On April 22nd, we disabled 5 Flock cameras and 1 APD camera in response to a call for autonomous actions against Cop City on Earth Day. Flock is a Georgia-based surveillance company contracted by the APF to secure the perimeter of the South River Forest with "AI" surveillance cameras. These cameras note a remarkable amount of information about passing vehicles including color, make/model, notable dents or bumper-stickers, as well as information about the vehicle's route. These cameras have started to appear all over Atlanta and are showing up in other cities around the country too. Atlanta has the most surveillance cameras per capita in the US, and has recently contracted Axon to merge public and private surveillance into "Real-Time Crime Centers."
We tried a number of methods out, none of which were uniquely superior to another. We stood on each other's shoulders to smash the lens of one with a hammer. We dislodged one from the ground by pushing and pulling it back and forth, then smashed it with a hammer. This method takes any where from 15 seconds to 5 minutes. We smashed the solar panel on one. And on another we painted over the lens with spray paint. While the spray paint method might only temporarily disable the camera, it is quick and easy to do. This method makes sense to utilize in the context of needing to disable a camera to clear a route of surveillance temporarily. Below we have included the specifics of our work, in case you need to travel across a route that was previously blocked, or want to check our work and see how long the cameras are out of commission.
Since the planning of this small action, a national movement of university occupations has cropped up to combat the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Through the GILEE program, police initiatives, and Atlanta corporate investments, the city and the State of Georgia facilitate and encourage the IDF and Israeli apartheid. Rebels and revolutionaries in the United States have a duty to broaden the anti-war movement here, to continue to fight against Cop City, and to stand alongside the Palestinian resistance.
ALL POWER TO THE INTIFADA!
BRING THE WAR HOME!
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Notes:
-1 APD Dome Camera on "Michelle Obama Trail" at the border of Sugar Creek Golf & Tennis Club in Decatur, just south of I-285, was disabled by prying into the electrical console at the base and cutting all the wires. Many such cameras of this kind exist along bike and footpaths in the Atlanta metro area.
-1 Flock camera was destroyed at the corner of Second Ave and Preston Park Place in Decatur, by smashing the solar panel with a hammer and then using the hammer to dislodge the camera from the pole.
-1 Flock camera was shaken down and smashed near the corner of Jonesboro Rd and Cleveland Ave.
-1 Flock Camera was painted at the corner of Constitution Rd and Forrest Park Rd.
-1 Flock camera was painted on Sawtell Ave (South of the train tracks near the Environmental Remedies factory).
-1 Flock camera was smashed on the pole at the corner of McDonough Blvd and Lakewood Ave.
Found on Scenes from the Atlanta Forest