BURSTNew Jersey Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R) responded to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby’s remarks about the increase in unidentified drones flying over the state, calling him an “idiot” and a “fool.”
“That guy is an idiot. That I can tell you right now,” Bergen, a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot, said Thursday evening in an interview on Fox News.
His criticism comes as an uptick in reported drone sightings above the Garden State have alarmed residents and lawmakers alike, with Gov. Phil Murphy (D) saying on Monday that he is taking the matter “deadly seriously.” However, Kirby has seemingly brushed off concerns, telling reporters earlier Thursday that the drones are “manned aircraft” that are “being operated lawfully.”
‘That guy, I don’t even know his name, who was on here a couple of minutes ago, is a fool if he is going to say there is no issue,” Bergen said, responding to a clip from Kirby's remarks at Thursday's White House press briefing.
Another local official, mayor Sam Morris of Mine Hill, N.J., has also spoken out against Kirby's remarks that the drones do not pose a national security threat, calling the dismissive comments "ridiculous."
"I would invite Mr. Kirby to Mine Hill. ‘Come on out, Mr. Kirby, and let’s go on out one night about 9:3-10 o’clock. I’ll go out behind my town hall. And you can count them with me all night,’” he told ABC News.
On Thursday, a group of senators from New Jersey and New York sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI, asking for a briefing on the drones hovering over the skies at night.
The drones are currently being investigated by the FBI, although the Department of Defense has said there was “no evidence” that the unidentified drones are a result of a foreign entity or “the work of an adversary."