MICHIGAN — Anonymous text messages targeting school board candidates across southeast Michigan are claiming the candidates support Flock surveillance cameras, raising questions about who is behind the messages just days before Election Day.
Candidates in several districts say they have never publicly discussed the cameras and are confused and concerned about why they are being linked to the technology.
The messages have reportedly targeted candidates in Troy, West Bloomfield, Plymouth-Canton, Novi, Royal Oak, Rochester and Ann Arbor.
You can watch Ruta Ulcinaite's full report below:
Joe Tollefson and Craig Olzak, both candidates for the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Board of Education, said their names appeared in a text message sent to voters in their district last week.
The message read in part, “Flock is a great public safety partner. Can we count on you to support the flock...” It also named other candidates running alongside them.
“Obviously, Flock cameras and school districts don’t really have a lot to do with each other, which was my first big tell that this was bad actors,” Tollefson said. “They didn’t identify what campaign paid for the text messages, they didn’t even identify that it was a school board race.”
Olzak said the cameras have not been a topic of discussion for the school board, which has other priorities to address.
"It's unfortunate. I think we've gotten to a point where unscrupulous actors are looking to disrupt things one way or the other," he added.
The messages are not limited to Plymouth-Canton. Similar texts have targeted candidates in multiple other school districts, primarily in Oakland County, but also in Wayne and Washtenaw counties.
Novi Community School District school board candidates Katheryn Maguire and Cassie Lopez-Jeng, who were both mentioned in similar messages, said the effort appears to associate the candidates with an issue that could be unpopular with voters.
“They’re trying to align us with something that a lot of people are against,” Maguire said.
Flock Safety, the company behind the surveillance cameras, told 7 News Detroit it has no connection to the messages.
“Flock is in no way affiliated with these text messages,” the company said in a statement.
7 News Detroit also called the phone numbers from which the messages were sent. The numbers had Atlanta-area codes, but the calls could not be completed.
One common thread among the candidates targeted is that many have been endorsed by the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest public employee labor union.
Thomas Morgan, a spokesperson for the association, called the messages disinformation and said voters deserve to know who is funding political communications.
“That’s the big mystery here is who is paying for this? Who stands to benefit?” Morgan asked. "It's weird, it's bizarre, and it's illegal."
Michigan law requires political advertising to disclose who paid for it or sponsored it. The messages targeting the candidates do not appear to include that information.
7 News Detroit contacted Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office to ask whether it is investigating the messages, but we have not received a response at the time of publication.
Morgan said the disclosure rules are important because voters should know who is behind the political communications they receive.
“We have rules in place for a reason...voters deserve to know who was behind ads, who was behind the communications they’re receiving, so that they can make the best, informed choices at the ballot box,” he said.
Meanwhile, the candidates say they hope voters will remain focused on the issues affecting students and their education ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
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