ICYMI: Independent Seth Bodnar’s “Wild New Ad” Turns Heads Online

Independent Seth Bodnar’s “Wild New Ad” Turns Heads Online

Bodnar's Flock camera video draws national coverage and racks up hundreds of thousands of views as Bodnar takes on Big Tech surveillance and calls out Kurt Alme’s silence.

MISSOULA, MT — In case you missed it, former Green Beret and Independent candidate for U.S. Senate Seth Bodnar released a "wild new ad" yesterday taking aim, literally, at Flock cameras, the automated license plate readers now installed across Montana and the country, drawing national media coverage and hundreds of thousands of views online. 

“My opponent Kurt Alme is just sitting back and watching it happen,” Bodnar says in the video. “I won’t, not by a long shot.”

Newsweek called it a "shotgun ad" that "escalates a national backlash against Flock cameras," noting the video "arrives as federal investigations, statewide bans, and even criminal cases mount against the controversial cameras." The Washington Examiner and Mediaite both covered the ad's viral spread.

The ad also takes direct aim at Republican opponent Kurt Alme for staying silent on the issue, and references President Trump's recent comments defending the technology after growing bipartisan backlash, including from congressional Republicans, dozens of local governments that have cancelled Flock contracts, and Governor Ron DeSantis, who has ordered the cameras removed from Florida roadways.

Bodnar has called on Congress to pass the bipartisan Flock-Off Act, introduced by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Eric Burlison (R-MO), which would bar federal funds from being used to purchase, install, maintain, or operate automated license plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras. If elected, Bodnar has said he would push to get the bill passed in the Senate.

The campaign has noted that the cameras used in the video are not actual Flock Safety cameras, and that no private property was destroyed in the making of the video. The campaign condemns vandalism in any form.

Seth Bodnar is a Green Beret, business leader, and former president of the University of Montana running for the U.S. Senate to be an independent voice for Montana. Seth is guided by a lifelong commitment to duty, honor, and country. He graduated first in his class at West Point and served multiple overseas deployments, leading soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Special Forces Group, and serving as a special advisor to the commanding general in Iraq. After his military service and a successful career in business, Seth spent the last eight years leading the University of Montana. Under his leadership, the university achieved record high graduation rates, doubled research funding, launched the largest infrastructure renewal in campus history, restored financial stability, and was named the #1 military-friendly university in the country. Raised by two public school teachers, he believes leadership is about service, not party loyalty. Seth and his wife, a fifth-generation Montanan, are raising their three children in Montana.

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