This is well sourced and known:
in April 2014, at a symposium at Johns Hopkins University, General Michael Hayden, a former director of both the CIA and the NSA, said this: “We kill people based on metadata”. He then qualified that stark assertion by reassuring the audience that the US government doesn’t kill American citizens on the basis of their metadata. They only kill foreigners.
from this source, but a google search will give you many others.
coconuteclair@lemmy.ml 2 years ago
https://www.justsecurity.org/10318/video-clip-director-nsa-cia-we-kill-people-based-metadata/
And I believe there was a tweet somewhere, if I find it, I'll link it.