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FBI Admits Using Surveillance Aircraft to Spy on Baltimore Protestors

© Flickr / Vladimir BadikovChina has lost no time using the Baltimore riots to point out the fallacy of the US' claims to human rights and equality of opportunity.
China has lost no time using the Baltimore riots to point out the fallacy of the US' claims to human rights and equality of opportunity. - Sputnik International
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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) admitted the use of special aircraft to assist in providing high-altitude observation of potential criminal activity to enable rapid response by police officers on the ground in Baltimore.

Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake speaks at a church in Baltimore, Maryland - Sputnik International
Baltimore Mayor to Hold City’s Police Accountable ‘If Change Not Made’
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has acknowledged that it used its secret air force to monitor civil unrest that erupted last week in Baltimore over the death of an African-American man while in police custody.

Earlier, reports about surveillance aircraft flying over Baltimore emerged in the media and social networks. The overhead surveillance program involved at least two planes, according to reports.

"The aircraft were specifically used to assist in providing high-altitude observation of potential criminal activity to enable rapid response by police officers on the ground," FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson said on Wednesday, as quoted by the Baltimore Sun daily.

She added that the move was approved at a "high level."

A police officer walks by a blaze, Monday, April 27, 2015, after rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos, torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers - Sputnik International
Not Racist Policing, But US State Oppression is Key Issue
The FBI's acknowledgment of the use of its secret surveillance aircraft came after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), following the discovery of the flights, demand answers from the government about the legal grounds for these actions.

On April 27, violent riots erupted in Baltimore, Maryland, after the funeral of 25-year-old African-American Freddie Gray, who died of spinal injuries nearly a week after he was detained by police.

The rioters looted stores, injured 20 police officers, destroyed 15 buildings and set 144 cars on fire. It forced Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency and deploy 5,000 Maryland National Guard troops to quell the riots.

Gray’s death came after a string of mostly African-Americans killings at the hands of police over the past year, triggering massive protests against police brutality and unaccountability throughout the United States.

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