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Posted on 09/17/2026 5:43:47 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
A national backlash against AI-enabled license-plate readers is uniting Trump country and progressive strongholds alike. ‘Nobody wants to be surveilled…doesn’t matter what your political leaning is.’
In the liberal Blue Ridge Mountain city of Asheville, N.C., progressives fear the Trump administration could use Flock Safety cameras to spy on political dissidents, transgender residents and undocumented immigrants.
In the foothills 95 miles south, Republicans in conservative Oconee County, S.C., view the same AI-enabled license-plate readers as a threat to constitutional privacy rights and have even read aloud from the Federalist Papers at tense public meetings.
Days apart, both communities recently voted to stop using Flock cameras. Though political opposites, they have landed on the same side of a fast-growing national backlash: a fight against government surveillance that has forged rare common ground in America.
“Government has got to be restrained,” said Matthew Durham, chairman of the all-Republican Oconee County Council. “It is a 90-10 issue.”
“Appalachian people don’t trust the government for a lot of reasons,” said Kim Roney, a progressive member of the blue Asheville city council.
Asheville has backed reparations for slavery, protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement and banned discrimination based on gender identity. Oconee County, where about three in four voters supported President Trump in 2024, has called for closer cooperation with ICE and rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“It seems like data centers and Flock cameras are the only things we can agree on,” said Taylor Nicks, 48, who was troubled to learn that the recording device outside his Asheville coffee shop was installed without local input.
This year, more than 100 governments in blue and red towns have paused or ended Flock contracts, according to DeFlock, an opposition group. Local residents are organizing, protesting and digging through records.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
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This is just “defund the police” wrapped in a different pitch.
Trump Throws His Support Behind Flock Cameras: ‘I Like Them’
The White House/Youtube ^ | September 13, 2026
Posted on 9/13/2026, 8:18:38 PM by Miami Rebel
“I sort of like ’em because of that, because of law enforcement. But some people don’t. They think it’s an infringement. But I like them.”
Ashville a/k/a Ashwipe.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,"--Benjamin Franklin
Hows about we vote on it.
How’s bout we just tear them all down. We’ve lived without them up to now. All of a sudden we need more fckn government to spy on us?
Personally I don’t see the problem in helping police check to make sure the cars aren’t stolen and your insurance is up to date.
But I agree, this is something we should vote on.
Motor vehicles have backup and other cameras.
Data centers have more GBs of memory than all American residents - far more memory than is needed to store license plate numbers.
Flock stock flops
Would people on this forum approve of them six years ago, especially if they were used to track license plate numbers of people who attended church services during the lockdowns? Would these cameras have been used to identify the people strategically places pallets of bricks in major cities? What about locating the person who place the pipe bomb on Jan 6th 2021?
When do we taxpayers get cameras to watch our employees - mayors, senators, congressmen, bureaucrats, police chiefs, etc?
“When do we taxpayers get cameras to watch our employees - mayors, senators, congressmen, bureaucrats, police chiefs, etc?”
Or, even more dangerous than the above combined - teachers.
.
All the spying should only be accessible with a warrant (that includes the private companies that might own the spyware)
Good to know you’re such a fan of the surveillance state. You enjoy being watched whenever you’re driving?
Agreed. Nothing to see here (pun intended).
Our local pd use flock to catch dozens of stolen cars as soon as they enter the town. Also they review tapes when my neighborhood is burglarized as we have flocks at both entrances
The data is destroyed within 7 days as it is no longer needed after that. If
flock isn’t abiding by the agreement then by all means remove them. But I haven’t seen any evidence of that.
When do we taxpayers get cameras to watch our employees - mayors, senators, congressmen, bureaucrats, police chiefs, etc?
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I’m not sure bars and brothels want cameras in them.
no different than having hundreds of policemen standing around writing down notes, just cheaper.
And if they follow me, they are going to be very bored.
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