北加居民周英彪被捕：被控以无人机航拍范登堡太空军基地
美国司法部12月11日宣布，居住在加利福尼亚州北部 Brentwood 市的周英彪（Yinpiao Zhou，39岁）被联邦执法人员逮捕，被控以无人机飞越位于加州圣巴巴拉县的范登堡太空军基地并拍摄基地航拍照片。周英彪12月9日在旧金山国际机场准备登机前往中国前被捕，10日在旧金山联邦地区法院首次出庭。
据司法部，周英彪被控两项罪名：未按规定注册不提供运输服务的航空器，以及违反国防空域规定；如罪名成立，最高面临4年联邦监禁。他目前仍被联邦羁押，等待检方就一名联邦治安法官释放决定提出的上诉结果；本案尚未进行答辩，提审预计未来几周在洛杉矶联邦地区法院排期。诉状只是指控，周英彪在被法庭证明有罪之前依法被推定无罪。
加州中区联邦检察官 Martin Estrada 表示，被告被控驾驶无人机飞越一处军事基地并拍摄基地布局，这违反法律；国家安全至关重要，其办公室将继续维护美国军事人员与设施的安全。
据12月8日随诉状提交的宣誓书，2024年11月30日，范登堡太空军基地的无人机探测系统发现一架无人机在基地上空飞行：飞行时间近1小时、高度接近离地1英里，起飞点是基地旁一处名为 Ocean Park 的公共区域。基地安保人员前往该公园，与周英彪及另一名同行者交谈，发现周英彪外套口袋里藏着一架无人机，正是飞越基地的那一架。
执法人员其后凭联邦搜查令搜查这架无人机，在其中发现数张从空中拍摄的范登堡太空军基地照片；搜查周英彪的手机则发现，他约一个月前曾以「Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules」（范登堡太空军基地无人机规则）为词进行 Google 搜索，并曾与他人发消息讨论改装无人机、使其飞得更高。
据司法部，周英彪是中国公民、美国合法永久居民，最近一次从中国返回美国是2024年2月；11月30日在 Ocean Park 与他同行的人于11月26日刚从中国入境美国。本案由联邦调查局（FBI）调查，承办检察官为加州中区助理联邦检察官 Kedar S. Bhatia 与司法部国家安全司审判律师 Benjamin Koenigsfeld。（来源：美国司法部）
Brentwood Resident Yinpiao Zhou Arrested for Allegedly Flying a Drone Over Vandenberg Space Force Base
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on December 11 that Yinpiao Zhou, 39, a resident of Brentwood in Northern California, was arrested by federal agents on charges of flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, and taking aerial photographs of the base. Zhou was arrested on December 9 at San Francisco International Airport before boarding a China-bound flight, and made his initial appearance on December 10 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
According to the Justice Department, Zhou is charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and with violation of national defense airspace; if convicted, he faces a statutory maximum of four years in federal prison. He remains in federal custody pending prosecutors' appeal of a federal magistrate judge's decision to release him. No plea was taken, and his arraignment is expected to be scheduled in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks. A complaint contains only allegations, and Zhou is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
United States Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California said the defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photos of the base's layout, which is against the law, adding that the security of the nation is of paramount importance and his office will continue to promote the safety of the nation's military personnel and facilities.
According to an affidavit filed on December 8 with the complaint, on November 30, 2024, drone detection systems at Vandenberg Space Force Base detected a drone flying over the base for nearly one hour, reaching an altitude of almost one mile above ground level and originating from Ocean Park, a public area next to the base. Base security personnel went to the park, spoke with Zhou and another person accompanying him, and learned that Zhou had a drone concealed in his jacket, the same one that had flown over the base.
Agents later searched Zhou's drone under a federal search warrant and found several photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base taken from an aerial viewpoint. A search of Zhou's cellphone showed that about a month earlier he had run a Google search for the phrase "Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules" and had messaged another person about hacking his drone to allow it to fly higher than it otherwise could.
Zhou is a Chinese citizen and a lawful permanent resident of the United States who most recently returned from China in February 2024; the person accompanying him at Ocean Park had most recently entered the United States from China on November 26. The FBI is investigating the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kedar S. Bhatia and Trial Attorney Benjamin Koenigsfeld of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于加利福尼亚州圣巴巴拉县的范登堡太空军基地内 SpaceX 发射场入口。Steve Jurvetson 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The entrance to the SpaceX launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Photo by Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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