Did Military Use Spy Planes to Illegally Track Times Square Terrorist?
Everyone is very glad that U.S. officials caught Times Square would-be terrorist Faisal Shahzad with moments to spare. Authorities say they tracked him by his pre-paid cell phone, but they won’t specify how. But what if the military used high-flying, communications-sensing spy planes to track the phone? If so, it could violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which since 1878 has made it illegal for the U.S. military to join in a domestic law enforcement operation. It could also potentially conflict with laws against spying on U.S. citizens. Some reports say that the military’s RC-12 spy plane was used to follow Shahzad in the hours before his arrest; the White House denies the aircraft was deployed. Here’s the debate about what happened and what it could mean. • The Initial Report CBS News’ Marcia Kramer initially reported, “In the end, it was secret Army intelligence planes that did him in. Armed with his cell phone number, they circled the skies over the New York area, intercepting a call t
