Turkish Police Shoot Down Drone As It Flies Over Protestors

As personal drones become more usable – and more ubiquitous – I think we’ll see more and more scenes like this one. The video, taken in Istanbul by a protester named Jenk Kose, shows the quadcopter falling out of the sky after being shot at by the police. The quadcopter’s camera failed when it was hit, but Jenk was able to save some of the footage.

Jenk wrote:

Tuesday afternoon on June 11th 2013, Police was violently attacking peaceful protestors. Police fired guns at one of our RC drone during the protests in Taksim square, Istanbul. Police aimed directly at the camera. Due to the impact on the camera (it did have a housing) the last video was not saved properly on the SD card. The camera and drone were both broken. Managed to keep the SD card. Here is the footage from that camera! This footage you are about to see is from the prior flights minutes before the incident.

I contacted Jenk about the event and he had a few things to say. “I have no idea why they shot it down,” he said. “I’ve been flying that model every day for the last four weeks.”

He said he will be uploading more video later this week.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/68229603 w=500&h=281]

FOOTAGE FROM RC DRONE THAT WAS SHOT DOWN BY POLICE / Polis Tarafindan Dusurulen Helikopter [HD] from Jenk K on Vimeo.

This video, accompanied by some stirring music, shows some of the footage Jenk took with the quadcopter before it was blasted out of the sky. While I could see the danger inherent in having a quadcopter flying over a big crowd, I would say the violent reaction was a bit much.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/68156381 w=500&h=375]

ACTUAL SCENE OF TURKISH POLICE SHOOTING RC DRONE / Polisin Ucan Kamerayi Vurma Ani [HD] from Jenk K on Vimeo.