US congressional candidate arrested after shooting at multiple license plate readers in Blount Co.

Our Take

WBIR Channel 10 reports that Adam Lee Heimerman, a declared U.S. congressional candidate, was arrested after allegedly admitting he took a gun to four automated license plate readers in Blount County. We're not in the business of cheering property destruction, and vigilante action against surveillance gear carries real legal risk for the person pulling the trigger. But the story is a flashing warning sign that a lot of ordinary Americans are furious about these cameras showing up on their roads without a vote, a hearing, or even a press release.

That frustration doesn't come out of nowhere. Flock Safety's ALPR network has spread into thousands of communities with little public debate, hoovering up location data on every driver who passes, regardless of suspicion, and sharing it across agencies and states with minimal oversight. When people feel locked out of the decision-making process, some will eventually look for a way to make their objection impossible to ignore — even if that means breaking the law themselves. That's not a strategy we endorse, but it's a predictable reaction to being surveilled without consent.

The better fight happens in public meetings, open-records requests, and at the ballot box — not at the end of a gun barrel. Check our map to see what's watching your own streets, and visit our take-action page for lawful ways to push back against your local Flock deployment before someone else decides to take matters into their own hands.