Seems like a rock solid alibi…or nearly 30,000 of them.
A West Virginia man was arrested recently after being accused of tearing down a Flock camera, one of many incidents recently of people destroying the controversial surveillance cameras.
Flock Safety currently partners with more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies to provide their solar-powered license plate readers, which allow agencies to search the company’s database for license plate numbers, vehicle makes and models, and even other identifying features like bumper stickers.
The cameras have come under increased scrutiny lately after several police officers have been arrested for misuse of the Flock database, with several running searches for non-law enforcement functions like searching for an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend. And then there are of course greater privacy concerns, with the public increasingly uneasy with the government being able to track their movements in such a detailed database.
In Colorado, Flock cameras were responsible for the wrongful arrest of a woman accused of package theft after an officer told her that he was “100%” certain that she was the thief thanks to the cameras capturing her license plate. It was only when the woman was able to provide her own surveillance footage and GPS data from her vehicle that the charges were dropped, after the officer refused to review her evidence before filing charges.
As a result, there have been increased instances of these cameras being destroyed across the country as opposition to the government surveillance mounts.
In West Virginia, 20-year-old Wesley Jackson was arrested last month by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department for his involvement after a camera was cut and later found destroyed along the interstate. Jackson, along with another student at West Virginia University, was identified (ironically) by an automatic license plate reader and cell tower data that showed him in the area at the time the camera was vandalized.
Unfortunately for law enforcement though, it seems that there are a lot of witnesses who say Jackson was nowhere near the camera at the time it was destroyed.
After local news station WDTV posted about Jackson’s arrest, comments began flooding in to provide an alibi for the 20-year-old from others who have problems with the Flock cameras:
“He was saving my neighbors dog from a fire all day couldn’t be him.”
“Couldn’t have been him – we were out counting blades of grass in the field whenever you say he did this”
“Couldn’t have been him, been hanging out with him and silent bob in front the qwik stop mart in New Jersey all day”
“He couldn’t have been doing that, because he was at my house sleeping in my recliner for 48 hours”
“Couldn’t be him. He was helping me replace the roof on a homeless shelter. Even handed out meals afterwards. Upstanding guy 10/10”
“That man is innocent. I saw him serving at a soup kitchen at the time of the incident.”
“This can’t be the guy, we were both on the operating table together at the time . He gave me a kidney. I’ll vouch for him.”
“He was walking my dog for me during all occurrences”
“He didn’t do it! He was changing the tires on my car.”
“He was actually kissing the homies goodnight at the time of the incident couldn’t have been him”
“Me and that dude was fishing. Wasn’t him.”
“Definitely wasn’t him. He was helping me build a chicken coop that weekend.”
“We were actually making out so he couldn’t have”
(That last one was from a man, by the way)
So far the post has racked up nearly 30,000 comments, with nearly all of them providing an alibi or offering to pay his bail. (There are also several people offering to serve on the jury).
Sounds like it’s case closed. This guy couldn’t have done it because he was kissing the homies goodnight while fishing and walking a dog as he changed a flat tire and rushed into a burning building to donate a kidney.
