St. Paul residents call on City to end its Skydio drone contract

The St. Paul City Council met on Aug. 19, 2026. The room was packed with community members holding signs opposed to the City’s contract with Skydio, the largest U.S. based drone manufacturer. A series of St. Paul residents testified before the Council.
Their objections included Skydio’s sales to ICE for use against the immigrant community and protesters during ‘Operation Metro Surge’; the sale of Skydio’s drones to Israel which were used by the Israeli military in its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza; the misuse of scarce city funds and the lack of transparency regarding the actual Skydio contract.

Ward 4 resident Wyatt Miller said, "It’s difficult for the public to weigh in on the budget when the City of St. Paul implemented a drone program that, as quoted in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, cost about $300,000 - an estimate from the St. Paul police department Yet we can find no record of the contract. Skydio drones have been used in Palestine and are now being used in cities across the US. We want transparency on this issue and deserve to know what is in that contract."
Ward 1 resident Cedar Larson said, "Skydio has sent hundreds of drones to the Israeli Defense Forces to commit genocide in Palestine. Skydio has blood on its hands and we cannot allow St. Paul to be complicit in these human rights abuses. We cannot trust AI-powered drones to make our communities safer here. Women Against Military Madness strongly opposes the use of drones in St. Paul and the contract with Skydio."
Ward 7 resident Sima Shakhsari stated, "Considering that the library in Daytons bluff is being closed and unhoused neighbors in the Pig’s Eye are being removed from their encampments it is outrageous that the City of St. Paul is spending an unknown amount of money on drones for police that are being used or will be used against BIPOC people and poor people."