Audio recordings of Missouri local police revealed that the authorities' request to a 12-day no-fly zone over 35 square miles of Ferguson's airspace last August was originally intended to keep media way from protest coverage. 

On August 12, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a flight ban for the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in Missouri that restricted all planes except those for intended for commercial operations and police helicopters.

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But according to an FAA official's statement, the flight ban was really intended to get rid of the media during the height of the protests.  Apparently, the temporary flight restriction (TFR) issued by the FAA does not mention specifics on what and who is permitted to fly in cases of no-fly areas.

The audio recordings exclusively obtained by Associated Press also featured one manager at FAA's Kansas satellite office saying that it didn't matter whether or not commercial planes would fly out under the TFR as long as there was no media presence.

Contrary to the reports, the St. Louis County Police Department denied accusations that the no-fly zone order was intended to prevent the media from witnessing protest violence or police response.  Instead, the police insisted it was to enforce stringent safety measures following the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Ferguson police added that TFR was issued at the time when shots were fired at a police helicopter, signifying possibilities of greater crowd panic.  However, the same officers were not able to provide tangible evidences of the said "shooting" incident, which the FAA manager tagged as "unconfirmed rumors."

Lee Rowland, an attorney for American Civil Liberties Union, said that if the pretext of the no-fly zone mandate was focused to deter the media from their responsibilities, then it would be an "extraordinarily troubling and a blatant violation" of the First Amendment rights.

FAA administrator Michael Huerta clarified in a press conference Sunday that the agency can only allow flight restrictions on the basis of safety and that media was never banned from covering the events at Ferguson.

TagsFerguson, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, no-fly zone, michael brown, protests, media coverage