The Associated Press reported Sunday that officials with the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to a request from local police to restrict the airspace above Ferguson, Missouri, for 12 days in August even though they knew the real purpose of the restrictions was to keep news helicopters away.
That is an abuse of power and an affront to the First Amendment. Temporary flight restrictions – TFRs – are legitimately imposed for safety reasons. They are not rightfully put in place to hide government actions from the public.
Ferguson was the scene of violent protests after a police officer shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. The police there have been widely criticized for their response, including arresting reporters and gassing a televison news crew.
TFRs are typically used to keep traffic away from an airshow or to protect events such as the Super Bowl that could be attractive targets for terrorists. And there is sure to be one anywhere the president’s plane lands. But again, those are for clear safety reasons and can exempt news agencies.
The restricted zone was initially set to include airspace in a 3.4 mile radius around Ferguson to an altitude of 5,000 feet. The police agreed to lower its upper limit to 3,000 feet after FAA officials said it was interfering with flights into Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
As an FAA manager said on tapes the AP obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the police “didn’t care if you run commercial traffic through this TFR all day long. They didn’t want media in there.”
They claimed a police helicopter had been shot at but were unable to substantiate that. The recordings have an FAA manager referring to the shooting as “rumors” and one saying of the St. Louis County Police, “They finally admitted it really was to keep the media out.”
The police in Ferguson were out of line. But the more serious questions are for the FAA. The recordings revealed by the AP show the FAA helping to infringe on news media’s First Amendment rights and trample on the public’s right to know what was being done in their name – even after they were aware that was the case.
The FAA has some explaining to do.