I remember after 911 and the no-fly zone for the weeks afterwards. Every night a large prop plane would fly overhead at a very high altitude heading north (Seattle Area). A few hours later it would head south. Patrolling our coast for incoming airplanes. It was a comforting thought, but more a time of reflection on the past few weeks and what the new “normal” might be like.
Obviously random surveillance of everyday citizens is not a good thing(NSA tracking ALL electronic data, cell phones, etc.) Surveillance of a suspected terrorist cell with some idea of an attack on a large mall - well within the government’s duty, and what I want them to do.
Keeping an eye on a riot in progress to direct fire fighters and law enforcement, and maybe even catch some of the violent rioters - also reasonable imho.
>n the days after September 11, 2001, I went down to the waterfront in Jersey City to help load boats with rescue supplies they were ferrying across the Hudson. It was creepy enough with the Twin Towers being gone from the skyline, and strangely even creepier that there was ZERO air traffic. Well, eventually, two fighter aircraft came hauling ass up the Hudson... and every just stopped and watched in awe... tensions were high and we all had no clue what was going to happen next.