The Militant (logo)  
   Vol.66/No.40           October 28, 2002  
 
 
Military spy planes patrol
Washington in sniper case
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
The U.S. military is now patrolling the skies over Washington, D.C., and nearby areas with secret surveillance planes as part of an expanded domestic criminal investigation aimed at finding the sniper who has randomly shot to death 11 people.

The planes are RC-7 Airborne Reconnaissance Low aircraft. They are reportedly being flown by military crews with FBI agents on board who forward the images they take to police on the ground.

This plane, which is equipped with sophisticated high-resolution sensors, has been deployed by Washington for spying operations over North Korea, Yugoslavia, and Colombia. Equipped with electrooptical and infrared sensors, the RC-7 will be able to conduct detailed surveillance over a large area of Washington day and night.

The Montgomery County police and the FBI requested assistance from the military. Under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, the U.S. military is barred from participating in domestic police matters. According to a Pentagon official, however, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld agreed to this request, though many of the details of the arrangement are shrouded in secrecy.

This U.S. military operation comes just two weeks after the October 1 official activation of the North American Command, which marks the first time since the decade after the Civil War that a U.S. command is charged with carrying out military actions within the United States.

The Central Intelligence Agency is also participating in the manhunt, putting agents on the streets with bomb-sniffing dogs for use at traffic stops. Until last October, legal restrictions officially prohibited the CIA from conducting domestic spying. This provision was dropped, however, with the passage of the USA Patriot Act, which also greatly expanded the FBI’s authority to wiretap phones and electronic equipment, detain immigrants without charges, and sneak into people’s homes or offices without telling them.
 
 
Related articles:
Federal government seeks to curb union rights in establishing ‘Homeland Security’ dept.  
 
 
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