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Should It Be A Crime To Shoot Down A Drone Over Your Property?
A Hillview man has been arrested after he shot down a drone flying over his property - but he's not making any apologies for it. "I just think you should have privacy in your own backyard," said William Merideth, 47, "I went and got my shotgun and I said, "I'm not going to do anything unless it's directly over my property."" That moment soon arrived, "within a minute or so, here it came... it was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky." Merideth was arrested and charged with first degree criminal mischief and first degree wanton endangerment...
As WDRB reports, Hillview Police say they were called to the home of 47-year-old William H. Merideth after someone complained about a firearm, Sunday night at a home on Earlywood Way, just south of the intersection between Smith Lane and Mud Lane in Bullitt County, according to an arrest report.
When they arrived, police say Merideth told them he had shot down a drone that was flying over his house. The drone was hit in mid-air and crashed in a field near Merideth’s home.
Police say the owner of the drone claimed he was flying it to get pictures of a friend’s house — and that the cost of the drone was over $1,800.
Merideth was arrested and charged with first degree criminal mischief and first degree wanton endangerment. He was booked into the Bullitt County Detention Center, and released on Monday.
WDRB News spoke with Merideth Tuesday afternoon, and he gave his side of the story.
“Sunday afternoon, the kids – my girls – were out on the back deck, and the neighbors were out in their yard,” Merideth said. “And they come in and said, ‘Dad, there’s a drone out here, flying over everybody’s yard.'”
Merideth’s neighbors saw it too.
“It was just hovering above our house and it stayed for a few moments and then she finally waved and it took off,” said neighbor Kim VanMeter.
VanMeter has a 16-year-old daughter who lays out at their pool. She says a drone hovering with a camera is creepy and weird.
“I just think you should have privacy in your own backyard,” she said.
Merideth agrees and said he had to go see for himself.
“Well, I came out and it was down by the neighbor’s house, about 10 feet off the ground, looking under their canopy that they’ve got under their back yard,” Merideth said. “I went and got my shotgun and I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything unless it’s directly over my property.’”
That moment soon arrived, he said.
“Within a minute or so, here it came,” he said. “It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky.”
“I didn’t shoot across the road, I didn’t shoot across my neighbor’s fences, I shot directly into the air,” he added.
It wasn’t long before the drone’s owners appeared.
“Four guys came over to confront me about it, and I happened to be armed, so that changed their minds,” Merideth said.
“They asked me, ‘Are you the S-O-B that shot my drone?’ and I said, ‘Yes I am,'” he said. “I had my 40 mm Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, ‘If you cross my sidewalk, there’s gonna be another shooting.'”
A short time later, Merideth said the police arrived.
“There were some words exchanged there about my weapon, and I was open carry – it was completely legal,” he said. “Long story short, after that, they took me to jail for wanton endangerment first degree and criminal mischief…because I fired the shotgun into the air.”
Merideth said he was disappointed with the police response.
“They didn’t confiscate the drone. They gave the drone back to the individuals,” he said. “They didn’t take the SIM card out of it…but we’ve got…five houses here that everyone saw it – they saw what happened, including the neighbors that were sitting in their patio when he flew down low enough to see under the patio.”
Hillview Police detective Charles McWhirter says you can’t fire your gun in the city.
“Well, we do have a city ordinance against discharging firearms in the city, but the officer made an arrest for a Kentucky Revised Statute violation,” he said.
According to the Academy of Model Aeronautics safety code, unmanned aircraft like drones may not be flown in a careless or reckless manner and has to be launched at least 100 feet downwind of spectators.
The FAA says drones cannot fly over buildings — and that shooting them poses a significant safety hazard.
“An unmanned aircraft hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.
Merideth said he’s offering no apologies for what he did.
“He didn’t just fly over,” he said. “If he had been moving and just kept moving, that would have been one thing — but when he come directly over our heads, and just hovered there, I felt like I had the right.”
