Hundreds rally outside Bloomington City Hall, call for end to ICE cooperation and removal of Flock cameras

Staff report

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — January 30, 2026

Hundreds of people gathered around noon Friday outside Bloomington City Hall before marching through downtown, protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity nationwide and urging Bloomington officials to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety and remove its network of license-plate reader cameras.

Speakers described the rally as a response to what they called an erosion of constitutional rights under Donald Trump’s administration, framing the U.S. Constitution as a “contract” that has been broken. Organizers and speakers repeatedly cited the recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during federal immigration enforcement operations as a catalyst for local action.

During the Bloomington rally, speakers argued that the city’s use of Flock cameras—allegedly about 40 devices currently operating—creates a surveillance database being leveraged for immigration enforcement and broader monitoring of residents.

Protesters also raised concerns about the ownership and control of the data collected by a private vendor, warning that location data and vehicle identification could be used to track people’s movements, target immigrants, and chill political and labor organizing. Some speakers said that surveillance tools can be used to “control” workers and communities, and track people’s every movement.

The Bloomington chapter of Democratic Socialists of America had promoted the noon walkout and rally at City Hall focused on the camera system.

City officials have previously said they intend to prevent federal law enforcement, including ICE, from gaining access to local camera data, and Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson has said the city plans to continue using the cameras as a policing tool while she meets with Flock Safety to discuss security issues.

Recently, data from flock cameras have been used in Monroe County to recover stolen vehicles, catch rape suspects, and solve a fatal shooting. But ICE has been able to access Flock Safety data by asking friendly local police departments in the United States to help it run searches, according to local records obtained by several news outlets, including the Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2026/ice-surveillance-immigrants-protesters

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/amid-ice-raids-some-home-depot-investors-want-know-how-law-enforcement-uses-its-2026-01-16

Flock says it does not work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has no contract with ICE or other Department of Homeland Security sub-agencies, and that ICE has no direct access to Flock cameras, systems, or data; instead, Flock argues that customers (local agencies) “own and control” the data and must explicitly configure any sharing relationships, which are visible and revocable. But that distinction still leaves a key gap: even if ICE can’t log in directly or get data “from Flock,” the information can still reach federal authorities indirectly if a city or police department (or another agency it shares with) runs searches, exports results, or participates in inter-agency sharing networks—meaning “no direct ICE access” doesn’t necessarily equal “no ICE use,” depending on how local users with access choose to share or collaborate.

https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/does-flock-share-data-with-ice

The post Hundreds rally outside Bloomington City Hall, call for end to ICE cooperation and removal of Flock cameras first appeared on The Bloomingtonian.