Shoot to kill.
A growing chorus of local officials in New Jersey and New York are calling on federal authorities to stop gaslighting local residents and ultimately shoot down the drones.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) on Saturday called for the Pentagon to open fire on one of the roughly 1,000 drones seen over the Garden State since Nov. 18, so there is no answer. will be obtained.
“Why can't we get at least one drone in the bag and get to the bottom of the case?” Smith wondered aloud during a press conference in Seaside Heights. “Why can't we even track suspicious drones back to their source? Do we have so little control over our airspace?”
His request came just hours after New York Governor Hochul declared it was time to act. “This has gone too far,” she said in a brief statement Saturday, announcing a call for federal authorities to give local police departments the authority to shoot down drones.
They echoed sentiments already expressed by concerned citizens and even President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he wants federal authorities to launch drones from the sky. “Let's let the people know right now,” President Trump said. “Otherwise, shoot it down!”
Rhetoric continues to rise following more alarming sightings.
Stewart International Airport north of Newburgh closed its runway for an hour Friday night after two drones were spotted in the sky. This commercial airport is adjacent to the New York National Air Force Base. This is where the 105th Airlift Wing is based.
PSE&G, New Jersey's largest power company, has petitioned the FAA to halt all air traffic over two of its nuclear power plants after drones were recently spotted over sensitive areas. This is the first time the company has filed such a complaint.
Most disturbing of all were the reports from the Jersey Shore, where the military provided reliable reports. In one case, the military acknowledged that on Dec. 9, a 47-foot Coast Guard cutter was tracked by between 13 and 30 drones.
After receiving a tip from the Ocean County Sheriff's Office about the presence of drones in the Atlantic Ocean, they actually deployed their own drones to track 50 mysterious aircraft. Shockingly, Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardi said law enforcement drones couldn't keep up.
Officials at Naval Weapons Station Earle, a highly sensitive base in Monmouth County, New Jersey, also reported ongoing drone activity this week.
Drones of unknown origin have been detected over Newark Airport, as well as nearby shipyards, LaGuardia Airport, and the U.S. Army's Weapons Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, New Jersey.
Throughout all of this, federal authorities have downplayed the disturbing sightings, dismissing them as misidentifications of manned planes like Cessnas.
Late Thursday, White House National Security Council Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters the drones were not Iranian, Chinese or Russian, and were actually regular helicopters or small planes. He said flight records were being analyzed for confirmation.
“Why did Secretary Mayorkas, who infamously said for years that our southern border was secure and closed, now – and still do – tell our intelligence agencies that we're not seeing anything out of the ordinary?” “Is that an insult?” Smith said on Saturday. “Is this normal? And how can he, and others like national security spokesperson Admiral John Kirby, say we don't know about the threat?”
Meanwhile, the number of sightings continues to increase. In New Jersey alone, 964 drone sightings were reported between November 19th and December 13th. They have also been seen over Manhattan and Staten Island, and the NYPD and FBI say they are monitoring the issue.
Smith told the Post this week that his sources suspect the drones came from a foreign rival. “It could be Tehran, it could be [Russian President Vladimir] President Putin – no one knows,” he said. “This is a potential threat to the people of my district, the state of New Jersey, and the entire country. We need to get to the bottom of it.”
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told the Post that his “highly authorized” sources in the U.S. government and private sector believe the drones could be part of a China-Iran alliance. He said he claims there is.
“Something is very wrong,” Van Drew said. “We have an unidentified high-powered drone, about the size of a minivan, carefully navigating the radar-free airspace in key areas of our country, and now, a month later, , somehow I don't know anything. and We are told, “Don't worry, everything will be fine.'' ”
He suspects the drone, which was spotted in the Persian Gulf this week, may have come from an Iranian drone ship that left its dock in mid-November.
This negative federal statement was made in disregard of seemingly reliable sightings, including an alarming encounter between a Coast Guard cutter and a swarm of drones off Island Beach State Park.
As sailors approached her outside the U.S. Coast Guard station on Friday, Barnegat-Wright declined to discuss Monday's incident with the Post, instead flashing a knowing smile.
Coast Guard officials confirmed the encounter, saying only that sailors “saw multiple low-altitude aircraft” and that “no immediate threat or disruption of operations was observed.”
The NYPD's Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating recent incidents witnessed in the five boroughs and has at least 109 drones at its disposal.
“New York City police detectives as well as FBI agents and state officials are working on the investigation,” spokesman Carlos Nieves said, without providing specific details of the investigation. .
“The New York State FBI is aware of recent sightings of possible drones flying in multiple locations in the New York area,” the FBI said in its own statement. “The New York Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continues to work with our federal, state, and local partners to share information and protect the public. As always, report any suspicious or criminal activity to 1-800. You can report it to the FBI at CALL-FBI or online at: tips.fbi.gov”
Van Drew told the Post that at a gathering of state officials in Trenton this week, federal agents allegedly hinted that local authorities should remove the drones.
“[They had] “That's the audacity, the bravery, to tell the local sheriff, the local police department, the firefighters that they should do something about the shooting so they can investigate,” he said, adding that the comment was made “casually.” , adding, “There were no formal instructions.” Issued by a federal agency.
“This is not an investigation for your local police department or county sheriff's office. Are you kidding me? I've never seen anything like it.”
Firefighters in the state were told this week by the New Jersey Department of Fire Safety to stay away from downed drones. Instead, local police, the FBI, hazardous materials teams and bomb squads will be called to the scene, according to documents reviewed by The Post.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) told the Post she believes “more needs to be done.” [the drones] than what we are told. ” She also questioned Kirby's claims.
“Police and Coast Guard members [saw these clusters] It doesn’t make much sense to me because there are so many drones,” Republican Paul said.
Even if all drone sightings were actually misidentified manned aircraft, that raises other questions, Malliotakis said.
“Where are these additional aircraft coming from and are they safe?” she asked.
Federal authorities' response to disturbing sightings is “very lax,” she added.
“Especially in a post-China balloon world, this administration's response is so bad. This is not normal. We don't normally do this type of flying activity around our communities.”
Van Drew said the federal government's slow response to drones “doesn't make me believe that we are the most powerful country in the world.” “It's sad to see us like this. The government is acting stupid.”
“I can't take office right away,” President-elect Trump said, adding, “If Donald Trump was president, none of this would have happened.” We would already have the answer. ”