“You know, when you’re in your own property, within a six-foot privacy fence, you have the expectation of privacy,” he said. “We don’t know if he was looking at the girls. We don’t know if he was looking for something to steal. To me, it was the same as trespassing.”
For now, Merideth says he’s planning on pursuing legal action against the owners of the drone.
“We’re not going to let it go,” he said. “I believe there are rules that need to be put into place and the situation needs to be addressed because everyone I’ve spoke to, including police, have said they would have done the same thing.”
“Because our rights are being trampled daily,” he said. “Not on a local level only – but on a state and federal level. We need to have some laws in place to handle these kind of things.”
So, should it be a crime to shoot down drones over your private property?
* * *
Finally, as an addenda, we note, as The BBC reports, the law isn't always in favour of drone pilots.
Over the weekend, Californian officials agreed to offer a total of $75,000 (£48,000) in rewards for information that would help catch drone operators who flew their vehicles over recent wildfires in San Bernardino County.
The flight of hobbyists' drones near to wildfires caused firefighting aircraft to be grounded for safety reasons, leading to the faster spread of the fires.
District attorney Mike Ramos said in a statement: "We want to know who was flying drones, and we want them punished.
"Someone knows who they are, and there is $75,000 waiting for them."
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"So that means its legal to hover over my neighbors pool and video his wife suntanning nude?"
Only if you share the pictures here.
@.."
Over the weekend, Californian officials agreed to offer a total of $75,000 (£48,000) in rewards for information that would help catch drone operators who flew their vehicles over recent wildfires in San Bernardino County.
The flight of hobbyists' drones near to wildfires caused firefighting aircraft to be grounded for safety reasons, leading to the faster spread of the fires."
this sounds like pure bullshit, if it isn't bullshit it should be.
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hell yea, shoot down shit in the sky perving on your privacy.
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yet, we have the gun/s in the hands of morons here.
freakin' campus security.
Samuel DuBose Shooting: New Body Cam Video Shows Police Response
by JACQUELLENA CARRERO
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/body-cam-video-shows-uc-police-respo...
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WATCH: Body cam video released in Sam DuBose shootinghttp://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/watch-body-cam-video-released-in...
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/watch-body-cam-video-released-in...
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Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (Stop Making Sense)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4prFmbjZ7M
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sick murder in broad daylight, aka weapon-ed "authority",
that makes no sense and wears it as a badge, eager to kill.
oh, man. so sick and clean this psycho killer.
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end this fraudulent "authority", "it", forever, at least in your own mind.
then what? ahhh, we will see!
"security", there the major scam and rub.
if there be bed bugs just exterminate and move on.
then there are them that call the angels insects.
i say "peace", and watch out for my own/all.
anyway poems ^tm
keep your toys and dog shit on your
own property or lose it to your neighbor's
predilection, common, it is the law.
Well. Like swatting a bug I'll ramp it up.
there is a safety problem with shooting up into the air at a drone. if you miss and the round comes back down and hits someone. but this guy was right.
Clown, You don't use 308 or 45, You use a 12 gauge and 7-8 shot. Very little chance of down range damage. Just like quail or pheasants.
I'll take "no" for $400 Alex.
When seconds count, the cops are minutes away (munching on steroids).
If they're hovering over your property, shoot them the fuck down. Who gives a rat's ass about who gets upset at that.
I sure hope that Americans will use all those firearms they bought during the last few years...Shoot 'em down, each and every time. As if they were an invading force, because they ARE. Do NOT let this one go unchallenged, or they'll be flying them right outside your bedroom window.
It's got to be established that a homeowner has as much right to use a legal firearm in self-defense from above as he does from a ground assault. And just like your home, any unannounced 'visitor' who lets himself in and starts walking around without your permission can certainly be presumed to have hostile intent.
Don't make it about the drone. It's about what they are using the drone to DO, which is circumvent the established rules for entering/searching someone else's property. They're trying to establish THEIR right to put their fucking eyes where their bodies would never be allowed.
