FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that vulnerable targets in the U.S. could be attacked with the use of drones, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Wray told legislators during a Senate committee hearing on Oct. 10 that such an attack is possible because drones can be purchased and operated easily.
Wray reminded the lawmakers how his agency had stopped a terror plot in which the attacker, Rezwan Ferdaus, sought to fly explosives into the Pentagon and the Capitol using jet-powered drones that he was able to obtain.
Ferdaus is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of terrorism.
The FBI director’s remarks follow the recent signing into law of the 2018 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which contains provisions allowing federal agencies to take action against drones that pose a credible threat against people or facilities.
The law, for example, permits authorities to “[use] reasonable force, if necessary, to disable, damage, or destroy the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.â€