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News
February 6, 2025
Alarm sounded on warrantless vehicle tracking by the ATF

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Tom Gann, RInola, is expressing his deep concern over recent revelations that he believes highlight a widespread and ongoing violation of Oklahomans’ rights. Gann led an interim study on this issue before the House State Powers Committee in October. His recent concern follows an open records request filed by an independent media publication, which revealed that citizens of Oklahoma’s original capital city, Guthrie, were under warrantless surveillance by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

In response to an open records request made by The Sooner Sentinel, Guthrie City Hall disclosed that its network of FLOCK license plate scanner devices has been shared with nearly 100 other government agencies, including the Nashville, TN, branch of the ATF.

Gann said this access appears to allow government agencies from multiple states, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, to monitor the real-time traffic of Guthrie drivers. The scanners create a profile of each passing vehicle.

“All across the state, police departments are allowing FLOCK to add their cities and towns to a growing, nationwide surveillance network,” Gann explained. “I’ve long suspected that access was being shared with federal agencies, but this is the first time I’ve seen proof that this was perpetrated on unwitting citizens. It may be occurring in many other Oklahoma towns as well” Gann stated the system appears to be designed to allow the ATF and other agencies to create “Hot Lists,” enabling agencies, to receive alerts whenever their target passes by one of the scanners without a warrant.

“When city councils approve these systems, they often believe they are simply authorizing a tool to compare passing traffic with National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Amber Alert lists,” Gann said. “But what they do not realize is they have just made their town the latest node on a growing surveillance network and have authorized their police departments to share their citizens’ travel data with numerous other government agencies. When abuses occur, citizens have little recourse to address their grievances with agencies located far away, where they do not have standing as voters.”

Gann emphasized the scanners have not been specifically authorized by Oklahoma state law. Last year, a McClain County judge ruled that state law prohibited their use and suppressed the camera evidence obtained through these devices. Despite this ruling, the devices continue to be deployed across Oklahoma. Gann insists Oklahoma take immediate action to put an end to this unauthorized surveillance.

“The prying eyes of the ATF have been unleashed on our state. We must step up now to end this madness,” Gann said.

Additionally, Gann believes it’s time to investigate how FLOCK, a specific vendor of the license plate scanning technology and its associated artificial intelligence, appears to be securing “sole source” contracts to deploy hundreds of scanners throughout the state. The company reportedly provides “sole source” letters to police departments, allowing them to bypass essential purchasing policies that would otherwise enable competitive bidding, according to Gann.

“The CEO of FLOCK has declared his vision is to put a scanner on every street corner,” Gann said. “Each scanner costs local governments thousands of dollars per year. That amounts to a massive wealth transfer from the public purse to this sole-source big tech company. That money has to come from somewhere. Make no mistake, this is about replacing the common sense of human police officers with the uncaring eye of AI, all to benefit a rapidly expanding big tech startup.”

Gann said FLOCK’s lobbyists will be interacting with the Oklahoma Legislature as several bills have been filed this year to authorize warrantless surveillance technology. The Sooner Sentinel’s open records request also revealed FLOCK has been pressuring local law enforcement to advocate for their legislation. Gann warns that the upcoming votes on these bills will be among the most critical of the year.

“These votes are going to have dramatic privacy implications that will affect generations of future Oklahomans. As legislators, we have a sacred responsibility to hand down to our future generations the freedoms that we were given. We must defeat these measures,” Gann said.

McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
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McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
June 12, 2025
The Oklahoma Press Association presented its Better Newspaper Contest Awards during the OPA Annual Convention June 6-7, at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee. The top award a newspaper can r...
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Fink inducted into OPA Half Century Club
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Fink inducted into OPA Half Century Club
June 12, 2025
Managing Editor Jerry Fink of The Eufaula Indian Journal and the McIntosh County Democrat was inducted into the Oklahoma Press Association Half Century Club on Saturday, June 7 at the Grand in Shawnee...
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Preliminary set for 2 suspected of killing Eufaulan
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Preliminary set for 2 suspected of killing Eufaulan
June 12, 2025
Two Muskogee men charged with killing a Eufaula resident were ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing in district court at 10 a.m., Thursday, July 3. Suspects Kyren Omari Boulware, 19, and Michael ...
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2 dead, 4 injured in pileup
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2 dead, 4 injured in pileup
June 12, 2025
Two people from Marshall, Texas were killed, and four others were injured in a harrowing four-vehicle pileup on U.S. 69 half a mile south of the Muskogee City Limits at about 2:20 p.m. on Monday, June...
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Commissioners getting an increase in road spending
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 12, 2025
Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, announced some good news and some bad news at the Monday morning Monthly County Commissioner meeting. First, the bad news, at least for those who oppose wind turbines in the ...
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Old Settlers Day, a Checotah tradition this weekend
June 12, 2025
Don’t miss Old Settlers Day this Saturday. This family tradition in Checotah is one of old friends, new friends and lots of good ol’ fashion family fun. Always the second Saturday in June, the town ho...
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Editor Picks
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Celebrate Flag Day, June 14
June 12, 2025
Bring us your tattered and weathered flag. Observe as our local Boys Scouts and DAV members honorably retire it. Starting at 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Free Cookout, Games and Raffle At Veterans Park, 114 N Broa...
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Juneteenth Celebration set for June 21
June 12, 2025
CLEARVIEW - The ending of slavery in the United States, celebrated annually on or around June 19, will be celebrated on Saturday June 21 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The celebration will take place at th...
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Bridge dedicated to World War II veteran
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Bridge dedicated to World War II veteran
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 12, 2025
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation recently honored the late veteran William “Bill” Antrum Fox Jr. by naming a bridge after him. The William A. Fox Jr. Memorial Bridge is on SH 9 East at Nine M...
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Jefferson Highway keeps on rollin’
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Jefferson Highway keeps on rollin’
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 12, 2025
Long before Route 66, there was the Jefferson Highway. Route 66 was a federally funded, 2,448-mile highway that crossed the country going east and west from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, Californ...
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Checotah Class of 2005 Reunion
June 12, 2025
Let’s celebrate our 20-year reunion together! Join us for a fun class reunion weekend! It will be a weekend of laughter and memories you’ll cherish forever! June 13 -15 Marvel Resort, Gore, OK For mor...
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