The National Sheriffs’ Association spanked the Biden administration Thursday for a lack of candor about the drones spotted in New Jersey and surrounding states, saying federal officials have been giving local cops a stiff-arm.
“I continue to be deeply concerned by the lack of transparency and deliberate stonewalling of information from the Biden Administration,” Kieran Donahue, president of the association and sheriff of Canyon County, Idaho, said in a statement.
He said the lack of information has left Americans “on edge.”
“Is there something they are not telling the citizens of this country, or is it that they just don’t know? Either way, the rhetoric is unacceptable and dangerous,” he said. “Just tell the truth.”
The sightings began a month ago in New Jersey, sparking a panic as residents asked for answers.
Federal authorities initially said the sightings were “concerning,” then said they were mostly mistakes, with people confusing airplanes and stars for drones. More recently authorities have acknowledged valid drone sightings but said they are all either hobbyists, legal commercial flights or law enforcement operations.
“Nothing nefarious apparently, but they’re checking it all out,” President Biden said on Tuesday.