Protesters condemn proposed Minneapolis drone contract over surveillance concerns

A few dozen demonstrators gathered at the Federal Court Plaza Wednesday to protest a proposed contract between Minneapolis and Skydio, a California-based drone company that has sold its products to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The proposed contract, which the City Council is scheduled to take up Thursday, would allow the Minneapolis Police Department a 75-day free trial to operate Skydio drones in north Minneapolis as part of an effort to reduce law enforcement response times amid police department staffing shortages. 

City Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, who represents the 4th Ward, is spearheading the proposal, arguing the drone first responder programs can accelerate aid in emergencies.  

But the protest Wednesday underscored the increasing unease with rapidly advancing technologies that evoke fears of an Orwellian police state. 

Meredith Aby, director of Women Against Military Madness, said the City Council’s consideration of the proposal is “absolutely offensive.”

“Our Black and brown neighbors do not need to be more surveilled,” Aby said. “To give new toys and new technology to this police department is outrageous.” 

Protestors said the Minneapolis Police Department’s record does not inspire confidence that the tech won’t be misused. 

“We cannot trust a police department with a pattern and practice of racist policing to responsibly implement a drone program,” said Jae Yates, an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice. 

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice found that the MPD had a pattern of exercising bias and excessive force towards Black and Native American residents in an investigation spurred by the police murder of George Floyd. 

Aby said the decision to partner with Skydio also goes against the city’s stated values. The City Council passed a 2024 resolution calling for a ceasefire during Israel’s war in Gaza. A partnership with Skydio, a company that has sold drones to Israel, would contradict that sentiment, she said. 

Protestors also criticized the city’s willingness to partner with a company providing drone technology to ICE, months after Operation Metro Surge resulted in the deaths of two Minneapolis residents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Skydio sold an AI-powered drone to ICE for $25,000 in September, according to Forbes. 

If the MPD wants to solve policing concerns, surveillance is not the answer, said Lucia Smith, a Women Against Military Madness board member.  

“It would be good to have enough police so that they can go into neighborhoods and introduce themselves to people living there and be seen as allies and protectors and servers, in addition to not being perceived as bullies,” Smith said. 

Twin Cities Coalition for Justice organizer Noah Schumacher proposed an elected civilian police accountability commission. 

Skydio has rebutted claims of unconstitutional surveillance at recent City Council meetings, saying that all footage not used for evidence would be deleted after seven days. Drones would also point strictly at the horizon until they arrived at the scene, where they then gather evidence. 

But a Skydio data leak recently revealed that in response to a “prowler” call in San Francisco, a drone zoomed in on a young person sporting headphones on a rooftop before flying away, Wired reported.  In another instance, in response to a “person with a gun” call, a drone fixated on an intoxicated person on a sidewalk. 

Drones aren’t new technology to the MPD or Minnesota; they were used by MPD officers to locate a barricaded armed suspect during an eight-hour standoff last month. 

Minnesota state law allows for 11 uses of unmanned aerial vehicles, including emergencies and disasters. Law enforcement may also operate drones to “document evidence that is at imminent risk of destruction” and to conduct anticipatory threat assessments.

Skydio drones also currently operate elsewhere in Minnesota, including St. Paul, Minnetonka, Rochester, Brooklyn Park and Duluth as part of the cities’ own drone first responder programs.

The average MPD response times for north Minneapolis — which Vetaw represents — currently sit at 7 minutes, 48 seconds. The Skydio proposal says that drones “could have responded to 4,643” of MPD’s highest priority calls within two minutes — around 17% of the area’s total calls.

The 75-day free trial would add two rooftop docking units to Minneapolis Fire Station 14. 

The City Council is set to vote on the proposal Thursday at 9:30 a.m. 

If approved, the 75-day trial period could begin as early as July 20.