He was tried for using a drone to film protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Aaron Shawn Turgeon, known as Prolific the Rapper, faced up to seven years in prison for flying a drone over protesters to film the famous demonstrations. He was arrested in October for “reckless endangerment” and “physical obstruction of a government function”. He was charged with flying his drone too close to a government surveillance plane and needlessly endangering the protesters.
The police arrested more than 700 people in connection with the pipeline protests in the period from August to February. Many faced serious charges, but Turgeon’s case in particular scared human rights groups. It could have become a dangerous precedent for citizen drone pilots who use drones for art or documenting footage.
The filmmaker testified the the trial that his drone had never risen above the permitted height, which is 30 meters below the altitude of the plane. This evidence was backed up by the drone footage.
The court ruled that Turgeon hadn’t put the crowd at risk of bodily injury and acquitted the filmmaker. The decision was a relief for activists who think that drones should be allowed at rallies for streaming protests on social media and for oversight of police activity, Voice Project reports.
Photo: Prolific The Rapper
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