By Rebecka Jones, Staff Writer
As we dive into the spooky October season, people are hanging up Halloween decorations, getting scared in haunted houses, watching horror movies, and, most importantly, getting ready to dress up in their creative Halloween costumes.
Finding the right costume to wear for Halloween is the most exciting part of this holiday—people go shopping for outfits and even customize their own costumes. Everyone wants to have fun flaunting their amazing costumes; however, there are some who plan to wear them on Halloween to conceal their identities as they “De-Flock America.”
Origins of “De-Flocking”
A television station affiliated with the Fox network, Fox 5 Atlanta, discovered a viral campaign on Reddit urging people to destroy Flock cameras on the night of Halloween. These cameras are automated license plate reading (ALPR) systems designed by the American surveillance technology company Flock. They are used by law enforcement and businesses to capture car details, including license plates, make, model, color, and other distinguishing details recorded by artificial intelligence to capture criminal activity.
Despite the popularity of the campaign, there is little evidence of it taking place. The news company Cybernews found a small number of posts explicitly promoting the campaign to de-flock America on Halloween, alongside a large number of posts reporting it.
On August 7, 2026, the first post in the “DeFlock America” Facebook group appeared, where a user proposed using Halloween masks to conceal their identity and destroy the cameras. Other posts on Facebook and X appeared soon after, further promoting the campaign. As a result, social-first accounts such as Polymarket and DramaAlert posted alerts about “De-Flock America,” giving the campaign more attention online (see post here).
Similar posts discussing and reporting “De-Flock America” top the number of posts actually organizing the event. For example, a user on X stated that the campaign was simply social media noise and not an official event (see post here). Even so, accounts reporting it are amplifying the idea of taking down Flock cameras on Halloween and making the campaign go viral.
The idea of this event did not only stem from the first post on the “DeFlock America’ Facebook group, but was also influenced by previous cases where people vandalized Flock cameras. Fox 5 Atlanta reported a case in Tennessee where Adam Heimerman, a local congressional candidate, was charged with allegedly shooting four Flock cameras. He admitted to using a gun to shoot down the devices—three in Blount County, Tennessee, and one in Maryville, Tennessee.
Furthermore, there were instances in other states where Flock cameras were taken down. Fox 2 Detroit, another Fox-affiliated station, reported two cameras damaged in Novi while West Bloomfield experienced vandalism in July, 2026. In February, the town of Waterford discovered several cameras were ripped from their mounts and smashed.
Another case was found northeast of Tennessee, where four Flock cameras were vandalized in Southold, New York, in July, according to The New York Post. Southold Police Chief Steve Grattan confirmed that two cameras were vandalized during the Fourth of July weekend. Both devices had paint splattered on them, and one had its wires unplugged.
These cases around the U.S. brought more attention to the “De-Flocking” event as well. Although these instances happened on separate days, social media is now showing talk of the event taking place on Halloween, with one large group working together to take down the cameras. Beyond social media talk, there is a project that is working to achieve the same goal of de-flocking America.
The DeFlock Project
An open-source project named DeFlock has mapped around 144,230 ALPRs in the U.S. as of October 2026 and has reported that around 265 cities are rejecting these devices. The project states that ALPRs are dangerous and should be removed because they track movement and store that data for long periods of time. This has led to wrongful arrests and profiling, and there is no evidence that the devices effectively prevent crime. Henceforth, DeFlock argues that Flock cameras are a “serious risk to your privacy and civil liberties.”
DeFlock has found numerous sources to prove that Flock cameras are unnecessary and should be taken down. The project argues that there is no independent research proving that ALPRs can reduce crime, as Flock Safety claims. The company creating these cameras specifically claimed that 10% of reported crime in the U.S. is solved using Flock cameras, but these claims often come from the companies selling ALPRs and the police agencies buying them, so there is some bias.
The project also argues that ALPRs are a major security risk. In November 2025, a security researcher found Flock logins for sale on Russian hacking forums because Flock does not require multifactor authentication. Moreover, Motorola Solutions’ ALPR system was found to have a critical security flaw that allowed anyone to access data such as license plate numbers, make, model, color, and timestamps. The live feed from these cameras can give anyone, such as criminals and sexual predators, access to information about other people and can be an invasion of privacy and an outlet for stalking.
DeFlock created a map showing all Flock cameras in the U.S., found by volunteers and the contributors of the open-source world map OpenStreetMap, to make people aware of how many cameras there are and where they are most common. If people knew how many of these cameras were in or near their hometown, they may feel driven to get involved in DeFlock’s mission.
Police Response to Social Media Talk
Due to the social media hype of this event happening on Halloween, law enforcement agencies are watching for anti-Flock activity. Criminal charges will be filed if law enforcement catches people vandalizing or using other techniques to interfere with the cameras. However, Fox 5 Atlanta has found no evidence of a national organization coordinating the event. There is also no way to tell if the people posting about “De-Flocking America” intend to act on the idea.
Will This Halloween Be a De-Flocking Night?
Since there seems to be limited evidence of “De-Flocking America” happening on Halloween, nobody truly knows what to expect. It could all simply be social media talk, as one user on X stated, or there could be a strike on all Flock cameras on the one night everyone is dressed in costumes that conceal their identities.
Despite the uncertainty, law enforcement will not be taking any chances and will be on the lookout for suspicious activity around the cameras. They use these cameras to catch criminal activity and believe it is necessary for protecting civilians, though many agree with the Deflock project that the cameras are useless and a violation of civil rights. Even so, the police will not allow for this event to take place and will arrest anyone who tries to vandalize or destroy the Flock cameras.
For those who will be trick-or-treating or going out on Halloween night, beware of the potential de-flocking event. Whether you are for or against Flock cameras, it is recommended to not get involved because law enforcement will be watching, and nobody wants to get in trouble on the only night they get free treats.
Works Cited
Corvin, Ann-Marie. (2026, August 18). “Halloween ‘Purge Night’ plot to take down Flock cameras spreads online.” Cybernews. https://cybernews.com/privacy/de-flock-america-halloween-flock-surveillance-cameras/
DeFlock. (n.d.). DeFlock. https://deflock.org/
Lupiani, J. (2026, August 31). “Is ‘De-Flock America’ on Halloween real or just social media hype?” FOX 5 Atlanta. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/is-de-flock-america-halloween-real-just-social-media-hype
Miller, D. (2026, August 14). “Map: Flock cameras targeted by vandals across US.” FOX 5 Atlanta. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/flock-cameras-targeted-vandals-us