Tell your neighborhood 'hobbyists' to avoid your airspace, and there will be no problem. But tell 'em that will all the shit going on today, you're a bit paranoid, and your reflex-action will be to turn any unnatural object flying over your backyard into an electronic mist...
Then stop, like you hear something, then quickly turn your head to the side and whisper harshly, "There, I warned them! Now you promised you wouldn't hurt them like last time!" then pretend to suddenly 'notice' that they're standing there and say, "Oh. Okay...Well, I should go."
That should take care of your drone problem, and just about any other neighborly disputes that you may be having.
Better than shooting lions. ????
Long undetectable fine netting.
I think knuks is on to something with the frequency jammer. The thing gets too invasive and you just jam the signal and watch it fly off into the sunset.
If by chance it lands in your yard you just pull out the lawn tractor, weed whacker, edger and give it a 'tune-up'.
Taking the law into your own hands is not acceptable in most jurisdictions.
The drone is clearly violating the tort of nuisance: in this country , the permission of the owner of the property is required before flying a drone above it.
America has lost its fucking marbles I got 6years and im fucking out of this socialt libtard "jail cell" called America!
Where are you headed to?
If it's obviously snooping, why not?
I certaintly don't have a problem shooting down any drone that flys into MY airspace and hovers over my property - hovering means only one thing.
I wonder if it would have been a different outcome if it had been a bean bag round. That is non lethal or as the government would say "non lethal weapon", of course when the gov says that they mean weapons that will make you wish you were dead.
i they ban dron only criminal will have drone!
agenda 52.
How about this one: Should it be a Crime to Blow up an Airliner over Ukraine?" http://www.sott.net/article/299625-Sott-Exclusive-Voice-recording-sugges...
Russian experts claim to possess cockpit voice recordings between a pilot of an SU-27 and a military flight control officer, who witnessed the accident in the sky over Eastern Ukraine. The evidence strongly suggests that a bomb exploded on board MH17.
[...]
However, a version of the story told to LifeNews by Sergey Sokolov, an aviation expert with the Russian federal information center, Analytics and Security, offers a shocking account of the last moments of MH17.
In the interview, Sokolov details what he says are the cock pit voice recordings between the pilot of an Su-27 combat aircraft and a flight control officer.
[...]
It turns out that communication between the black boxes and all on board instruments and sensors was lost instantaneously, as if somebody had simultaneously cut all the wires. As previous incidents [of a missile shoot down of an airliner] show, when a missile or shell hits an aircraft, self-recording devices continue to record the conversations of pilots, flight/speed and other parameters of the aircraft for the next couple of seconds or even minutes. All the wires in black boxes are backed up in three different ways, and it is therefore almost impossible to damage them instantaneously, let alone by a fragmentation projectile. Even more significant for Jurij Antipov however, is the location of the airliner wreckage.
"We can see on the wreckage disperation map that, from the point at which the airplane was still intact in the air, part of the wreckage landed to the left of that location and, more importantly, also behind that location", he explains.
[...]
The airplane was moving at approximately 900 kmh. According to the laws of physics, all the wreckage should have hit the ground of forwards of the last known location. But that didn't happen.
"No external explosion can cause wreckage to be dispersed backwards from the last known location", says Antonov.
These facts, however, have been ignored by investigators. Dutch experts made a number of first-rate blunders during their investigation. A large amount of wreckage still remains at the crash site and nobody seems interested in recovering it.
"International norms for dealing with air crash investigations requires investigators to conduct tests for explosive materials in order to determine whether or not a bomb was involved. In the case of MH17, this appears to be the only test that was not performed", Antonov said.
While everybody was speculating what kind of weapon was used to shoot at the Boeing's cock pit, Jurij Antipov carefully investigated the airline's fuselage. According to him, photographs show quite clearly the signature of a bomb having exploded within.
"Evidence for an internal explosion include cabin window shades pushed outwards, suggesting that there was a short-period of overpressure in the passenger cabin itself which forced the shades outwards," explained Antonov.
