We now know a little bit more about the guy who crashed a drone into the White House lawn in the early morning hours on Monday.
The Secret Service has confirmed that the man is a government employee, who works for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The NGA is the ” nation’s primary source of geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Intelligence Community”. It employs around 14,500 government civilians, military members, and contractors.
Also, we now know at least part of the reason he crashed the drone – he’d been drinking.
Here’s the story, from the New York Times:
Officials say the plan was foiled, perhaps by the wind or a tree, when the employee — who is not being named by the Secret Service — lost control of the drone. He texted his friends, worried that the drone had gone down on the White House grounds.
Investigators said the man had been drinking at an apartment nearby. It was not until the next morning, when he woke to his friends telling him that his drone was all over the news, that he contacted his employer, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and then called the Secret Service to confess.
The reason a man crashed a drone at the White House » http://t.co/OBS0yuBBYe pic.twitter.com/qRMAsuh5R4
— CNBC (@CNBC) January 27, 2015
The NGA has released a statement on the incident, saying that the employee who crashed the drone does not work on drones as part of his official duties.
NGA statement on White House drone incident: http://t.co/JbF6Fdqxeo pic.twitter.com/ZDXRkxn6Fp
— NGA (@NGA_GEOINT) January 27, 2015
It’s illegal to operate personal drones in Washington, D.C. It’s not known at this time what, if any, disciplinary action will be taken against the man.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
