Comey: FBI used aerial surveillance above Ferguson

WASHINGTON -- FBI director James Comey said Thursday the agency used its aircraft above Ferguson, Missouri, last year at the request of local law enforcement to help keep track of unrest on the ground.

Comey did not go into details during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, including how long the surveillance lasted.

But in response to questioning, he said the FBI uses airplanes during investigations of specific suspects in criminal, terrorism and espionage investigations and when local police request help during a "developing situation" or emergencies such as riots.

He said the planes never were used for mass surveillance.

He said the FBI's deployment of aircraft in Ferguson, where police and protesters clashed after the August 2014 police shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old, was similar to the help offered during riots in Baltimore in April that followed the death of 26-year-old Freddie Gray.

"If there is tremendous turbulence in a community, it's useful to everybody -- civilians and law enforcement -- to have a view of what's going on. Where are the fires in this community? Where are people gathering? Where do people need help? And sometimes the best view of that is above rather than trying to look from a car in the street," he said.