White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told the media that the drones over New Jersey are not malicious or from a foreign country.
Yeah, okay. He didn’t explain. Instead, he pushed for legislation from Congress:
Now, finally, I just want to add a few comments on the reports of drone activity here on the east coast, particularly in and around New Jersey. We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they’re working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin.Using very sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities, we have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sight sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.The United States Coast Guard is providing support to the state of New Jersey and has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign based involvement from coastal vessels, and importantly, there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace.That said, we certainly take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems, which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports, even though they have uncovered no malicious activity or intent at this particular stage.While there is no known malicious activity occurring, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight a gap in authorities, and so we urge Congress to pass important legislation that will extend and expand existing counter drone authorities so that we are better prepared to identify and mitigate any potential threats to airports or other critical infrastructure, and so that state and local authorities are provided all the tools that they need to respond to such threats as well.
DHS and FBI said the authorities are working with New Jersey authorities “to investigate this situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings.”
Dude, this should not be hard. My best friend saw two on his way home from the doctor this evening. They are literally everywhere.
Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich pushed Kirby to release more information. You know, like, why doesn’t the government have images or videos of these drones?
Oh, despite that fact, the government totes know for sure everything is okay:
JACQUI TIME: “On the drones, does the U.S. government have any of its own imagery or video of these systems?”WH’s John Kirby: “I’m not aware that we have U.S. government — uh — produced — uh — imagery ourselves, but as I said in my opening statement, we have certainly done thorough analysis of the existing imagery.”@JacquiHeinrich: “Like, from people’s cell phones that we’re seeing? Basically, with what you’re looking at, how can you credibly tell people that there is no public safety threat, there’s no national security threat that there’s no reason to believe that a foreign government is involved?”Kirby: “Because the analysis thus far in an investigation that is ongoing has not revealed any national security or malicious intent or criminal activity, but Jacqui, I would remind you, we’re at the beginning here, not the end. There’s a lot more work to be done and we’re working closely with state and local authorities to gain more information.”Heinrich: “So, it might take awhile?”Kirby: “I would argue that it’s — we’re — we’re moving — uh — pretty well here with — with a sense of energy to try to figure out what we can do to learn more about this. We’re at — we’re still in the middle of an ongoing investigation, and I’m up here explaining to you and let you know what we know so far, what we believe so far. If information comes to light that changes that characterization, then my goodness, you know, we’ll be the first ones to let you know, but right now, there’s just no indication that this is some sort of foreign malign activity or, in fact, even criminal.”
You’re not moving well. People have seen these drones since the election. Why is this just the beginning?
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