Darth Vader backs Flock surveillance cameras. See the video.
The short version: A Darth Vader cosplayer publicly endorsed Flock ALPRs at a San Diego meeting, and USA TODAY's clip is a funny reminder that surveillance expansion is still deadly serious.
Our Take
Credit to USA TODAY for capturing the moment: someone in a full Darth Vader costume stood up at a San Diego public safety meeting to voice support for Flock Safety's license plate readers. It's the kind of clip that goes viral for the absurdity alone — the Empire's most famous enforcer casually endorsing a network of always-on cameras that log where you drive, whether or not you've done anything wrong.
The joke lands because it's not that far from the truth. Flock's pitch to city councils and public safety boards is always about catching bad guys, but the infrastructure it builds is a permanent, searchable record of ordinary people's movements — the exact kind of dragnet that dystopian villains would love to have. A guy in a cape said the quiet part loud.
Laugh at the costume, but don't sleep on the substance. These systems get approved in meetings just like this one, often with little public pushback. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your streets, and hit take action if you want to push back before your city's next Flock vote turns into its own viral moment for the wrong reasons.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of USA TODAY, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.