Blinding the Beast: Anarchist Sabotage Campaign Targets Surveillance Infrastructure Nationwide
Executive Summary
Anarchist collectives across the U.S. and Canada have launched an aggressive anti-surveillance campaign under banners such as “Camover 2025” and “Operation Hermes.” These operations encourage the destruction and disruption of public and private surveillance infrastructure—including Flock Safety license plate readers, CCTV networks, and associated AI systems. What began as tactical vandalism has escalated into a coordinated, ideology-driven sabotage network that could severely impair law enforcement intelligence capabilities if left unchecked.
Analysis
In July 2025, decentralized anarchist networks activated two overlapping campaigns—Camover 2025 and Operation Hermes—explicitly aimed at dismantling the modern surveillance architecture in North America. These campaigns emerged from a convergence of radical critique, tactical insurgency, and a sharpened focus on counter-surveillance infrastructure as a primary front in the struggle against state power.
Camover 2025, revitalizing a European concept from 2013, encourages participants to destroy surveillance cameras in their local areas. Confirmed actions have taken place in Philadelphia, Montreal, New Jersey, and Atlanta, targeting pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), and other forms of street-level monitoring. The tone is militant but couched in community defense and counter-repression rhetoric. These are not mere acts of vandalism—they are structured, replicable operations designed to impair law enforcement visibility and coordination. Tactical maps and open-source reconnaissance tools have been released to support ongoing sabotage efforts .
Simultaneously, Operation Hermes, a parallel campaign promoted through radical blogs like Unravel, situates the fight against surveillance as a mythic struggle against an all-seeing “beast.” This framing is significant: it elevates mundane infrastructure sabotage to a near-spiritual mission, thereby increasing participant commitment. Operation Hermes invokes a call to transform destroyed surveillance equipment into tools for communal benefit—reclaiming materials for art, medicine, and communication in what organizers view as a “post-panopticon” future .
A particularly acute threat emerges from targeted efforts against Flock Safety, a prominent ALPR and AI surveillance vendor supplying thousands of cameras across the U.S. An open call to action published by radical blog Dirty South urges sabotage against Flock hardware, disruption of its supply chain, and direct action against its August 2025 corporate conference in Atlanta. Suggested tactics range from mapping installations to facility attacks. By incorporating game-like structures and tiered participation roles, the campaign blends ideological seriousness with memetic virality, ensuring wide adoption within the anarchist milieu .
Both campaigns frame surveillance not merely as a privacy violation but as a foundation of carceral power, used in racial profiling, immigration enforcement, reproductive policing, and AI-enhanced repression. By attacking that foundation, these groups aim to degrade law enforcement’s technical edge and mobilize broader segments of the radical left under a unifying and highly actionable cause.
For law enforcement, the implications are immediate. Surveillance assets in affected cities may become unreliable or non-functional during periods of unrest. The rise of decentralized sabotage cells trained in reconnaissance and anti-tech tactics poses an escalating threat to public safety and investigative effectiveness. Furthermore, the possibility of physical attacks on conferences or corporate facilities—such as Flock’s August event—elevates the risk from property crimes to potential threats against personnel.
