It appears that a federal judge is determined to bring out in public the aircraft flight plans of criminal gang members flying from America to El Salvador.  It is a stupid, foolish, and potentially life-threatening request.

As reported Thursday, March 20, 2025:

[James Boasberg, the top federal judge in Washington, D.C.] has given the Trump administration until Friday morning to provide a sworn declaration from a cabinet-level official about invoking state-secrets privilege.

How nice of a judge to assume the role of president and commander-in-chief by ordering aircraft movements and flight planning focused on specific national security missions being made public. 

The famous political cliché, “pick a hill to die on,” now has a new and real meaning.  In this case the judge’s request is actually “Give American enemies closely escorted by U.S. Law Enforcement targeting information.”

Such information in the hands of evil people with means, motive, and opportunity to take down an aircraft in flight is a deadly threat.

It may be seen as a Hollywood movie plot device to build tension when criminals decide to clean up “loose ends,” meaning kill potential informants, AKA “rats.”  That dynamic of criminals killing witnesses and also targeting fellow criminals turning state’s evidence is real, as exemplified by extensive official U.S. witness protection protocols.

Consequently, when criminal syndicates such as cartels or even state-sponsored gangs from Venezuela are directly threatened by law enforcement, our military forces, and I.C. members who may gain priceless information from captured criminals, they will eliminate those who would rat them out if given the opportunity.

The effort to take down a flight to El Salvador prisons needs only an understanding of means, motive, and opportunity.  The judge’s intrusion into national security flight planning can easily present opportunity, especially if one looks at the death-dealing reach of MANPADs, which become the means of taking down an aircraft in flight.  The motive is crystal-clear: Eliminate the threat using the famous Stalin quote: “No man, no problem.”

More than 50 MANPADS attacks against civilian aircraft have occurred, mostly in Africa and Asia. Aircraft are most vulnerable after take-off, during the initial climbing period, and while gaining altitude when the planes are at slow speeds and in regular flight patterns. Some thirty attacks have been fatal and have resulted in almost 1,000 civilian deaths. Most attacks against civilian plans occurred within active war zones. Fifty-nine non-state armed groups are confirmed to possess or suspected to possess MANPADS according to a 2019 RAND Corporation study.

Knowing the time and route of flight allows for ground-based anti-air missiles, which have been proven effective, to go “weapons free” targeting — at takeoff, depending on altitude during route of flight, and especially at landing.  These missiles, estimated at close to a million in the world, are called man-portable, or MANPADs.  

They have various effective seeker heads, and some versions can reach 15,000 feet.  When a prison flight takes off, the route of flight, the duration of flight, and the destination airport should be classified information at the highest level.

Our enemies are not playing games.  If the courts help facilitate a deadly strike, then shame on the judge and all those cheering him on.

Image via Picryl.