Darth Vader Uses San Diego Council Meeting to Satirically Defend Flock Cameras

A Darth Vader cosplayer brought the language of the Galactic Empire to a San Diego City Council meeting while satirically arguing that the city should continue using Flock cameras. The man spoke during an Aug. 21 meeting of the council’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee, according to UPI Odd News. At the podium, he described the surveillance technology as “what the Emperor needs” to locate “rebel scum” and their supposed hidden base on Hoth. He continued the performance by portraying Flock cameras as a tool for tracking people as they move around the city—from playgrounds to pools and gyms. He also claimed, in character, that the cameras were following children as well as license plates. The speaker then gave the fictional villain a more personal reason for supporting the technology, saying he needed it to stalk his ex-girlfriend. The remark was part of the satirical address and was not presented as a report of an actual surveillance effort. The cosplayer urged council members to use their “Jedi mind trick” to persuade the public that the cameras were important. He also mocked the idea of shifting funding away from public services, declaring that parks, libraries, daycare centers and homeless shelters were unnecessary compared with funding for Storm Troopers. His speech ended with another Star Wars-themed attack on the relationship between elected officials and the public. He said the council should serve the police rather than the public and warned that failing to provide enough money for Storm Troopers would bring the Emperor’s displeasure. The appearance was a satirical intervention in the debate over Flock cameras, rather than an official statement from the city or a factual account of the technology’s capabilities. The source material does not identify the speaker or report how council members responded to the performance.