It's not a crime. Take it to a jury and you will see, they will agree.
Good as place as any. Crimes today are not common law crimes, but something that is only against the will of the legislature. The legislature is full of public servants. FUCKING SERVANTS! They fail to make a claim (look up claim, and what it is in a court case), EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY COME AT YOU! They have no claim (a claim is the right to property in the possession of another, in crime too). As servants (official capacity) they have no property to claim. They are mere fictions holding property in trust for the benefit of others. This is a little different because someone owned the drone, but he trespassed with it over and over when told not too. That is criminal trespass. That is a common law crime.
I think you should just hit it with a hose and say you were watering the lawn.
Tell the cops that there are alien shape shifting soul stealing demons from the planet Zomtar about. They will roll their eyes. Then demand 24 / 7 protection because it is your right as a citizen and a taxpayer. They will leave plenty quick.
Tell the cops that there are alien shape shifting soul stealing demons from the planet Zomtar about. They will roll their eyes. Then demand 24 / 7 protection because it is your right as a citizen and a taxpayer. They will leave plenty quick.
Wait a minute ... If I buy drone and fly it around the White House in Wash. D.C. they would shot it down ... and get mad..
That is why there are those above the law and those under the law. I wonder if he used a sling-shot if the outcome would have been different. Probably not. We should help finance his defense.
You bet they would.
And the Secret Service wouldn't have put up with any mouth from these overgrown jackasses playing with what are essentially expensive toys either.
I hope ZH sees fit to keep us updated on this story.
m
Fly one of those peeping tom's over any of my properties and I'll blow the shit out of it!
Anyone have any ideas for building an effective drone killing drone?
The Russians have very effective drone killing systems. But I have not seen it in markets.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/russia-is-working-on-an-anti-dr...
Does a Slingshot shoot pellets? With a pattern similar too a shotgun?
You Betcha! Clay, wood, metal.
How far?
100 Meters easy.
Marble size steel ball bearings and a wrist rocket... You got it!
i would think peeping tom statutes would apply to any drone with a camera taking pictures of someone in their home or on their property. it also seems that the fellows defense should be he felt threatened and feared his life was in danger by the intruder.
Also, Meridith needs to commission a few local drone operators to fly 24/7 missions in the back yards of the arresting officers homes, and the yard of the local judge, between now and the trial?
Exactly. Lets Setup a fund. I am ready to contribute.
The Police need to be given a lesson.
Should it be a crime? No. It should be a sanctioned sport.
Good show, sir!
In the same circumstances, I'll do the same thing. They're a menace, and serve no valid purpose across someone else's property.
If these boneheads need a photo of someone's house, get off your dead ass and take one the old-fashioned way, with a handheld camera...
I would've probably fully destroyed the goddamned thing, so there wouldn't be anything worth retrieving.
m
In the land of the free, and home of the brave, no.
In the land of Zion's tyranny, and home of the depraved? Yes.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
But then just needing to ask the question is a clear sign of the tyranny occupying our country.
Fucking A!
Obozo and Bush made it happen easily.
NO FUCKING BUSH'S, CLINTON'S, PERRY'S, RUBIO, CRISPY, KUSICK, AND OTHER RINO'S, SHOULD NOT BE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS RACE.!
GO TRUMP!!!!!
YOU FUCKING ROCK WITH WISDOM!
How to build a sparks jammer:
http://www.fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/how-to-build-a-radiodrone-jamm...
Lots of these are transmitting/receiving at two to three bands varying from 900 Mhz, 1.2 Ghz 1.3 Ghz 2.3 Ghz 2.4 Ghz and 5.8 Ghz.
With out looking into it too deeply,
A bolt of lightning produces broad frequency RF, you can listen to it on AM radio.
It is inefective as a jamming method.
Some method,narrow and tuned might be effective.
EMP is an energy hog.
Shoot those son of a bitch kids flying drones to look at girls panties.
http://www.popsci.com/archive-search?query=radio%20controlled%20airplane&page=2
I'm old enough to not give a F what happens anymore.
