On Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) flew an unarmed Predator surveillance drone over Minneapolis to help police monitor protestors around the city. Essentially, the federal government used military-grade equipment to spy on its own citizens, but then again, the feds have long surveilled those who dare challenge state power.
A CBP spokesperson said the drone provided “live video feed” at “the request of our federal law enforcement partners in Minneapolis” to give police “situational awareness, maximizing public safety while minimizing the threat to personnel and assets.”
Though the drone flew around at 9 a.m. CST, made a hexagon around the city, and returned to its base. It was used to look over the aftermath of protestors who had spent the last three nights demonstrating against police brutality.
The protestors, some of whom are affiliated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, seek police accountability and judicial reform after the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill.
A Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck during his arrest for nearly nine minutes while Floyd said, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd, who had a bloody nose while having his face smashed against the pavement, cried out for his mother and then subsequently died in police custody.
While the offending officer, Derek Chauvin, is currently in custody and has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death, charges haven’t been filed against the three other officers present during Floyd’s arrest.
During the resulting protests, police from the neighboring city of St. Paul estimate that more than 170 businesses have damaged or looted with dozens of fires occurring elsewhere in the city, most notably burning out the 3rd Precinct Police building where Chauvin worked.
The U.S. government has monitored activists since possibly before the mid 20th century’s Civil Rights Era. These days, the CBP, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and local police have increasingly used high-tech tools to surveil protestors, including artificial intelligence-powered cameras, facial recognition, cellphone data locators, social media monitoring, license plate readers, body cameras, video analysis tools.
These tools have been used against BLM and Occupy Wall Street activists in the past, and these same tools are currently at the Minneapolis police department’s disposal while city and state leaders try to decide how best to defuse the escalating situation.
Yesterday evening, Minneapolis Mayor enacted an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekend curfew for all city residents. The curfew forbids folks from any travel on city streets whether by foot or wheel. Violators can get a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail.
Though CBP says it loans its drones out all the time to help with local police and the National Guard, Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), thinks they shouldn’t be used at all.
“No government agency should be facilitating the over-policing of the Black community, period,” Guliani said in a statement. “And CBP has no role in what’s happening in Minneapolis at all. This rogue agency’s use of military technology to surveil protesters inside US borders is deeply disturbing, especially given CBP’s lack of clear and strong policies to protect privacy and constitutional rights.”
Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was more succinct in her reaction to the drone. “This is what happens when leaders sign blank check after blank check to militarize police, CBP, etc while letting violence go unchecked,” she tweeted “We need answers. And we need to defund.”