A group of German anarchists have inspired other radicals to take a direct action approach to surveillance cameras: smash them.<\/p>\n
As <\/span>Salon<\/em>\u2019s Natasha Lennard notes<\/a>, the practice has now migrated to the U.S. It\u2019s a brash approach to the surveillance state. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a diverse group of people: Shoplifters eluding capitalism who don\u2019t want to be monitored, passengers who don\u2019t want to followed step by step and anarchists fighting everything that wants to control us,\u201d <\/span>someone from Camover told Vice<\/em> in an interview.<\/a>\u201cThe state needs the power of surveillance so that we all feel that \u2018He\u2019 is there and knows what you\u2019re doing. We\u2019re fighting for the freedom to live independently, so let\u2019s start by smashing some cameras!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n It started in Berlin. German anarchists took to the streets at night in groups or alone, and went around smashing and dismantling surveillance cameras on the street. They then posted video evidence of their actions online, and called what they were doing Camover, as Vice magazine first reported. The group of anti-surveillance radicals are also encouraging others to follow their example. <\/span><\/p>\n Vice<\/em>\u2019s Simon Childs writes<\/a>that \u201cCamover have also recently announced a competition encouraging others to get involved. All you have to do to enter is think of a name that begins with the words \u2018Brigade\u2026\u2019 or \u2018Command\u2026\u2019 and that ends with the name of a historical personality, recruit a mob and smash up cameras. Then you send pictures and video evidence to their website, and they declare the winning footage.\u201d The \u201ccompetition\u201d ends in February, when the European Police Congress gathers in Berlin. <\/span><\/p>\n The smashing of surveillance cameras has spread to Finland, Greece and the U.S. A Camover group in Washington state released a statement this month saying that they destroyed 17 surveillance cameras. \u201c <\/span>This act is concrete sabotage against the system of surveillance and control,\u201d the <\/span>group said in a statement.<\/a><\/p>\n