The Man Behind the Anti-Flock Darth Vader Mask Wants to Know: 'When Will This End?'

Anthony Ralphs has been showing up to San Diego City Council meetings to protest Flock's surveillance cameras for a year. At first he wore business suits, cited Supreme Court precedents, and made all the right arguments — but the council never listened.

"No matter how many cases I brought up, no matter how many violations of the Constitution this technology breaks, no matter how many people spoke up, they weren't listening," he said. So he decided to try something different.

1. When being respectable fails, bring in a sci-fi villain

In August, he stood before the council in a Darth Vader cape and mask, with mechanized breathing, and said: "The emperor is a fan of Flock." In three minutes, he mocked Flock's warrantless network of license plate readers from the Empire's perspective.

The video went viral globally, with coverage from Singapore to Spanish and Arabic media.

2. Why Vader? He's an archetype of evil

Ralphs says Vader is the Empire's servant, and Flock is just a tool for such servants. Framing it as good versus evil turned the conversation into a theatrical, global one — this is an Orwellian technology used by comic-book villains to do dastardly things.

3. This isn't a prank — it's desperation

Last December, hundreds of citizens opposed Flock, but the council voted to keep it anyway. After that, the movement hit a low point, meeting rooms emptied. Ralphs decided: if talking doesn't work, show up every week.

Now, back at the council, he set down the mask and said: 'The whole world wants to know who wants to be the good guy. To the five council members who voted for Flock: when will you listen to your constituents?'