Homeland Security has considered weaponizing domestic drones to ‘immobilize’ people
Drones in the United States are currently only authorized to be used for surveillance purposes. But that hasn’t stopped the Department of Homeland Security from considering weaponizing its unmanned aircraft so they can “immobilize” targets "in border areas." [A "border area" will come to your doorstep soon.] - Newly released documents, dated 2010, show that the DHS’s Customs and Border Protection arm has weighed the possibility of adding “non-lethal weapons” to its Predator unmanned aircraft, which are currently used predominantly to monitor border zones in Arizona and Texas. The documents, obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation through a Freedom of Information Act request, show the CPB suggesting in a “law enforcement sensitive” report to Congress that its drones could be upgraded to include the weapons to shoot at “targets of interest.” The documents do not detail specific weapons, but “non-lethal” rounds deployed on drones could feasibly include rubber bullets, tear gas, or a Taser-like shock.