Government Planes Monitored George Floyd Protests in 3 Cities

Government surveillance planes and drones flew over protests in three American cities, including Washington, D.C., during George Floyd protests in recent days, and Democrats are now demanding answers.

According to CNN, two manned planes flew circles over Washington and Las Vegas on the nights of June 2 and 3. And on June 1, a similar plane took off from an airport in Manassas, Virginia, and circled the area over the White House at least 20 times. Earlier that afternoon, police used force to clear protesters out of Lafayette Park, an area just north of the White House.

In Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed when a police officer held a knee to his neck for nearly nine minutes on May 25, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection MQ-9 Predator B has flown over the city on several days while protests took place.

CNN verified the flights using public data. The FBI would neither confirm nor deny the flights, even though it's been reported that the bureau operates a fleet of small planes to conduct surveillance. Those planes often have video cameras and can be outfitted with devices to capture cellphone data.

The National Guard also uses the same plane, an RC-26B, and confirmed to Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., that one of its aircraft conducted surveillance flights in the Washington area to keep tabs on protests before they were suspended. The West Virginia Air National Guard was operating those flights, CNN reported.

Nearly three dozen House Democrats sent a letter to the heads of the FBI, National Guard, Drug Enforcement Agency, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection with their "deep and profound concerns" about the flights.

"While the job of law enforcement is to protect Americans, limited actions may be necessary if a demonstration turns violent. However, this authority does not grant the agencies you lead to surveil American citizens or collect vast amounts of personal information," the letter reads.

"We demand you cease surveilling peaceful protests immediately and permanently."

During the first week or so of protests after Floyd's death, violent riots broke out in several cities. Stores were looted and burned, police officers were attacked, and the National Guard was called up. The protests have since become mostly peaceful.

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