Arizona police use drone footage to arrest Black Lives Matter protesters

Police in Tempe, Arizona has used police drone footage to justify the arrest of three Black Lives Matter protesters last weekend. As you can see in the footage the protesters were blocking an intersection. Two people were arrested for allegedly damaging a passing vehicle and a third one for resisting arrest.

Arizona police use drone footage to arrest Black Live Matter protesters

According to a Vice News article, after the incident, BLM protesters have requested the police to release the drone footage showing the alleged property damage. The protesters also asked local businesses to release any security camera footage of the area.

On Monday, the Tempe Police Department uploaded the drone footage to YouTube that shows the protesters blocking the intersection.

Many Police departments around the country nowadays have and use drones, however, very few arrests have been made with the help of drones in the United States. Unmanned aircraft have been mostly used by police and fire departments in Search and Rescue operations.

According to Vice News, some of the first known instances in which drones assisted in the arrest occurred in North Dakota.

• Rodney Brossart was monitored by a surveillance Predator drone from the Department of Homeland Security and then was raided by police in 2012.
• A smaller drone was used by the North Dakota police in 2014 to track down four DUI suspects when they were running through a cornfield.

The spokesperson for the Tempe Police Department said that it was not known what type of drone was used to record the footage. However, as we reported in an earlier article, it might well have been a DJI a Phantom 4 Pro.

“During the protest numerous protesters were observed blocking the roadway at McClintock Dr, as patrons attempted to exit the Tempe Marketplace,” the Tempe PD press release said. “Two of the protesters (a male and a female), began physically striking and throwing items at the victim’s vehicle causing noticeable damage.”

As you can see in the drone video, after having been stopped by a protester the gray pick up truck advanced slowly and pushed a protester out of the way in a dangerous fashion.

Video footage captured by @TempePolice UAS (unmanned aircraft system) of Saturday's protest at Tempe Marketplace. https://t.co/M0Dex5Tvo6 pic.twitter.com/5eNqqGxePw

— Tempe Police (@TempePolice) June 29, 2020

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