National Guard spy planes flew over Las Vegas, DC protests

Air National Guard electronic surveillance aircraft were in the skies over Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon, during early June unrest over the killing of George Floyd, according to various national media reports.

A New Mexico National Guard RC-26 was operating in and around Las Vegas from June 2 to 4. Flight tracking radar showed it flying various loops around the Strip, according to a Twitter post by John Scott-Railton, who researches malware, phishing and disinformation as a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, according to his website.

As an electronic surveillance aircraft, one of its objectives could be to gather cellphone or other transmissions and data from anybody on the ground.

An Air National Guard RC-26 aircraft that was tracked over the nation’s capital last week amid civil unrest following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody belonged to the West Virginia Air National Guard, ANG spokesperson Lt. Col. Devin Robinson told Air Force Magazine on June 5.

Other reports have come from CNN and other national outlets.

The aircraft — the presence of which over the District of Columbia prompted Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., to use Twitter in search of answers.

“First time I can find that this aircraft, normally used for war zones/disasters/narcotics, has been used to gather intel at a protest,” Murphy tweeted. “Very troubling. I have questions.”

Murphy said the Air National Guard told him that it had stopped such flights.

“The Air National Guard informed me today that they have suspended these flights. This is a good development,” he said in a tweet. “While the purpose of the flights was not nefarious, they added to the over-militarization of the response to the DC protests and needed to stop.”

The RC-26 was “responding to a District of Columbia National Guard request to provide airborne situational awareness of key lines of communication and critical infrastructure within the District,” Robinson wrote to Air Force Magazine.

D.C. National Guard spokesperson Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper told Air Force Magazine on June 4 that no D.C. Air National Guard aircraft were taking part in unrest operations within the city.

As of the morning of June 5, the D.C. National Guard was receiving or slated to get outside personnel support from 11 states’ National Guards, according to a National Guard Bureau release. That reflected an increase of 600 personnel, and the addition of Idaho Guardsmen, to the response over the previous day.

June 2 flight over Las Vegas

A second RC-26 that was tracked over Las Vegas on June 2 by Scott-Railton, who works at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, also belonged to the Air National Guard, Robinson stated.

The New Mexico Air National Guard said its presence in Las Vegas was unrelated to civil disturbances.

“The RC-26, which was operating in/around Las Vegas, Nev., from 2-4 June was from the New Mexico Air National Guard, and provided pre-planned, National Guard Counterdrug Program support,” Robinson wrote.

Vice.com detailed some of the surveillance flights that were tracked by Motherboard.

“For several hours last night (June 2), authorities flew an RC-26B aircraft over Washington D.C., making dozens of circles above the city, according to data Motherboard reviewed from ADS-B Exchange, a repository of unfiltered flight data,” Vice reported. “Authorities also flew a RC-26B over Las Vegas Tuesday (June 2) night. The aircraft made repeating circles around different areas of the city, according to flight data reviewed by Motherboard.”

June 2 protests in Las Vegas were peaceful, but a night earlier, police fatally shot one person who was armed and Las Vegas police officer Shak Mikalonis was shot and critically wounded.

After that, Gov. Steve Sisolak said Nevada National Guard troops would join law enforcement on future protests.

Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com or at 702-863-4285. Follow @Marv_in_Vegas on Twitter.