Tell Columbus City Council: NO MORE FLOCK CAMERAS. ❌ Special hearing scheduled for next Monday, August 10. We'll be there to vocally oppose this mass surveillance technology. 📲https://ow.ly/nBhz50ZwExM
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio
@acluohio.bsky.social
Dedicated to maintaining and extending constitutional and other fundamental rights, liberties, privileges, and immunities. A nonprofit, nonpartisan, legal and advocacy 501(c)(4) organization.
After a series of public records requests, we found that Ohio State's "chalking ban" was enacted specifically to suppress pro-Palestine political viewpoints. This policy is unconstitutional and must be rescinded. https://ow.ly/IIhM50ZvVuM
OSU banned chalk messages; ACLU says it has proof it was aimed at pro-Palestinian students
Ohio State officials enforced the policy against pro-Palestinian speech but called a Lee Corso tribute "meaningful" despite acknowledging it violated the same ban, the ACLU says.
ow.ly
It's been nearly a year since President Trump manufactured a phony emergency to deploy the National Guard into Washington, D.C. Today, thousands of National Guard troops remain in our nation's capital. https://ow.ly/klL050Zwjxo
About 4,600 National Guard troops remain in DC as mission nears one-year mark
Washington, D.C., residents and tourists alike have spotted members of the National Guard patrolling streets, the National Mall, across neighborhoods or on the Metro. The deployment has faced criticism since it launched, with opponents…
ow.ly
Congress must act immediately to create lasting, meaningful protections for Temporary Protected Status recipients to keep families from being torn apart by the Trump administration's deportation force and allow people to continue working and thriving in their communities.
The mass surveillance systems pose grave threats to our privacy rights and must be abolished. https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/flock-license-plate-cameras-spark-debate-privacy-public-safety/530-de87018d-149c-4f04-9551-211dffd045b1
Flock license plate cameras spark debate over privacy, public safety in central Ohio
The city of Columbus is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the use of Flock cameras on Aug. 10.
10tv.com
We thank Representative Marcy Kaptur for standing with the LGBTQ+ community by voting NO on three amendments to a national defense bill that sought to strip yet more rights from transgender people. 🏳️⚧️ https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trans-military-ban-fails
U.S. House rejects permanent transgender military ban in defense bill vote
Four Republicans joined Democrats to defeat an effort to write Trump’s transgender military restrictions into federal law.
advocate.com
🚨🚨Right now, we can make our voices heard in Columbus as City Council prepares to hold a special public hearing on Aug. 10 regarding Columbus Police’s use of Flock cameras. Tell Councilmembers to protect the privacy rights of Columbus residents. 📣 https://ow.ly/BO1O50ZvRo7
Demonstrators gathered at Akron-Canton Airport to protest ICE-affiliated deportation flights, drawing attention to ongoing federal immigration enforcement. 🗣️ICE is not welcome in Ohio. https://ow.ly/tZoK50ZvOvg
Protesters gather to rally against ICE flights at Akron-Canton Airport
Demonstrators gathered at Akron-Canton Airport to protest ICE-affiliated deportation flights, drawing attention to ongoing federal immigration enforcement.
ow.ly
We sent a letter to Ohio State, urging the University to immediately rescind the unconstitutional "chalking ban." Students have a right to express their political views on campus free of this kind of discrimination. https://ow.ly/XtmC50ZvL3f
ACLU demands OSU end chalking ban, says it targeted pro-Palestine speech
The ACLU of Ohio claims based on records requests that Ohio State University banned campus chalking specifically to suppress pro-Palestine speech.
ow.ly
Congress must act to protect current TPS holders and prevent family separation. Temporary protection should not become a trapdoor into deportation when the dangers that justified protection still exist. https://ow.ly/u4QF50ZuKJS
Haiti a bastion for kidnappers, terrorists. Refugees must be protected | Letters
Letters: Haitians must be saved. Cook this goose. Your neighbors need help.
ow.ly
About 15,000 Haitians live in the Springfield area and another 30,000 live in Central Ohio. We stand with all immigrant communities in Ohio. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2026/07/sen-husted-casts-doubt-on-reports-of-planned-ice-operations-in-ohio.html
Sen. Husted casts doubt on reports of planned ICE operations in Ohio
Conflicting messages about the possible deportation of Haitian immigrants have deepened months of uncertainty for Ohio's Haitian community.
cleveland.com
DIGNITY NOT DEPORTATION. DIGNITY NOT DEPORTATION. DIGNITY NOT DEPORTATION. DIGNITY NOT DEPORTATION. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/07/30/as-ohio-braces-for-ice-akron-airport-continues-deportations/
As Ohio braces for ICE, Akron airport continues deportations • Ohio Capital Journal
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine isn't anticipating a surge of immigration enforcement as the TPS for Haitian immigrants expires, and he isn't aware of any federal plans. Still, the Akron-Canton Airport continues to host deportation flights for ICE-affiliated charters.
ohiocapitaljournal.com
🔴Last year, Ohio State banned chalking on campus, a policy that violates the First Amendment. ⚪Today, we sent a letter to the university president threatening a federal lawsuit if the "chalking ban" isn't rescinded. https://ow.ly/24ps50ZuOmk
Ohio State bans chalking on campus
The university released a statement on Thursday saying that students could be disciplined if they were found chalking on university grounds.
ow.ly
TLDR: Big Brother is in fact watching. matternews.org/community/po...
