Anarchist Campaign Promotes Flock Camera Sabotage Nationwide
Source: CrimethInc.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CrimethInc., a major anarchist publishing platform, promoted its "Blinding the Cyclops" camera sabotage guide via Telegram on June 19, explicitly framing Flock Safety license plate readers as legitimate targets because of the company's data-sharing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Physical destruction of Flock cameras has been confirmed across at least five states, with residents cutting cameras from poles, smashing solar panels, and stripping reader components. The guide's recirculation in the context of active federal immigration enforcement marks a deliberate escalation in anarchist operational messaging.
ANALYSIS
The "Blinding the Cyclops" guide, originally published by CrimethInc. in 2020, provides detailed methodology for identifying, approaching, and physically disabling surveillance cameras in urban environments. Its renewed promotion on Telegram on June 19 is tied directly to Flock Safety's cooperation with ICE, which the platform presents as moral justification for property destruction. The guide covers camera identification, approach methods that minimize counter-surveillance exposure, and physical disabling techniques applicable to pole-mounted hardware.
Flock Safety cameras have been deployed across thousands of US municipalities primarily as license plate reader systems integrated with law enforcement databases. The company's data-sharing agreements with ICE have made its hardware infrastructure a focal point for those opposing federal immigration enforcement. Cameras are typically solar-powered, pole-mounted, and located at neighborhood entry points, characteristics that make them accessible targets for individuals acting alone with basic tools.
Physical sabotage has been documented in at least five states. In La Mesa, California, two cameras were found destroyed on Fletcher Parkway in February 2026, one smashed and the other stripped of operational components. In Eugene and Springfield, Oregon, six cameras were cut from poles in October 2025, spray-painted, and accompanied by a written note. Additional jurisdictions have reported incidents as the trend accelerates in cities where ICE operations have generated local protest activity.
Promotion of the sabotage guide via Telegram channels with substantial followings extends the reach of these tactics beyond the anarchist core to audiences with no prior history of participation in direct action. By framing Flock cameras as critical infrastructure enabling immigration raids, CrimethInc. constructs a justification designed to lower the participation threshold for individuals motivated primarily by opposition to immigration enforcement rather than anarchist ideology.
Law enforcement agencies operating Flock Safety networks should anticipate continued hardware targeting in cities with recent ICE enforcement activity. The guide's broad distribution, combined with confirmed physical precedents across multiple jurisdictions, constitutes an operational threat to surveillance infrastructure that exceeds isolated vandalism.
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