BALTIMORE — The FBI has admitted to flying secret spy planes over Baltimore looking for new outbreaks of violence during the riots, an FBI spokeswoman said Wednesday.
“The aircraft were specifically used to assist in providing high-altitude observation of potential criminal activity to enable rapid response by police officers on the ground,” said spokeswoman Amy Thoreson. “The FBI aircraft were not there to monitor lawfully protected First Amendment activity.”
A citizen-based investigation into their mission then got underway, beginning with a tweet on Saturday May 2 from Scan Baltimore, which streams police radio transmissions. It wrote: ‘Anyone know who has been flying the light plane in circles above the city for the last few nights?’
Looting and fires erupted in the streets on April 27 only hours after Gray’s funeral. Exactly what type of aircraft they used was not disclosed.