Local Politics: A rundown of what the Flock is going on – Matter News
The Columbus City Council is seeking public testimony ahead of an early August hearing on the future of Flock, a license-plate-reading surveillance camera system.
matternews.org
📢Ohio State's "Chalking Ban" silences an entire medium of speech in order to discriminate against one political viewpoint; it must not stand for another school year. Without action from the university, we will not hesitate to take legal action in federal court. www.acluohio.org/press-releas...
🚨We agree with Governor DeWine, Trump's plan to ramp up arrests and deportations of Haitians living in Ohio is a "mistake." Without TPS, families will be separated and thousands of individuals could be sent back to a country in crisis. https://ow.ly/Y92g50ZukV5
Republican Ohio governor says Trump’s plans to deport Haitians a ‘mistake’
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Monday the Trump administration would be making a “mistake” if it were to deport thousands of Haitian migrants who it has stripped of their temporary protected status…
ow.ly
Right now, we can make a difference in Columbus before the special hearing on Monday, August 10. 📹Send a strong message to City Council – "Big Brother" tech companies must get the flock out: action.aclu.org/send-message...
🗞️👏"Gov. DeWine was right to encourage the legislature to abolish Ohio's death penalty statute, and he can do more right now by using his executive clemency power to commute all Ohio death sentences too life without the possibility of parole." www.crainscleveland.com/opinion/comm...
crainscleveland.com
This Disability Pride month and every other month of the year, we’re fighting for a world where Ohioans with disabilities can exist on their own terms.
Thousands of Haitians living in Springfield are in danger of deportation and detention, in the largest de-documentation event in U.S. history. We stand with all immigrant families in Ohio.
The public is catching on to Flock's surveillance scheme — and successfully fighting back against the company's efforts to expand its network of creepy cameras even more. Flock can't stop the power of the people.
Columbus City Council will hold a special hearing on August 10 to assess Columbus Police’s use of Flock ALPRs. Our view? End the contract now. Stop government spying. https://ow.ly/2AxO50ZsibC
Who is tracking you? Columbus must control Flock or end it | Our view
Columbus must discontinue use of Flock or ensure safeguards are in place that all but guarantee our information does not end up in the wrong hands.
ow.ly
ICE uses automatic license plate readers to arrest immigrants in Ohio, the vast majority of which have no criminal record. Mass surveillance of our communities must stop NOW. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
Columbus Police used Flock to watch ICE as it arrested hundreds in Ohio
During Operation Buckeye, a leader in the Columbus Division of Police used Flock data to keep tabs on plain clothes ICE officers.
dispatch.com
We put ICE on notice that the ACLU of Ohio is diligently watching and will continue to fearlessly take action to ensure that federal immigration agents do not act above the law. https://ow.ly/aFVF50Zrzzq
In Ohio case, federal judge says warrantless ICE arrests are illegal, but denies motion to stop them • Ohio Capital Journal
A federal judge on Friday ruled that ICE is making illegal arrests. Then she dismissed a case seeking to stop the practice.
ow.ly
After contracting polio as a child, Ed Roberts used a wheelchair and an iron lung. He fought ableist systems and is considered a pioneer of the disability rights movement. Alongside Judy Heumann, Roberts founded the World Institute on Disability, and he served as president until his death in 1995.
The opinion from the judge confirms what we already knew: ICE violated the law and arrested our clients illegally. Unfortunately, we are living in a world where documented human rights violations alone are insufficient to compel court action to stop them. https://ow.ly/Oqub50Zq984
Concerns with mass surveillance, government spying, and data sharing are top of mind for many citizens, and this law will further impact the ability of every day Ohioans to be free of warrantless surveillance by their government. https://ow.ly/O2vA50ZpZmf
New Ohio drone law limits police searches, but critics see loopholes
A new Ohio law lays out when police need a search warrant to fly drones, but critics worry that loopholes could allow widespread surveillance.
ow.ly
Mass surveillance does not make us safer. This was the wrong move by Cleveland City Council. www.cleveland.com/news/2026/07...
Cleveland to keep Flock cameras after City Council vote
Cleveland’s Flock cameras survived a passionate City Council debate Wednesday, with members approving a new contract for the controversial license plate reader system in a 9-6 decision.
cleveland.com
Newsflash: Media companies have no obligation to bend the knee to President Trump and do as he wishes. That's the whole point of the First Amendment.
Trump threatens to revoke licenses of US networks for not carrying primetime speech
Two of the three major U.S. television networks and CNN did not broadcast a prime-time address on Thursday by President Donald Trump on their primary platforms, drawing a rebuke from a president who h...
reuters.com