Muslim Community Under Surveillance? 'Spy Plane' Linked To FBI Program Reportedly Flies Over Dearborn
DEARBORN (WWJ/AP) - Records say a small plane linked to an FBI surveillance program has flown over the Detroit area several times recently, including two flights last weekend.
The plane is among those that routinely orbit major U.S. cities and rural areas. An investigation by The Associated Press that was published June identified more than 100 flights in 11 states over a 30-day period this spring, with more flights since then.
Flight data reviewed by The Detroit News showed surveillance over Dearborn, a Detroit suburb that has the largest population of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S., with the single-engine Cessna plane flying in slow-speed orbits. Federal officials haven't commented on those flights, but the planes reported have capabilities to monitor cell phone signals and take high-definition photos.
The plane was over Dearborn around 7:30 p.m. Saturday and spent 90 minutes making roughly 19 loops around the city, according to the report. It came back again on Sunday, around 7:40 p.m., this time spending about two hours above the city. The flights were nearly identical, bordered by Michigan Avenue to the north, Telegraph Road to the west, Ecorse Road to the south and Greenfield Road to the east, according to the newspaper.
Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says he plans to file a complaint with the House Judiciary Committee.
"This just feeds into the thought of many of us in the Muslim community leadership that the FBI claims to want to have good relationships with Muslims and be transparent in the light of day, and then they are spying and snooping on us under the cover of night," Walid told The Detroit News.
Walid said he thinks the FBI is infringing on the privacy rights of Dearborn residents.
"This is the oldest community of Muslims here in the U.S. and we can't name a single act of domestic terrorism that has taken place from a Dearborn Muslim. That's just the historical reality. The proof is in the pudding," Walid told WWJ's Mike Campbell.
Walid said the suspected surveillance shouldn't just bother people in Dearborn, it should bother everyone who appreciates the American way of life.
"We wonder what in the world is the FBI really doing with our tax payer dollars," he said.
According to the AP investigation, the unclassified FBI aviation program is used to follow terrorists, spies and criminals.
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