Classic empire strategy. Go to places where there are no possible consequences for inflicting any kind of terror onto innocent people, record what is the most effective to keep people in line there, import those strategies back home to keep the working class in line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_boomerang
Edit: to be clear, OP’s article does not at any point claim that these are American government-operated drones, so this isn’t really a good example of the imperial boomerang effect. I just wanted to point people to established reading on the topic you brought up.
“We need to do some large-scale shady stuff and we can’t keep civilians from finding out about it because of drones”
“Ok how do we ban drones lol”
“Umm idk let’s fly them over an airport with bright lights and say it’s a national security risk”
“Cool lmao good job I’ll get back to building that open-air prison labor camp in cop city or whatever”