From “technocracy.news”
The CEO of Flock Safety, Garrett Langley, called the organizers of DeFlock.orgterrorists, akin to Antifa, because they published 112,570 locations of license readers across the nation. I cannot imagine what Langley is calling Jeffrey Sovern, who is charged with ripping out multiple cameras in Virginia, saying they are unconstitutional.
Flock Safety is a product of venture capital companies like Andreessen Horowitz (Mark Andreessen), Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), and Y Combinator (Sam Altman’s former company). You should see their real attitude towards citizens seeping out with people like Langley. ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.
Hundreds of supporters are rallying with donations for a U.S. Air Force engineer charged with destroying more than a dozen surveillance cameras last year in Virginia — the airman reportedly telling an investigator they were unconstitutional.
Virginia-based Air Force engineer and mechanic Jeffrey Sovern has been charged with 13 counts of destruction of property, six counts of petit larceny, and six counts of possession of burglary tools related to the destruction of license plate cameras, numerous news outlets reported.
Ironically, it was a camera that led to his arrest, according to police.
Cameras also were in the courtroom when Sovern appeared in late June in a Norfolk district court.
📜⚖️Suffolk Man Accused of Damaging Flock Cameras said They're 'Unconstitutional'⚖️🤔
Jeffrey Sovern, a 41-year-old U.S. Air Force engineer and mechanic, told investigators that the Flock Safety cameras he is accused of destroying are “unconstitutional and a violation of his and… pic.twitter.com/nHCol6zP0J— American Crime Stories (@AmericanCrime01) June 28, 2026
To pay for his defense, the 41-year-old Virginia resident established a GoFundMe account with a goal of raising $8,500.
As of Sunday, he had far surpassed that, raising more than $22,000 from more than 600 donors. Most the donations are small, ranging from $5 to $50.
“My name is Jeff and I appreciate my privacy,” the Air Force engineer wrote on the fundraising page. “I appreciate everyone’s right to privacy, enshrined in the fourth amendment. With the local news outlets finding my legal issues and creating a story that is starting to grow, there has been community support for me that I humbly welcome.”
The automatic license plate readers, promoted as a public safety and crime-prevention device, use imaging technology and software to capture and store information on license plates. They can also reportedly log a vehicle’s make, model, and color, and other details such as damage or a bumper sticker.
Law enforcement finds the cameras useful in tracking down criminals, but they are not without their detractors like Sovern.
Yahoo News noted in its coverage of the case:
These automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, are starting to blanket the United States, spreading across small towns and bustling cities alike by the thousands. While ostensibly framed as crime fighting tools, the AI-powered spy devices have raised significant privacy and social policy concerns, especially as innocent citizens get caught up in the dragnet. Like AI data centers, they’ve become a hot political issue at the local level, fueling public outrage and organized campaigns from coast to coast.
There’s also no shortage of citizens who prefer a more direct-action approach. Armed with garbage bags, spray paint, and even chainsaws, a not insignificant number of privacy vigilantes have taken the fight to Flock, using any means to free their neighborhoods of the ominous surveillance poles.
The ALPRs cost about $1,500 for the camera, the pole, and solar panel to power them, Norfolk’s WAVY-TV reported.
ronically, it was a traffic monitoring camera that led police to arrest Sovern, police told WAVY.
Following his arrest in October of last year, Sovern started his fundraising campaign late in December, also encouraging supporters to “reach out to the local governments and demand that these systems are taken down,” according to Yahoo.
“Thank you to those that had the time to show support this week!” Sovern wrote in a June 26 update following a preliminary hearing in the Fifth Judicial District Court, where a judge certified the charges against him.
“We have seen a huge uptick in awareness of the system and this case,” he wrote. “Continue to do what you can to preserve privacy and roll back the pervasive data infrastructure taking the joie-de-vivre away from enjoying life.”
In January, a federal court, ruling on a different case, determined that Norfolk’s current use of the cameras was constitutional, saying they did not record an “intimate portrait of a person’s life and therefore do not trigger the constitutional concerns,” said Flock, the camera company outfitting the city.
Sovern’s next court appearance is scheduled for August 7.