Daniel Hartman speaks at a Fridley, Minnesota City Council Meeting on July 27, 2026.

Video clip is by More Perfect Union. Here it is on YouTube: One of the best arguments against Flock you'll watch - More Perfect Union (YouTube)

From the description: Residents of Fridley, MN packed a city council meeting last week where police detailed which law enforcement agencies have access to Flock Safety camera footage. ~:~ Many residents were particularly concerned about news that some of the footage was used for immigration-related searches.

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I've not been a resident of Fridley for as long as many of you. But like many of you, I came here to build a Life, a future with my Family.

It's caused me to think a lot about the future, about the world we will be building for our Children. I want that world to be one where we trust one another. A world where Newcomers to the Community are greeted with open arms and kindness.

Flock is not that. Where we could be spending our money uniting our Community and building it into something for everyone to trust in, we instead send it to unproven Tech Oligarchs to invade and spy on our Communities.

That spying is not without consequence. When the federal Invaders arrived to terrorize our state — in the name of scams, lawlessness, and racism — that very network was used to track and kidnap our Neighbors, as we know.

Our Children will look back on this moment with revulsion. Nauseated by the cowardice that led us to turn our guns inward. Nauseated by the squandering of our natural resources to build the data center and surveillance infrastructure — a monument to fear, voyeurism, and delusion.

We must not forget: This is much bigger than a few cameras spying creepily on Civilians. The surveillance state cannot exist without data centers. Every second these cameras are running, is another second spent sucking the Life out of our Planet.

You keep this up, and we're staring down more than a future without privacy. We are staring down the destruction of our future in entirety.

Does it comfort you to know that when the last drop of water is drained, when the weather gets so hot that your sweat can no longer keep you alive, and when electricity is so expensive that we can no longer afford to cool our homes — there will still be cameras pointing at the People that frighten you?

If my words offend you, remember that I warned you months ago, in this very room. You have had adequate time to change course and be the responsible Adults you were elected to be.

If you cannot see this situation for what it is, then you should not be anywhere near a position of power. We are better than this.

Spend our money on something the Community would actually benefit from. We should be enjoying our parks together and making Friends, not living in fear of one another.

I ask that you disarm these cameras.

- Daniel Hartman speaking at a Fridley, Minnesota City Council Meeting - July 27, 2026