Local Hero Barry The Beekeeper Electrifies The Room With Anti-Flock Speech At Council Meeting

A local beekeeper electrified a North Carolina county commissioners’ meeting with an anti-Flock surveillance speech, emphasizing the bipartisan makeup of the growing, nationwide backlash.

Tens of thousands of Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers (ALPRs) blanket the U.S., but have triggered pushback from concerned citizens, local activists, civil liberties groups and state and federal lawmakers. Flock’s defenders say the cameras are a crucial tool for fighting crime, but detractors believe the government could exploit the system and violate Americans’ constitutional rights.

Barry Harris, a beekeeper from Wilmington, North Carolina, delivered a three-minute, anti-Flock speech at a New Hanover County Commissioners meeting earlier in August. Harris highlighted the bipartisanship on display, arguing that Flock cameras are “not a winning issue” for local politicians.

“There’s gays, straights, young, old, liberals, way-left liberals, Genghis Khan conservatives to the right here,” Harris said.

Harris was among 41 locals who spoke at the Aug. 17 meeting in protest of New Hanover County’s contract with Flock and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office’s operation of 19 Flock cameras. Ahead of the meeting, dozens of protesters gathered outside the New Hanover County courthouse holding anti-Flock signs. (Read more from “Local Hero Barry The Beekeeper Electrifies The Room With Anti-Flock Speech At Council Meeting” HERE)