(PENSACOLA) --- An hour before Thursday's Pensacola City Council meeting, the sidewalk outside city hall looked like a political impossibility.
Socialists and communists stood with Republicans. Democrats held signs next to Libertarians. A dozen people who don't agree on much were chanting one thing: "FLOCK OUT."
(Photo: Flock protest sign for Pensacola demonstration May 27 outside city hall)
Party for Socialism and Liberation came with a microphone and speakers. Alexandra Hatley announced why the people had assembled. Doug Chico, the Republican candidate for Florida's Congressional District 1, asked to speak and was welcomed first.
He called the system a constitutional violation.
The energy didn't stop at the curb. When the doors opened, nearly the whole crowd filed inside for public comment.
"These funds should have gone to the Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) programs to keep them open," said Alexandra Hatley, citing a WEAR report that CORE programs may close due to funding uncertainty. Speakers highlighted the Big Brother surveillance state that FLOCK creates.
Protesters made it known that they demand the FLOCK contract be canceled, and future opioid abatement money be allocated to help people dealing with addiction in the community.
That demand gets at the night's flashpoint: funding. Mayor D.C. Reeves used $108,000 from opioid abatement settlement funds to pay for FLOCK cameras. Multiple speakers called it a betrayal of the CORE Coordinated Opioid Recovery Program, which provides long-term treatment in Northwest Florida and faces uncertain funding.
The anger over surveillance and spending bled into a bigger fight.
The OpGov.News meeting summary noted a "perceived lack of transparency, potential for privacy violations, and misallocation of resources, particularly opioid abatement funds being used for surveillance rather than addiction treatment programs."
For the crowd, FLOCK wasn't a standalone issue. It was a gateway to the AI data center FloridaWest EDA is reportedly courting. Larry Downs Jr., of Larry Downs Junior Plumbing LLC, said his purpose was to "redress his government."
(Photo: Larry Downs Jr. confronts mayor, council on Flock, constitutional rights)
He called data centers "control and surveillance centers" that will "control the data and surveil the people," as the red light cameras council unanimously approved, which he believes violates individual freedom.
"Personal safety is an individual's responsibility, not the government's," Downs told the council and the mayor.
Downs' words were echoed all evening by numerous speakers, who framed Flock and data centers as "control and surveillance" projects that take public resources and sell the consequences back to residents.
Local attorney and Libertarian Robert Vinson focused on a "defense AI data center" FloridaWest is considering.
(Photo: Local attorney and Libertarian Robert Vinson fights against Flock on May 27)
He questioned its purpose, transparency, and ethics, citing NDAs that could hide ownership by Lockheed Martin or Boeing. He pointed to "Operation Epic Fury" in February 2026, in which U.S. forces struck a primary school in Iran after an AI misidentification by Maven AI, powered by Anthropic's Claude.
"Do we want to contribute to the proliferation of automated war?" Vinson asked the council. "We urge the council to reject such projects."
(Attorney and Libertarian, Robert Vinson speaking against Flock outside, inside Pensacola City Hall, May 27)
Lucas Pallone noted that Reeves won't advocate for data centers within city limits, shifting the focus to the June 17th Escambia County Commission meeting.
He asked for stats on Flock arrests linked to opiate possession, arguing CORE, not cameras, deserves opioid settlement dollars.
Kristy Rosen wants evidence that Flock reduces crime and urged the council to reject or pause Flock, warning that surveillance systems expand beyond their purpose and chill speech. She demanded transparency: Who has access to the data? How long is it stored? Can federal agencies use it?
Joe Wade called out Mayor Reeves' "disregard for constitutional rights concerning Flock cameras" and "punitive use of red light cameras." Hatley said AI-powered mass surveillance "is not normal."
Mary Husky owns property with a well and fears groundwater contamination. She said both Flock and the data center prioritize "profit over people."
(Photo: Flock protest signs used outside Pensacola City Hall, many created at the recent art build)
Some speakers blatantly violated public forum decorum without apology. The OpGov.News summary closed with a blunt assessment: the meeting highlighted a strong undercurrent of public dissatisfaction with surveillance technologies, large-scale development projects, and a call for greater governmental accountability and focus on core community needs.
As for the sidewalk coalition, socialists to Republicans — don't agree on much, but they do agree on Flock, CORE funding, and data centers.
Together, they want to know who controls public money, public data, and public water, chanting the same outside and at every council meeting to come.
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