FBI Releases Secret Spy Plane Footage from Freddie Gray Protests | American Civil Liberties Union

6.8.16

FBI Releases Secret Spy Plane Footage from Freddie Gray Protests | American Civil Liberties Union: Last year, the ACLU obtained records from the FBI showing that the agency had flown at least 10 surveillance flights over Baltimore from April 29 through May 3, 2015, when the streets of the city were filled with people protesting and mourning Freddie Gray’s death just days before.

Records from the Federal Aviation Administration showed that the FBI’s aircraft, which were registered to front companies to conceal their ownership, carried sophisticated camera systems on board, complete with night-vision capabilities. FBI evidence logs showed that the agency had retained copies of surveillance videos and perhaps other electronic surveillance information from the flights, but the agency initially declined to release the actual videos. To its credit, the FBI reconsidered, and the footage is now a part of the public record.

We have been able to review most of the footage. Here are some of the most significant questions and observations we have after viewing it.