North Dakota Farmer Arrested, Drone Evidence Used

A predator drone has helped convict a North Dakota famer of terrorizing law officers two years ago.

Rodney Brossart was accused of stealing six cows from a neighbor. When officers came to his farm, Brossart family members refused to allow deputies on their farmstead and didn’t show up for court hearings, which resulted in a summer long standoff in 2011, according to Fox News.

In June 2011, Forbes reports, police attempted to arrest him because he wouldn’t return the three cows that had grazed onto his property. This resulted in “an armed standoff between Brossart, his three sons and a SWAT team” on his property. It ended only after the family of perps was located by a Predator drone borrowed from Customs and Border Patrol.

Mr. Brossart tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds that there was no warrant for the drone surveillance, but a federal judge rejected his motion.

Forbes points out that it’s disconcerting that drones created to protect American borders are now being used to apprehend American citizens, although a manned helicopter could have done the same thing. The danger, though, is that widespread drone use could be easier to achieve than buying a helicopter for every local precinct in the country.

Let this be a lesson to us all: next time, just give the damn cows back.

Agencies/Canadajournal