Woman Arrested, Dragged Away After Quietly Speaking About Flock at a City Council Meeting

Arrested at the podium

Mia Heider had never attended a public meeting before she walked into the Springfield, Missouri city council meeting on Monday, September 22. She briefly spoke at the podium during a public comment period — and was arrested and dragged out of the room in handcuffs.

Heider, introducing herself as a Springfield constituent, said she opposed the use of ALPR cameras, most commonly made by Flock Safety. “These cameras are not just surveillance,” she said. “They are an invasion of our privacy.” Mayor Jeff Schrag cut her microphone, a police officer walked to the podium, told her she was under arrest and pulled her away. “I can do this all night. I get paid by the hour,” the officer said, according to 404 Media. As Heider was led out, Schrag asked whether that concluded the public hearing. “Yes sir,” a council member replied; the meeting returned to sidewalk code.

The vote that blocked public comment

Dozens of residents came to tell city leaders how they felt about Springfield’s automated license plate readers. Councilor Brandon Jenson had proposed a resolution to “conduct a comprehensive review of all relevant contracts” tied to the cameras.

Instead, Schrag moved to send the resolution to a committee, blocking public comment; the motion passed 5-3. The crowd shouted at council members, and the mayor paused the meeting, ordered the room cleared and had the cameras recording the event switched off. Springfield operates 41 Flock cameras, according to the Flock Transparency Portal.

Two residents ticketed

As people filed out, police detained and ticketed Noah Powell, a freelance photographer. Powell said he spent about five minutes in handcuffs and plans to fight the ticket in court, arguing that the city ordinance only required him to be asked to leave. Heider was held in handcuffs for roughly five minutes, then ticketed and released; the arresting officer said she was charged with disrupting the peace.

Heider said she had filled out a form to speak about a housing issue and used the time to read a written statement on Flock cameras, and that she only raised both middle fingers once she saw the officer approaching. “I don’t know why I stayed. I just felt like not staying was giving up,” she told 404 Media, adding that she did not regret it. “I feel like being silent would have been like being complicit.”

More arrests at local meetings

Flock Out SGF, a local group campaigning against ALPRs, called the resolution a compromise: “Many people came out to the council meeting and had carefully prepared statements for public comment, but no citizens were heard.” Heider and Powell are the latest Americans detained or arrested this year over their conduct at a city council meeting: in February a farmer in Oklahoma was arrested for going over his speaking time at a data center town hall, and in Kansas a teacher was arrested for clapping. The Springfield Police Department and the city did not respond to 404 Media’s requests for comment.