3 ms·

He posted a very high res photograph of the base on his blog, I saw it on Reddit and I'm sure its floating around still. Basically taking aerial reconnaissance

He posted a very high res photograph of the base on his blog, I saw it on Reddit and I'm sure its floating around still. Basically taking aerial reconnaissance photographs of an active military base, not hard to understand why he got raided.

InCityDreams 4y ago
Google do it...there are many us bases - especially in europe - that show very clearly the different streets and buildings.
dmix 4y ago
Sure but typically raids like that require breaking a serious law. Otherwise there's serious chilling effect for anyone documenting gov when there's a threat of no-knock raids by federal agents. > Taking an unauthorized picture of a defense installation (such as a military base) is a federal misdemeanor offense—on par with hunting or fishing in a wildlife refuge. It carries with it a punishment of a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. If he was getting a little too invasive then why not warn him first or charge him for the above? I'm guessing he posted some public images pushing the limits, pissed off the feds who wanted more than a small fine, and they built up some narrative about spying which they sold to a judge for a warrant. Then they didn't find any evidence they were fishing for and left the case open.
llacb47 4y ago
Which is not illegal. If I take a very high res picture of your house from the street, that’s not illegal either, although you probably wouldn’t like it
- nomel 4y ago
  > Which is not illegal. IANAL, but perhaps one could give some insight into 18 USC 795 and 18 USC 797.
danw1979 4y ago
You’re implying he used his drone (which he mentions in the list of confiscated stuff) to fly over Area 51 and take aerial photos which he then put on his blog ? He denies that he was the one who took the photos in question …
- nomel 4y ago
  > He denies that he was the one who took the photos in question … Usually, self reporting of innocence isn't given much weight. Perhaps that's what they were trying to verify?
- colechristensen 4y ago
  I thought the story was the guy flew his drone right around the edge of the restricted area pointing the cameras inside.

InCityDreams 4y ago

Google do it...there are many us bases - especially in europe - that show very clearly the different streets and buildings.

dmix 4y ago

Sure but typically raids like that require breaking a serious law. Otherwise there's serious chilling effect for anyone documenting gov when there's a threat of no-knock raids by federal agents. > Taking an unauthorized picture of a defense installation (such as a military base) is a federal misdemeanor offense—on par with hunting or fishing in a wildlife refuge. It carries with it a punishment of a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. If he was getting a little too invasive then why not warn him first or charge him for the above? I'm guessing he posted some public images pushing the limits, pissed off the feds who wanted more than a small fine, and they built up some narrative about spying which they sold to a judge for a warrant. Then they didn't find any evidence they were fishing for and left the case open.

llacb47 4y ago

Which is not illegal. If I take a very high res picture of your house from the street, that’s not illegal either, although you probably wouldn’t like it

nomel 4y ago
> Which is not illegal. IANAL, but perhaps one could give some insight into 18 USC 795 and 18 USC 797.

danw1979 4y ago

You’re implying he used his drone (which he mentions in the list of confiscated stuff) to fly over Area 51 and take aerial photos which he then put on his blog ? He denies that he was the one who took the photos in question …

nomel 4y ago
> He denies that he was the one who took the photos in question … Usually, self reporting of innocence isn't given much weight. Perhaps that's what they were trying to verify?
colechristensen 4y ago
I thought the story was the guy flew his drone right around the edge of the restricted area pointing the cameras inside.