Cruz: 'I Don't Like Flock Cameras', Shouldn't 'Be Surveilling Innocent Citizens'

On Tuesday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that “I don’t like Flock cameras. I don’t like government surveillance, I don’t think the government should be surveilling innocent citizens.” And “these Flock cameras really invite abuse, and I’m hopeful the political process will constrain it.”

Co-host Joe Mathieu asked, “I wonder if these Flock cameras are coming next. … This is something that everybody is talking about, as well. And there’s Republican legislation to ban federal spending on these Flock cameras. The Wall Street Journal today says there are 120,000 of them in 48 states, capturing 20 billion license plates a month. This feels like the next data center issue on the campaign trail. What would a Justice Clarence Thomas make of this?”

Cruz answered, “I’ll tell you what a Ted Cruz would make of it, which is I don’t like Flock cameras. I don’t like government surveillance, I don’t think the government should be surveilling innocent citizens. We should use law enforcement to go after criminals. But we have a presumption of innocence. And I think the surveillance state — China has built an espionage and surveillance state. I don’t want to see America the same way. I think these Flock cameras really invite abuse, and I’m hopeful the political process will constrain it.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett