Welcome to the MAGA movement’s tech dystopia and Donald Trump’s surveillance state.

As the country’s Big Tech-aligned president pursues his authoritarian ambitions, the Trump administration wants to equip U.S. Park Police with high-tech license plate readers developed by Flock Safety, according to a new report from The Atlantic.

Flock, a federal contractor, has faced bipartisan backlash across the country amid the cascade of stories about its extensive network of cameras that police officers are creepily using to stalk and harass people. Trump was asked about the concerns just this week, and he used his favorite deflectionary tactic: saying his administration would have a response in about two weeks.

The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer reportedly got his hands on a list of pet projects for the National Park Service that the administration has identified as nonnegotiable “White House priorities” — things the Interior Department needs to pay for while other park projects languish around the country.

And Scherer reported that hooking up the U.S. Park Police with Flock cameras is apparently one of those priorities:

The list I received includes Trump’s well-known projects on the National Mall and the refurbishment of the White House, along with several lesser-known efforts: The hiring and equipping of 450 new U.S. Park Police officers in the Washington region, and more than $12.8 million — some of which came from the Department of Justice — for police equipment, including new Flock license-plate-reading cameras, radios, tasers, laptops, body cameras, and body armor.

The report says it’s unclear whether all of the pet projects will receive funding this fiscal year. The Interior Department didn’t immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment. But I’d argue that the reported proposal alone is quite revealing of the Trump administration’s disregard for civil liberties and concerns about them.

Even when Trump gave his evasive response about Flock earlier this week, he alluded to the technology’s downsides when he acknowledged that it had “pros and cons.” And the benefits in this case seem almost entirely confined to Trump’s regime as it seeks to expand its already troubling surveillance powers.

I’ll add here that Flock is among multiple contractors now working for the federal government despite — or perhaps because of — their development of tools that have been used to infringe on civil rights.

And it’s the American public that stands to lose the most from the Trump administration’s alliance with such companies — especially one like Flock.

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From MS Now.