Customs and Border Protection ( CBP ) has flown a Predator drone pipe above ongoing dissent against law barbarity in Minneapolis , according to flight logs .
An aircraft usingthe call sign CBP-104took off from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota — where CBPhas drones stationed — at around 10:10 a.m. ET , strain Minneapolis and accede a hexagon - shaped holding rule at 20,000 foot over the city at 11:47 a.m. ET . At around 1:15 p.m. ET , it begin head back to Grand Forks .
Minneapolis is not inside the 100 air mile borderline zone where CBP has legal power , an area that encompassesjust timid of two - thirdsof the body politic ’s population . The metropolis is currently being rock by massive protest againstbrutality and racismby the Minneapolis Police Department that have travel on to inspire other demonstrations around the land . Donald Trump refer to demonstrators in the urban center as looters and “ thugs ” while issuing adisgusting threatof deadly effect by “ the Military ” on Friday .
Screenshot: (ADS-B Exchange)
https://gizmodo.com/twitter-hides-official-white-house-tweet-calling-for-ki-1843751869
CBP-104 was first spot by flight - watching community ADB - S Exchange , according to Vice , and was flag on Twitter byinvestigative reporter Jason Paladino . piranha monotone are equipped with powerful cameras design to capture clear video from as far up as 25,000 feet in the air and are able of persist airborne for dozens of hour .
The call sign CBP-104 is identified by numerous sources as a Predator drone operated by the agency , include a2006 insistence releaseby maker General Atomics , a 2007Popular Science clause , andCBP presentationsanddrone trajectory logs . The exact model in interrogation is a Predator B , which is more typically identified by the mannequin name MQ-9 Grim Reaper .
CBP surveillance drones are cleared to operatewithin 100 air milesof the border , which is under more or lesscontinual aeriform surveillance . The entirety of CBP-104 ’s holding normal over Minneapolis falls outside of that zone , as does much of its flight path on Friday , at least according to aCityLab map undertaking . However , CBP has often assertedexpanded authorityto redefine the boundaries of its jurisdiction , such as areas surroundingan international airportwhere Border Patrol can prove a cross occurred .
An analysis by the libertarian Cato Institute in 2018 found that Predator B drones operated by the agencycontribute littleto action like drug capture and apprehending citizenry attempting to enter the U.S. , but they do give CBP warrantless surveillance power that it has lent to other authority on one C of occasions .
“ No government agency should be facilitating the over - policing of the Black residential district , period , ” ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Neema Singh Guliani wrote to Gizmodo in a statement . “ And CBP has no role in what ’s happening in Minneapolis at all . This rogue agency ’s purpose of military engineering science to surveil protesters inside U.S. edge is deeply troubling , especially given CBP ’s deficiency of clear and strong policies to protect privacy and organic rights . This agency ’s use of drones over the metropolis should be halt instantly . ”
While it is obvious that CBP-104 is monitor the protests in Minneapolis , it is less clear whether CBP is flying the drone of its own volition or the fly sheet - over was requested by local law enforcement or another federal agency . It is also not absolved what type of data the droning is collect and for what purpose . CBPtold MPR Newsin 2015 that drone flying out of the Grand Forks basis are not capable license plate identification and brass recognition , and as recently as February 2020told Recodeit is not using face recognition at the border .
CBP did n’t like a shot respond to a request for scuttlebutt from Gizmodo , and we ’ll update this berth if we hear back .
Correction : 2025-05-25 at 5:29 p.m. ET : A prior interlingual rendition of this clause stated that Minneapolis was within the 100 air mile zone around the delimitation where CBP aircraft are straighten out to operate . In fact , CBP-104 ’s holding pattern over Minneapolis appear to have fallen directly alfresco of that geographical zone — which makes this fly - over even more questionable . We repent the error .
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