Beau Hawk is a union ironworker and labor leader in East Tennessee. He has been president of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Central Labor Council since 2023, works as a business representative for the Tennessee State and Knoxville building and construction trades councils, and was the Democratic nominee for Knox County mayor in 2026. He is a member of Iron Workers Local 384 and has organized in East Tennessee for more than a decade.
Role at the time: Democratic nominee for Knox County mayor
Mixed or conditional
Statement summary
Hawk said that until protections for people's constitutional rights are in place, he would not support Flock cameras.
“Until we kind of ensure that those protections are in place to make sure that people’s constitutional rights are protected, I would not support Flock cameras.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Do Knox Co. mayoral candidates Beau Hawk and Betsy Henderson support Flock cameras?Subheading quoting Hawk and the paragraphs after it
Why we used this label
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Hawk says he would not support Flock cameras until protections for constitutional rights are in place. His opposition depends on an express condition, so Mixed or conditional fits.
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
