Minnesota Photojournalist Sues FAA Over Rule Banning Drones Near DHS Assets

(Photo by Rob Levine via the Minnesota Reformer)

(Minnesota Reformer) – Advocates are suing the Federal Aviation Administration over a recently issued rule banning drone flights within 3,000 feet of Department of Homeland Security buildings and vehicles.

“You have no way of knowing in advance before you fire up the drone whether you are within a prohibited distance of, say, an unmarked car that ICE is using for immigration enforcement,” said Grayson Clary, a staff attorney at Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which is representing independent photojournalist Rob Levine in the case challenging the rule.

On Jan. 16, while Operation Metro Surge was in full swing in Minnesota, the FAA issued a nationwide temporary flight restriction, known as a TFR, banning drones from flying within 3,000 feet laterally and 1,000 feet vertically of Department of Defense, Department of Energy and DHS “facilities and mobile assets, including vessels and ground vehicle convoys and their associated escorts.”

News organizations immediately pushed back. A coalition of media organizations including the New York Times, Washington Post and the National Press Photographers Association sent a letter to the FAA on Jan. 28, arguing that the flight restrictions violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

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