FLASHBACK: Were the Minneapolis Rioters Using Flock Cameras To Track and Intercept ICE Agents?

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Editor’s note: In recent days, there has been intense debate on social media about Flock cameras: not only their general implications for privacy, but also ways in which they could be misused for mass surveillance and social control. Here we reissue a special report from January which examines whether Flock cameras were used by the rioters in Minneapolis, in collusion with local law enforcement, to track and intercept ICE agents. Six months later, the questions raised by the report have still yet to be answered.

The riots in Minneapolis that have intensified since the shooting of Alex Pretti on Saturday are clearly the product of a sophisticated far-left network with organization, experience and significant amounts of funding.

According to a Fox Digital investigation, “A coordinated web of encrypted chats, street alerts and tracking of ICE “Abductors” in a sophisticated database reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that agitators were already mobilized at the scene where 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed minutes before any shots were fired. “

“ICE and Border Patrol agents were there to arrest an illegal immigrant criminal, and Pretti and others were there, outside a donut shop, to meet them as part of a strategic pattern of organized interference with law enforcement operations.”

The network of “agitators” has “disciplined logistics, messaging and coordination.”

One former Green Beret has likened the protests to the insurgencies encountered by American and allied forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A central tool in the rioters’ arsenal so far has been number-plate checking. Footage posted to social-media has shown rioters swarming cars that have rightly or wrongly been identified as containing immigration agents, and messages leaked from Signal group-chats reveal a real-time checking system, as suspected plates are fed into the network by footsoldiers on the ground in Minneapolis and verified.

The Twin Cities area is densely populated with hundreds of automatic license-plate recognition (ALPR) cameras.

Could the rioters be using them, possibly in direct conjunction with local authorities?

This is not a far-fetched suggestion. The leaked messages show that senior members of local and state government appear to be involved in coordinating the protests. A member referred to as “Flan” could be the Lt Governor Penny Flanagan. Minnesota’s police chief has also said that the legality of the shooting of Perri does not matter, and footage from the storming of the Homes 2 Suites Hotel on Sunday night shows Minneapolis PD vehicles being called away from the scene. A lone bloodied federal agent can be seen guarding the front entrance and asking reporters why the local police aren’t there.

A report from November 2025 states that there are now over 300 ALPR cameras in the Twin Cities area, and the data they gather is run through a powerful AI system to allow real-time tracking of individuals as they move through the urban environment, as well as any infractions that occur.

“Most of these are made by a company called Flock Safety, and every time a car passes one, it logs the license plate, location, and other identifying features of the car, like color or scratches and dents, and puts the information into a database searchable by law enforcement.”

The report notes that the system is like “police putting a tracker on your car.”

The cameras capture more than just the license plate:  “Flock cameras are capable of detecting race, gender, and how many people are in the car,” meaning they could potentially alert users as to the exact number of federal agents arriving  in an area, to allow a proportionate response.

Private individuals and businesses also have access to the system.

“In its announcement of the new ‘Business Network’ in June, Flock bragged about the ability for businesses to subscribe to ‘Hotlists,’ which alert subscribers to the location of select cars that pass any Flock license plate reader, regardless of who is operating the camera.”

What does this mean? It means that automatic alerts can be sent to subscribers to make them aware of the presence of certain vehicles in an area of the city.

The report goes on to note that Minneapolis officers have already been caught abusing the system.

“Officers have been documented using Flock cameras to track ex-girlfriendsconduct a nationwide search for a Texas woman who got an abortion, and share information with ICE.”

Flock won a court case in Virginia that ensured officers could access the system without a warrant.

At present, we don’t know whether the rioters and their aiders and abetters are using this powerful system for monitoring traffic in the Twin Cities, but given the level of sophistication and official collusion we’ve seen so far, it’s a disconcertingly plausible suggestion.

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