A Chinese language nationwide has been arrested for flying a drone over and taking pictures of a U.S. Area Power base on the identical day because the launch of a SpaceX rocket carrying a spy satellite tv for pc for the federal authorities. Yinpiao Zhou, a 39-year-old U.S. everlasting resident who lives in Brentwood, California, was arrested at San Francisco Worldwide Airport on Monday as he waited to board a flight again to China. In keeping with a legal grievance, the U.S. Justice Division say Zhou flew a drone over the bottom and took aerial pictures over the Vandenberg Area Base in California on November 30. He did this on the identical day SpaceX launched a rocket on behalf of the Nationwide Reconnaissance Workplace. “This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a navy base and took pictures of the bottom’s format, which is towards the legislation,” United States Lawyer Martin Estrada says in a press release. “The safety of our nation is of paramount significance and my workplace will proceed to advertise the security of our nation’s navy personnel and services.” Drone detection programs at Vandenberg Area Base tracked Zhou’s drone which flew for 59 minutes and traveled to an altitude of virtually one mile above floor degree to the close by Ocean Park.
Vandenberg Area Base safety personnel instantly went to the park the place they allegedly discovered Zhou with the identical drone hid in his jacket. Federal brokers later searched Zhou’s drone and found a number of pictures of Vandenberg Area Power Base taken from an aerial viewpoint. Zhou’s system allegedly took pictures of SpaceX rocket pads and different delicate areas. A search of Zhou’s cellphone confirmed Zhou had performed a Google seek for the phrase “Vandenberg Area Power Base Drone Guidelines” roughly one month earlier. He had additionally messaged one other individual on the Chinese language messaging app WeChat about hacking his drone to permit it to fly increased than it may in any other case. Zhou, who made an preliminary court docket look on Tuesday in the US District Court docket in San Francisco, has been accused of violating nationwide protection aerospace, and of failing to register an plane as required underneath US legislation. If convicted, he faces 4 years in federal jail. In keeping with the grievance, Zhou is a Chinese language citizen and lawful everlasting resident of the U.S. and most lately returned from China in February 2024. The incident comes a couple of months after the U.S. Justice Division charged a distinct Chinese language nationwide underneath the Espionage Act for taking pictures of a navy set up utilizing a drone. He allegedly took photos of a shipyard the place United States navy personnel construct nuclear submarines. In the previous few weeks, there have additionally been a number of unexplained drone sightings in New Jersey. The FBI is presently investigating the mysterious, massive drones which have been hovering in formation nearly each night time over delicate websites together with Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. navy analysis and manufacturing facility, and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.
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