Meet the Judge Who Ordered the Release of a Chinese National Arrested for Taking Drone Shots of a Military Base; Chinese Suspect Arrested for Flying Drone Over US Military Base

Meet the Judge Who Ordered the Release of a Chinese National Arrested for Taking Drone Shots of a Military Base:

Sallie Kim once held Betsy DeVos in contempt of court and threatened jail.

A federal magistrate judge moved to release a Chinese national accused of taking covert drone shots of a military base in central California on cashless bail. That same judge once held former Trump administration education secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court, fined her $100,000, and threatened to send her to jail.

Sallie Kim, a former Stanford administrator, issued the ruling on Tuesday, court filings show. She determined that Chinese national Yinpiao Zhou should walk free on his own personal recognizance as federal prosecutors pursue charges against him for flying a hacked drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base. Federal agents arrested Zhou as he attempted to board a China-bound flight in San Francisco.

The decision appears to have raised eyebrows at the Department of Justice, which is appealing Kim’s order.

“Mr. Zhou made his initial appearance yesterday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco,” a department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon in a statement provided late Wednesday. “United States Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim ordered him released on personal recognizance. Our office is appealing that ruling. Zhou remains in federal custody.”

The court declined to comment.

Kim has served as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California since 2015, a role in which she issues warrants, conducts preliminary hearings, and presides over some civil trials. District judges select magistrates via majority vote. When Kim was selected, 19 of the court’s 24 district judges were Democrat appointees, a Free Beacon review found. Her current term expires in 2031.

Though Kim took a lax approach to Zhou’s pre-trial detention, she acted more aggressively when she oversaw a case involving DeVos.

In 2020, Kim’s court handled a case in which former students of a now-defunct for-profit college sued to discharge their student loans. They secured a preliminary injunction that barred federal loan providers from collecting payments as the case played out. Kim determined that the Education Department had pursued payments from some students in defiance of that injunction, which the agency blamed on the providers. Kim responded by admonishing DeVos and threatening jail time. —>READ MORE HERE

Chinese Suspect Arrested for Flying Drone Over US Military Base:

A Chinese national has been arrested for allegedly flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California’s Santa Barbara County.

Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport just before boarding a flight to China, according to the Justice Department. Zhou, a resident of Brentwood, has been charged with violating national defense airspace and failing to register an aircraft not providing transportation.

Zhou made his first court appearance on Tuesday at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, a Justice Department spokesperson told Newsweek.

Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim ordered him to be released on personal recognizance, allowing him to leave custody without bail on the condition that he attend future court hearings.

“Our office is appealing that ruling,” the spokesperson stated, stressing that Zhou remains in federal custody. “We expect his arraignment will be scheduled for a date in the coming weeks in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles,” he added.

He has not yet entered a plea.

Zhou was discovered after drone detection systems at the Space Force base detected the unmanned aerial vehicle, according to an affidavit filed with the court on Sunday.

The drone flew for nearly an hour, reaching a maximum altitude of almost 1 mile. The flight began in Ocean Park, which is likely a reference to Ocean Beach Park near the base, the press statement said.

Base security personnel who went to investigate found Zhou along with another person, whose identity was not disclosed. He was discovered carrying the drone in his jacket.

A search of Zhou’s cellphone revealed a Google search for “Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules,” as well as messages with another person about hacking the drone to fly higher than its normal altitude. —>READ MORE HERE

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