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A man went to a city council meeting dressed as Darth Vader to endorse Flock cameras
An unidentified man showed up to the San Diego City Council’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee meeting on Wednesday dressed as Darth Vader to sarcastically endorse the use of Flock cameras.
In an effort to make a point about Flock cameras, a man dressed as iconic Star Wars villain Darth Vader took to the mic to share his enthusiastic support for Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader camera network, which San Diego has deployed at over 550 locations across the city.
A man dressed as Darth Vader showed up to a San Diego City Council meeting to endorse Flock cameras sarcastically
Darth Vader comes out in favor of Flock cameras pic.twitter.com/YL3jaiwIEx
— Orwell Day (@OrwellDay) August 20, 2026
“The Emperor is a fan of Flock, and we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium,” Vader told the committee.
“Because we all know that the Flock cameras are not only following the license plate readers; they are following children. This technology will help us find the rebel scum and their hidden base on Hoth. This technology will help us find Luke Skywalker as he traverses the universe in his X-wing.”
San Diego quietly signed an undisclosed AI data contract with Flock in December 2025 without going through the city’s standard public oversight process, leading to a San Diego man spending approximately a month in jail after police trusted an automated Flock alert over contradicting evidence.
Additional controversies sparked by Flock cameras include ICE reportedly using its data for immigration enforcement, and its “National Lookup” tool has enabled out-of-state searches that critics argue circumvent legal restrictions.
The ACLU is actively campaigning against Flock’s national expansion as the technology becomes more controversial nationwide, with the technology currently operating in over 6,000 communities across the country.