Stay away from my abode, I accept no intrusions. Fly a drone over, I will do my level-best to shoot it down. Anyone coming around doing follow-up or attempting to take me into custody will be shot down, too.
GTFO and STFO of my abode.
Are you going to shoot the police who come to arrest you? really?
The only successful event in my opinion was the Bundy case. It was only because of the show of force by the common folks.
There would have been blood bath. That is the only thing police are afraid of.
But one man with a gun or a bazooka is never a problem for our Police.
They shoot unarmed men, handcuffed men, and imprisoned men. Think again
Sounds as if you have been properly indoctrinated....
He's long on fear and very short on ingenuity.
Lots of Americans just like him.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/flying-hacker-contraption-hunts-...
They forgot to show the sun bathing daughter to determine objectively if it was a rightful act.
He should have videotaped it hovering over his teenage daughters, shot it out of the sky, outed the owners as pedophiles on social media, ruined their reputation and businesses, made an example out of THEM, and became a hero.
A 6 Watt lazer to the camera sensor should do the trick . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53GJJHwQ8BA
. . . unless you're just feeling malicious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVrJUbeuG44
No, the shooter should not be prosecuted for discharging his weapon in "stand your ground". It's not the public's fault that local authorities haven't kept up with the times. It's one of those latin roman legacies.
"If you ain't done your job, it's your fault not mine" or some such.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rights
RICO all bankers being paid 6% interest by the FED, their political hores, and 77 thousand lawyers.
Good hunting! In rural Texas, we have a bounty on the things. It's not official or anything, just a bunch of silly people that get a kick bringing drones down.
You just need a little preparation and you won't get accused. And for God's sake, don't do it from your house or yard. Get in the woods.
Oh, the military drones get a pass. They don't play fair...
FAA rules state drones may be flown over anyones property,(govt exceptions of course),IF they maintain at least a 50' high flight pattern.Below that it is illegal.Was the man arrested correctly,yes.
Discharging a firearm inside city limits is ILLEGAL.But,he doesn't care,and if it was under 50' he had every right to bring it down(if he was willing to be booked the illegal discharge).
I agree, I would shoot one down as well.
first degree criminal mischief..........
second degree must be kinda pussy.
“I had my 40 mm Glock on me and they started
Trying to figure out if Glock is making a new model I should know about, or did the guy have have 4 10mm Glocks on him?
Governmentsurplus.com offers WWII surplus Anti Aircraft guns from retired battleships at reasonable prices along with radar systems which are quite larger then your everyday TV antenna or sattelite dish. Man your battle stations--drones approaching from 12 o'clock at 50 feet. Ack, ack, ack
Earlywood Way, just south of the intersection between Smith Lane and Mud Lane in Bullitt County
http://www.joehaydenrealtor.com/louisville-mls/457-earlywood-way-louisville-ky-40229/10331103_spid/
these guys are just hi tech peeping toms, the truth is if this drone was CLOSE enough that he could nail it with a shotgun, it was TOO CLOSE. i am going into the camoflauge netting business, and i figure to make a fortune, netting entire houses and the property from aerial surveillance
Tresspassing, voyuerism, wire-tapping, harrassment. Done and done. Police murder human beings for significantly less and don't even have a grand jury convened. Notice how the charge isn't so much destruction of property, as it was asserting right to self defense of property. The State can't have Slaves thinking that those guns allegedly garunteed in the US Constitution are actually legal for more than putting yourself on a government watchlist and paying taxes on at purchase.
Forget the 40 mm Glock and 6 watt laser. What that guy needed was a plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.
At the White House they just let the drones land on their property..at least this guy took some action...
The guy is tough, 40mm = 1.6" diameter.
Ok...ok... 0.40 caliber...
In America humans are now less privilaged than machines.
Human life in prison for the sake of a machine worth 1000$.
What a shame America.
Did the drone leave any passports behind?