Individual Declares Utilization of Apple AirTag to Retrace Missing Kamala Harris Campaign Sign
We're approaching the last two weeks before the United States presidential election, which means it's prime time for campaign sign theft. In fact, a woman from Missouri became so fed up with her Kamala Harris lawn signs disappearing that she attached an Apple AirTag to one of them. The tracker led her to a nearby house where she discovered a huge collection of stolen signs.
Laura McCaskill, a resident of Springfield, Missouri, shared her story with local news outlet Ozarks First after her Harris/Walz signs were stolen four times. Deciding to investigate, she followed the AirTag's signal to the town of Nixa, where she knocked on a local door. A woman answered, to whom McCaskill said, "We think that you have something in that car that was taken from our neighborhood." The woman admitted it was her son's car and claimed he was just an idiot.
The young man later confessed to McCaskill that he had taken her sign and it was in his car's trunk. Inside, she found a horde of stolen Harris/Walz signs. McCaskill described the sight as unsettling, comparable to stumbling upon a "dead body."
"I expected to find the AirTag, but not 59 signs. It was like finding a dead body. It was like, are you kidding me? Most people, they take them and they throw them in a dumpster or they throw them in someone else’s yard," she said. McCaskill recorded the encounter and posted it on Facebook where she encouraged her neighbors to report the incident to local police.
When questioned about his actions, the young man had little to say. He could be heard on McCaskill's video saying, "I saw it on TikTok. I saw a guy ... that filled his house up with some buddies," adding, "I'm not saying it's right or anything."
McCaskill told Ozarks First that this was more than simple theft. "This is pervasive theft. This was calculated. This is a different level." She claims that her son advised her to "shame the behavior" and to post the video online. McCaskill also reported the theft to the police. Gizmodo reached out to the Springfield Police Department for comment, but has yet to receive a response.
In a subsequent update, McCaskill said that the police are currently compiling reports and will not release any information until the investigation is complete.
After posting the video on Facebook, Laura McCaskill urged her neighbors to report the incident to the local police. In the future, she hopes that this incident will serve as a warning to prevent similar thefts of political campaign signs in their community, using technology like Apple AirTags as a deterrent.
