We have been covering the secret U.S. drone war and the impending flood of U.S. drones into domestic airspace, but one New York street artist has taken the discussion to a new level.
Going by the name "Essam," the artist told ANIMAL New York that he is a 29-year-old art-school grad from Maine who served in Iraq as a geo-spatial analyst.
Over a two-day span in the last month he and his crew put up about 100 faux NYPD drone ads in various spots around the city to create a mainstream conversation about (potentially weaponized) drones coming to the skies above New York City and whether or not we as citizens want that to happen.
ANIMAL reports that he is currently being pursued by the NYPD's “counter terrorism squad,” but we'd love to help extend the conversation that's he's having with the public.
We are the definition of discrete, we'll leave our cell phones behind and meet wherever he'd like, but we're pretty determined to highlight the apparent injustice against him by the NYPD. All while covering the full scope of his work, and its message, in a featured photo essay.
If you are "Essam" or know someone who knows him, please shoot us an email at rjohnson@businessinsider.com or mkelley@businessinsider.com or a shoot Military Editor Robert Johnson a text at 917-715-6472.
Here's an interview he gave to ANIMAL:
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