Doctor Doom took the podium at a Public Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday to thank the council for covering the city in surveillance cameras.
asserted
Doom → take → cameras
“Doom took over Axon enterprises [...] and now Doom will be watching you.
asserted
Doom → take → you
Your continued cooperation expanding Doom’s surveillance network is required,” the Marvel supervillain said.
asserted
supervillain → expand → network
The second gift is this: Doom will expand the real-time crime center to all neighborhoods with over 1,000 cameras watching every move,” Doom said.
asserted
Doom → expand → move
“Doom has total dominion over the city of Seattle.
asserted
Doom → have → Seattle
Doom will be behind the cameras watching those seeking reproductive or gender-affirming care.
asserted
Doom → watch → care
Doom will be able to find your immigrant neighbors and Doom will be able to ensure the safety of the women of Seattle alongside officers that stalk their exes.”
asserted
that → find → exes
Cawthorn donned the silver mask and gloves to draw attention to tech-driven mass surveillance in Seattle, an issue he’s been passionate about for years.
asserted
he → don → years
Cawthon is also a member of Community Not Cameras, a local activist group that’s attempting to reign in Seattle’s use of surveillance systems sold by Flock and Axon.
asserted
that → attempt → Flock
Seattle’s PD has access to 62 surveillance cameras around the city, many of them hooked up to a real-time crime center (RTCC).
asserted
many → have → center
“The RTCC takes in information from a vast pool of sources, including CCTV, [body-worn camera], geolocation data, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), alert sources like shot detection or alarm systems, and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) software,” according to a description on the surveillance company Axon’s website.
uncertain
RTCC → take → company
Cawthon said he and a colleague got the idea for appearing before the city council as Doctor Doom after seeing an activist in California go viral for dressing as Darth Vader to talk about Flock cameras at a public meeting.
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activist → say → meeting
They’d also recently visited Seattle’s RTCC and were struck by how much it resembled a super villain’s lair.
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it → visit → lair
Cawthon told 404 Media it reminded him of the film Minority Report.
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it → tell → film
“There is a wall of about nine screens in which they can bring up cameras from around the city at any given time,” Cawthon said.
asserted
Cawthon → be → time
“They can also log in, conceivably, even from their home computers with the right credentials [...] I am not reassured by the kind of dazzling scale of this complex communications center.”
asserted
I → log → center
After the visit to the RTCC and after Vader appeared in California, one of Cawthon’s colleagues called him with an idea.
asserted
one → appear → idea
“What if Doctor Doom went to the city council?” Cawthon said.
asserted
Cawthon → go → council
Community Not Cameras was looking to drive attention to the issue of mass surveillance and had just drafted a petition with specific asks of the city council.
asserted
Cameras → look → council
A pop-culture infused stunt might get people talking.
uncertain
people → infuse → ?
“We thought, wouldn’t it be interesting if the Seattle city council meets Victor von Doom, the Lord Emperor of Latveria,” Cawthon told me, adopting the vaguely Eastern European accent of Doctor Doom.
asserted
Cawthon → think → Doom
“And Victor von Doom shares with this pathetic American municipal council that they are actually doing Doom’s bidding without even realizing it.”
asserted
they → share → it
Cawthon is a comics fan and knew that Doom was on people’s radar because he’s the villain in the forthcoming Avengers Doomsday.
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he → know → Doomsday
He told me that pop culture has taught people to identify with heroes like the Jedi, the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four.
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culture → tell → Jedi
“Would our heroes really use tools of mass surveillance on a regular basis in a way that’s unaccountable and hurts innocent people?
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that → use → people
They wouldn’t,” he said.
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he → say → ?
“The absurdity of the real time crime center and the absurdity of Axon and Flock owning these devices and this data being used around the country to capture and lock up and deport people and to harass women,” Cawthon said in his normal voice.
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Cawthon → own → voice
“It was so clear this is a tool of abuse and being used in such villainous ways [...] we figured, why not use satire, political theater, to really illustrate what these tools mean.”
asserted
tools → use → what
Cawthon grandstanded behind the podium at the Seattle city council meeting on Tuesday.
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Cawthon → grandstand → Tuesday
The means are more than justified by the ends,” he said.
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he → justify → ends
“Doom will keep you safe,” and “We must work to crush any dissent to Doom’s vision of public safety.”
asserted
We → keep → safety
On the phone with me, Cawthon ran through the list of his problems with surveillance tech.
asserted
Cawthon → run → tech
“The data is not secure, in many cases these companies — and they’re very open about this — work with ICE, work with the US military, and border patrol.
asserted
they → ’re → military
There are multiple instances of police officers literally using this data to stalk their partners and abuse everyday people.
asserted
officers → be → people
And, of course, racial profiling,” he said.
asserted
he → say → course
Cawthon said reactions to his political theater have been positive and that it's achieved the goal of driving people to look at the Community Not Cameras petition.
asserted
it → say → petition
The group wants Seattle’s city council to take five actions including redirecting the flow of money away from surveillance tech and back into community-based crime prevention programs.
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council → want → programs
He said that the council had already agreed to its first demand.
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council → say → demand
Last month a committee voted to move $250,000 away from CCTV expansion.
asserted
committee → vote → expansion
Now the measure just needs approval from the full council.
asserted
measure → need → council
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
