A New Mexico man with a gigantic American flag on his Ford pickup truck chopped down 10 Flock cameras, or “tyranny trees” as he called them, and took them to a local police station. He also showed the bed of his pickup truck filled with several other cameras in a livestream of his mission.
Jevon Martinez, 44, allegedly removed the Flock cameras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before being taken into custody at the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). Police previously arrested him in May on allegations that he damaged Flock cameras in Rio Rancho.
“Just for the record, I am not stealing these. I am not destroying them,” he said in one of his videos. “I am simply returning them to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department.”
He added that he knows how busy the BCSO is, so he “went ahead and helped” them out.
Martinez also contended that because the BCSO had already terminated its contract with Flock, the cameras shouldn’t have been operating. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office announced in late August that it was canceling its contracts with Flock.
“Is this a crime? I don’t think so. Neither does the public. I’m just liberating my people from tyranny,” Martinez said in a video, KOB News reported.
The local sheriff did not think what he did was a ‘public service’
“This was not a public service. It was not authorized, and it did not help the Sheriff’s Office,” BCSO Sheriff John Allen said. “Mr. Martinez took property that did not belong to him, filmed himself doing it, and then attempted to turn his conduct into a heroic narrative. Ending a contract is not permission to take property. Filming yourself committing a crime does not make it legal.
“People have every right to question government technology, criticize my decisions and participate in the public debate,” he continued. “What they do not have is the right to take the law into their own hands. We will address privacy concerns through policy, transparency and the legislative process, not through reckless stunts designed to generate attention.”
Martinez’s friends and family are reportedly worried that he has become a target in recent months. Almost $30,000 has been donated to a GoFundMe that was started in support of Martinez around the time of his previous arrest.
“We the people of the Republic of New Mexico are concerned as far as Jevon’s safety while he’s in jail and just want to make sure that he is ensured due process,” said Lucas Gauthier.
Court documents show that Martinez will have a preliminary hearing on September 22 for his May arrest in Rio Rancho. He faces nine felony charges in that case. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department has not yet disclosed any charges it plans to bring against Martinez, but it says it is still investigating his latest incident.