FAA Probes Congressman’s Wedding Video Shot By Drone

As New York's first openly gay congressman, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney must have known his June 21 wedding to longtime partner Randy Florke would be a little controversial.

But he probably didn't realize that video footage from the ceremony would spark a government investigation.

The video, which features stunning aerial footage of the church where the wedding took place in Cold Spring, New York, apparently was filmed using an unmanned commercial drone.

The video has attracted the interest of the Federal Aviation Administration, which bans the unauthorized commercial use of drones because of safety concerns.

In a statement provided to ABC News, the FAA did not mention the congressman by name but announced that it was investigating "a report of an unmanned aircraft operation in Cold Spring, New York, on June 21 to determine if there was any violation of federal regulations or airspace restrictions."

READ: FAA OKs Private Drone: Can Pizza by Drone Be Far Behind?

The photographer who shot the video, Parker Gyokeres, confirmed that he knew the FAA was on his tail.

"I'm just a guy with a single multi-copter in the trunk of my car who was trying to do my job," Gyokeres said in an interview with ABC News. "But this is a political event now. I'm being used as the stick to poke the skunk."

Maloney's office brushed off the matter.

"On their wedding day, Sean and Randy were focused on a ceremony 22 years in the making, not their wedding photographer's camera mounted on his remote control helicopter," communications director Stephanie Formas said in a statement.

In an interview, Gyokeres said it was the couple's wedding videographer, not the congressman, who arranged for the drone, adding that Maloney didn't request the video that caused the uproar.

"The wedding video that was put online was not done for the congressman. It was B-roll that I brought home after I gave my source material to the videographer," he said. "This video, I feel horrible about, because it's not the congressman's video."

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Parker Gyokeres

In addition to being the owner, vehicle builder and pilot at Propellerheads, Parker Gyokeres is an active duty U.S. Air Force Photojournalist and the current Chief of Public Affairs for the 621st Contingency Response Wing, Joint Base Mcguire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. Gyokeres has 22 years of worldwide expeditionary experience, to include three deployments to Afghanistan and one to Iraq. He has been active in remote control flight for ten years and has extensive experience with the construction and operation of both multicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.