The FBI has confirmed that the assassination attempt on former President Trump was carried out with the help of a drone, which the perpetrator apparently used to capture footage of the location where Trump was speaking.
This was a major security lapse that could have easily been prevented if security agencies had used drone detection technology at the locations where the former president spoke.
The horrific incident occurred on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire from a rooftop, striking Trump in the right ear and killing one attendee and critically wounding two others.
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Drone Detection System (Dedrone)
What role did drones play in the assassination attempt on President Trump?
FBI Director Christopher Wray released new details about the drone recovered from the shooter’s possession. Speaking before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, Wray noted that the shooter flew the drone over the Butler Fairgrounds about two hours before President Trump spoke at the rally.
Wray said Crooks was flying the drone in an area about 200 yards from the stage between 3:50 and 4:00 p.m. Trump took the stage at about 6:00 p.m.
“We believe he was watching the livestream, but we don’t know for sure. Again, this is one of the things that is limited by our ongoing investigation. [for] “About 11 minutes,” he said.
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The FBI director said investigators were able to reverse engineer the drone’s flight path on the day of the rally, and they believe the drone footage acted like a rear-view mirror on the scene, giving the shooter a view of what was happening behind him.
Wray’s testimony makes it clear that the drone played a key role in alerting the shooter to his surroundings and helping him plan the assassination. He said the drone was in Crooks’ car at the time of the shooting, adding that the device is now “active and being analyzed in the FBI’s lab.”
Drone in the air (Kurt “Cyberguy” Knutson)
The U.S. Air Force’s XQ-67A drone can think, fly and act on its own
Drone detection could have thwarted assassination attempt
A drone detection system, such as those already in use by the Army and some police forces, could easily have alerted the Secret Service to unidentified drones flying in the area. Airspace Security Solutions It is currently in use by the St. Petersburg Police Department in Florida and the South Carolina Department of Law Enforcement.
Dedrone’s official website states that their drone detection system can not only detect the presence of drones, but also pinpoint the location of the drone and its pilot.
The drone detection system also collects data such as the drone make, model, time and length of activity, video verification, and flight history (including flight path). This data could have been used to easily identify suspicious activity at the Pennsylvania rally, potentially leading to the arrest and prosecution of the shooter even before he attempted the assassination.
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Anti-drone technology is currently known to be in limited use — regulations limit its use to certain Department of Defense personnel during select events — but this gathering should have qualified as the type of national security event covered by the regulations.
Even without drone detection technology, the Secret Service could have at least used a drone to take aerial photos of the scene, which would have provided an unobstructed view of the building from which the shooter fired at Trump. Even if there were obstacles blocking a direct line of sight, a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera could have scanned the building for potential threats.
Drone Detection System (Dedrone)
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Important points about the cart
The assassination attempt on former President Trump highlights the need for drone detection technology at high-profile events: if such technology had been in place, the Secret Service might have been able to detect unauthorized drone activity and prevent the perpetrator from collecting critical surveillance footage.
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