Dept. of Defense shoots down Customs and Border Protection drone near El Paso: Officials

[ad_1] The Division of Protection mistakenly shot down a Customs and Border Safety drone over El Paso, in line with a press release from Home representatives and a congressional aide.

Congress was briefed on the incident on Thursday, a supply confirmed to ABC Information.

The Federal Aviation Administration expanded its non permanent flight restrictions over the Fort Hancock airspace in Texas, about 50 miles to the southeast of El Paso, which prohibits all flight operations there via June 24, on account of "safety" causes.

The placement of the airspace restriction doesn't influence business flights, in line with the FAA.

The Pentagon, CBP and the FAA launched a joint assertion in response to the incident.

"This reported engagement occurred when the Division of Warfare employed counter-unmanned plane system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system working inside navy airspace," the assertion stated.

"The engagement occurred distant from populated areas and there have been no business plane within the neighborhood," the assertion went on to say. "These businesses will proceed to work on elevated cooperation and communication to stop such incidents sooner or later."

The assertion did not embrace specifics in regards to the nature of the drone that was shot down however stated: "At President Trump’s course, the Division of Warfare, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working collectively in an unprecedented trend to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and overseas terrorist organizations on the U.S.-Mexico Border."

Congressional Democrats issued a press release criticizing the incident.

Within the assertion, rating members of the Home Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure stated: "Our heads are exploding over the information that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Safety drone utilizing a excessive threat counter-unmanned plane system."

A US Customs and Border Safety (CBP) automobile patrols alongside the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas on January 22, 2025. On his first day again in workplace US President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency on the southern border "to repel the disastrous invasion of our nation." (Photograph by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photograph by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)

Charly Triballeau/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

The assertion, from Rick Larsen, D-Wash., André Carson, D-Ind. and Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., known as out the White Home straight.

"We stated MONTHS in the past that the White Home's determination to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee invoice to appropriately prepare C-UAS operators and deal with the dearth of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA was a short-sighted concept. Now, we're seeing the results of its incompetence," the members stated.

The incident comes after the FAA's abrupt shutdown of airspace over El Paso earlier this month.

Sources with direct information informed ABC Information on the time that it got here days after a laser was utilized by the Division of Homeland Safety to shoot down an object within the neighborhood of Fort Bliss. One of many sources stated the article was a balloon.

The FAA imposed a shock 10-day shutdown of airspace inside a 10-mile radius of El Paso, halting all arrivals and departures at its airport for what it initially described solely as "particular safety causes."

Inside hours, the FAA rescinded the order. The Trump administration stated the closing of airspace was associated to the navy neutralizing cartel drones, not a balloon.