During public forum, Beau Gilbert, who said he is a veteran and lives in Huxley but considers Ames his home, urged the Ames City Council to join a boycott he said Iowa City began in protest of Israel’s actions. Gilbert also raised concerns about a network of license‑plate and surveillance cameras he called the Flock system, saying the cameras are Israeli‑owned and can be accessed from outside the United States.

Nut graf: The remarks were a public comment urging council solidarity and caution about commercial surveillance networks; the council did not take action on the request and no formal agenda item followed.

Gilbert described serving in the U.S. military and recounted training experiences; he said his views changed and that Iowa City has "taken the first steps to make history in Iowa" by backing a boycott. He told council about Flock security cameras, which he characterized as a nationwide network with many cameras in Ames and as being Israeli‑owned, and said that his constituent was followed by Ames police cameras after writing “Free Palestine” on city sidewalks. "There is a surveillance system that is not being used by our police system in Ames that is surveilling everybody," Gilbert said.

A council member reminded Gilbert that public forum comments are time‑limited and allowed the speaker latitude to finish; Gilbert closed by urging Ames, as a college town, to "stand against genocide."

Ending: Council closed public forum after the comment; no formal referral or agenda action on the subject was recorded at the meeting.