It is not against the law to operate a radio controlled craft in populated areas. AS long as the craft is within line of site of the operators and is being controlled through means of radio communication then no laws were broken by anyone by the police.
The FAA says that model aircraft flights should be kept below 400 feet above ground level (AGL), should be flown a sufficient distance from populated areas and full scale aircraft, and are not for business purposes. I'm pretty sure two out of three of those rules were busted. One for certain.
The Police also violated FAA regulations by approaching within 500 feet of a person, structure or aircraft.
And that bullshit about powering on electronics if you're flying to the States? That just got broadened to *all* flights *anywhere*. I knew it was coming, I just didn't expect it within 3 fucking days...
I remember this "war on dead batteries" starting as far back as 1996, after some sort of bomb threat or something. They forced you to fire up your laptop, but only if it wasn't rush hour, and then after about two or three weeks, they stopped doing it because it wasn't worth the effort.
That's why you create two copies: you hand one over to them with password. Second copy, you keep sealed with dual keys, like in a bank locker. You change password on the original and continue your business.
That won't work. They will just subpeona that copy as well.
It's later than you think, the joint Russian-American space mission has already begun.