--- title: "Public Offers Implausible Number of Alibis for Man Accused of Destroying Flock Cameras" description: "Authorities were swamped thousands of absurd alibis after a West Virginia man was accused of hacking down Flock cameras." date: "2026-08-07" modified: "2026-08-07" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/public-alibis-flock-alpr-vandalism-arrest-destroying-cameras" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "Privacy" --- # Public Offers Implausible Number of Alibis for Man Accused of Destroying Flock Cameras ![A color-treated photo of a Flock Safety camera.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* When police in West Virginia's Monongalia County arrested 20-year-old Wesley Jackson for his alleged involvement in the destruction of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) deployed by the company Flock Safety, they likely never could have imagined the outpouring of support he would receive from the online community. In the days after Jackson's arrest, a post by local news station *WDTV* gathered over [29,000 comments](). As the [*Washington Post* observed](), those comments were overwhelmingly positive, with community members and strangers alike singing Jackson's praises, and concocting a seemingly endless variety of alibis. To take the community's word — or words — for it, Jackson couldn't have been the perpetrator, as he was simultaneously replacing the roof on a homeless shelter, dispensing dogs treats, canoeing, saving puppies from burning buildings, sweeping a parking lot, and rescuing cats from trees at the time the alleged offenses were committed. "He was actually kissing the homies goodnight at the time of the incident," one absurdist [commenter protested](). "Couldn't have been him." Take a look at the comments under any news article or police report about ALPR vandalism, and it's clear the phenomenon stretches far beyond Monongalia County. It seems the [trend is spreading]() so fast that there doesn't even necessarily need to be an arrest for John Q Public to lionize privacy minded saboteurs. Case in point, when police in Winona, Minnesota [released a statement]() claiming that "all eight of our city's Flock cameras were missing," the public quickly sprang into action, peppering the department's page with hundreds of comments in support of the perpetrator, who remains at large. The support was so overwhelming that the department soon shut down comments under the release. "Whoever you're suspecting was actually on a fishing trip with me between July 29th and August 1st," [one commenter]() joked. "Love seeing the comments on these police releases of flocks being cut down," [remarked another](). "It restores some faith in humanity that no one wants to be tracked indefinitely in the name of 'safety.'" **More on Flock:** *[Flock Is Losing Dozens of Contracts as Controversy Grows]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()