Over the weekend in Los Angeles, as National Guard troops deployed into the city, cops shot a journalist with less-lethal rounds, and Waymo cars burned, the skies were bustling with activity. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) flew Black Hawk helicopters; multiple aircraft from a nearby military air base circled repeatedly overhead; and one aircraft flew at an altitude and in a particular pattern consistent with a high-powered surveillance drone, according to public flight data reviewed by 404 Media.
The data shows that essentially every sort of agency, from local police, to state authorities, to federal agencies, to the military, had some sort of presence in the skies above the ongoing anti-Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) protests in Los Angeles. The protests started on Friday in response to an ICE raid at a Home Depot; those tensions flared when President Trump ordered the National Guard to deploy into the city.
On Saturday 404 Media started looking for government aircraft in flight tracking data published by ADS-B Exchange, a site where a community of feeders provide real-time updates on the location of flights. Law enforcement and other authorities often fly aircraft above protests. Sometimes this can be for visual surveillance, either with a crew’s own observations or with video equipment. Some aircraft are also used for electronic surveillance, such as planes loaded with IMSI-catchers that can record what phones were in a certain location at a particular time.
On Saturday an aircraft with no callsign, which is usually broadcast by an aircraft to identify itself, took off from March Air Reserve Base to the east of Los Angeles, before repeatedly circling above Paramount, where many of the protests were at the time. It flew at an altitude of around 9,000 feet for hours before eventually returning to the base. On Sunday, two aircraft took off from the same air base and circled above both Paramount and downtown Los Angeles, where by Sunday many of the protests had moved to.
Because the aircraft did not have callsigns, it was not immediately possible to tell what specific model of aircraft these were. The National Guard directed a request for comment to USNORTHCOM. USNORTHCOM told 404 Media in an email “I’m sorry; we don’t have any comment about this aircraft.” The main Pentagon press department directed an inquiry to the Air Force. The Air Force directed a request for comment to the California Air National Guard and DHS.
On Sunday another aircraft with no callsign flew above Paramount and downtown Los Angeles at a much higher altitude of around 23,000 feet. This aircraft flew in distinctive hexagonal patterns circling the protest areas. Eventually it left the Los Angeles area and flew to the U.S. border with Mexico. Again, because the aircraft had no callsign it is not clear which type of aircraft this was, but the flight pattern and altitude strongly resembles that of a high-powered surveillance drone. In 2020, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) flew one of its Predator drones over Minneapolis during the George Floyd protests in a similar manner, an aircraft most people might assume is limited to warzones overseas but is regularly flown over the borders with Mexico and Canada. I then found CBP was regularly flying Predator drones above U.S. cities. CBP acknowledged a request for comment but did not provide a statement in time for publication.
On Sunday, a Black Hawk helicopter registered to CBP repeatedly flew in tight circles above downtown Los Angeles, according to the flight path data. Before that, a Black Hawk helicopter was filmed dropping off items into the city.
The California Highway Patrol repeatedly flew its own small aircraft over the protests. The agency told 404 Media in an email “Our aircraft has been deployed to monitor the situation and ensure public safety. Deployment of aircraft is typical during fast moving situations such as this. Through real-time aerial support, the aircraft helps ground personnel respond more effectively to incidents while reducing the risk of harm to all involved.”
“We want to be clear: the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is not and will not be involved in immigration enforcement operations. The CHP aims to serve all Californians with professionalism, integrity, and respect. We are also committed to protecting the rights and safety of every person who lives, works, or travels on California’s roadways,” the statement added.
Update: this piece has been updated with a response from the Air Force.
