOES NOT TRUST YOU.

They could trust you to live well and be good in your own home, but they would rather stick a camera in there and fly drones over your house anyway.

reply to post by Biigs

The vast majority seems to think rights being violated in the name of saving/preventing crime is okay,
the raw fact is........

The raw fact is....rights being violated is against the law....rights being violated is a criminal act.

The raw fact is...rights being violated is THE WORST type of criminal act. It places men ABOVE THE LAW.
It is the core reason for the vast majority of human suffering. It has lead to subjugation, imprisonment,
slavery and eventually wholesale slaughter... all for the sake of those who sit above the law.

There is no greater evil in the history of men than tyranny in government.

Without more information on the individual cases, and how the drones were used its difficult for me to pass judgement on this one. If they were watching public property then there weren't any constitutional issues to worry about.

Thank god we have this "transparant" government obama promised us so we can get to the bottom of this...

They look at us all as their enemies. Clearly, they are preparing for an economic collapse because they know that hunger will create true dissent.

Enemy UAV spotted!!! You cannot hide

dp

Who's on Obama's American drone list? Hmm.
2nd

I doubt that this could ever be proven illegal.

Surely TPTB will find a legal loophole to allow this to occur, or maybe add a new clause to the patriot act, that would soon fix the problem.

have you ever heard of drones being used to fight gang war etc nope .

knock off any bad drug lords in columbia/mexico nope .

it's scary how far away they can track multiple targets 7+ miles

it's about time ANON GOT THE BAT SIGNAL to hack those things .

that is if they exist and are not a goverment po-po time will tell

Originally posted by Thecakeisalie
I doubt that this could ever be proven illegal.

Surely TPTB will find a legal loophole to allow this to occur, or maybe add a new clause to the patriot act, that would soon fix the problem.

y,
OK, all you guys and girls who think it's the end of the world, reread the original post and insert "2 guys in an unmarked car" for the word "drone." Suddenl the story becomes "FBI admits using 2 guys in an unmarked car without getting warrants." And everybody who was heretofore hemorrhaging indignation goes "Yeah, so what, big deal." There is no necessity to obtain a warrant to conduct surveillance of things going on out in the open. You can follow and watch 3 guys in a van running from a bank robbery, whether you follow them on foot, in a car, by helicopter or by an unmanned drone. And if they are fleeing felons, under most state law, deadly force can be used to stop them, whether by gunfire from the foot patrol or a hellfire from the drone. Think about it a minute. The state cop sitting under the overpass with his radar gun is conducting surveillance. And gathering your data (speed
) without a warrant.

Sorry, double post.