On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that “military commanders at installations have the authorities they need to defend themselves, their people, their interests, and, certainly, to protect our secrets and our national security” from drones and “Sometimes, the answer is to find a way to down a drone, and sometimes the answer is not. And a lot of it depends on the capability that the base commander has available to him or to her. But they have the authorities that they need.”
Co-host Bill Hemmer asked, “Military bases have seen these drones fly over them, that’s a federal offense. If there ever were justification to shoot a drown down, that would be it. Why hasn’t it happened?”
Kirby answered, “Well, because, — look, first of all, Bill, the military commanders at installations have the authorities they need to defend themselves, their people, their interests, and, certainly, to protect our secrets and our national security. Sometimes, the answer is to find a way to down a drone, and sometimes the answer is not. And a lot of it depends on the capability that the base commander has available to him or to her. But they have the authorities that they need. The sense that you have to shoot everything down just when you see it, even if you do believe that there’s malicious intent doesn’t comport with actual reality. So, it really depends on the situation at hand. But, rest assured, commanders have the authorities that they need to take the action that they must to protect their facilities.”
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