The first camera lay crumpled on the central reservation like roadkill. Its solar panel was twisted, its casing smashed clean off the pole. A few metres away, another had been carefully gutted—key components neatly removed, wires hanging loose.

Someone in La Mesa, a small city east of San Diego, wanted this to be seen.

The two wrecked Flock surveillance cameras were discovered last week, just weeks after the city council brushed aside a wave of furious public opposition and voted to renew its contract with the Atlanta-based company. For many locals, the timing didn't look like coincidence. It looked like a reply.

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