Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Phoenix Jones in Action!

Film maker Matt Harrison has been following Seattle superheroes on the streets for a documentary titled Citizen Heroes: The Rise of the Rain City Superhero Movement. Harrison says it will be a feature length documentary scheduled for an October release. He recently posted this clip of Phoenix Jones and Black Knight in action.

Phoenix_patrol_3-12-11 from Matt Harrison on Vimeo.



Heroes in the Night asked Harrison to explain exactly what we were seeing in this clip, to which he replied:

"This clip was us talking to Phoenix on a patrol, we hear a loud crash and see a man throwing detour signs at a parked Subaru's windows. Phoenix takes off to question the man, he asks him "is this your car?" The obviously intoxicated young man states it is not, so Phoenix asks us to call 911. The man takes off, I attempt to trip him, but Phoenix tackles him, and I fall in the process. (You can barely see me in the take down, looks like I'm helping tackle, but Phoenix was all over it.)

While waiting for police, Phoenix checks in with the man, showing concern for his welfare, in fact, Phoenix asks us for a coat for the guys head as a pillow. Police come and take the guy into their custody, but no arrest is made as the victim (car owner) was unreachable that night and there is no drunk and disorderly charge in the city of Seattle. The police reputedly told Phoenix that the citizen arrest was justified and no unnecessary force was used by PJ."


FURTHER READING:


-For more Seattle adventures, read the previous two posts which are a firsthand account by Knight Owl of the Emerald City Comic Con and patrols that tied in with the con.

-Heroes in the Night has recently been mentioned in a lot of international media, including People magazine, British and Colombian press, and most recently in the Russian newspaper Akzia. The article, by Daniel Nash, is about Phoenix Jones including an interview with the superhero. An interview posted here on Heroes in the Night is cited in the article which can be found HERE (but you're going to have to brush up on your Russian if you're going to read it without Google translate!)

16 comments:

  1. *facepalm*

    "Hey, you guys just saw what happened, right?"
    "Yeah, we got you, bro!"

    That tooootally doesn't sound like someone covering his ass. Better hope that fella doesn't charge you for assault. ..."Bro."

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  2. No assault charges were filed, Seattle police ruled the arrest justified.

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  3. I'm looking forward to this documentary!

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  4. @Mal "Hey, you guys just saw what happened, right?" Its called securing witnesses in the heat of the moment, for fucks sake. Most police wouldn't look to pad the guy's head from the pavement, hell, if they are anything like the video of G20 Toronto "riot" cops they would kick you while you are down there and claim you did it to yourself resisting arrest - Seattle knows what I am talking about. Oh well, haters gonna hate.

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  5. Yeah, it was nice of him to use the jacket to cushion the guys head, and the "arrest" was justified... but that doesn't change the fact that dude is gung-ho looking to do take people down.

    Honestly this is a situation that could have been kept entirely out of already clogged-courts by a simple conversation with the guy and maybe an escort to the bus or something. We aren't fighting crime for fighting crimes sake, guys.

    We have to be innovative, and TRULY vigilant... not just vigilant for anyone that we can bust just to prove that we can.

    Does no one see this?

    -Zero

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  6. Hmmm... owner couldn't be reached... arrest was justified... no charges were filed... the perp and Phoenix Jones got away with it...

    I'd say find out the name of the car owner, the name of the perp, and cross reference them with PJ's known identity and see if there are personal connections there. I'm betting there are.

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  7. Nice camera work Ryan McNamee! I can not wait to see what you have shot and what Matt Harrison and you produce!
    From what I have seen, I think Phoenix did the best he could in the situation, not only did he have to look after a film crew in a real life situation, in a part of downtown that is known for drugs, crime, and prostitution but he was able to stop a crime in progress.
    I wish he was in NYC to help protect my family! Way to go Phoenix Jones! I can not wait until this film is finished!

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  8. I don't mind when something's manufactured... there are things that are processed and manufactured that provide value to people. Chicken McNuggets are food and New Edition and Menudo's songs are actually songs... but this is obviously being manufactured. That's a little different than "staged" and maybe it's not a bad thing... and I try to just basically ignore the whole deal...

    But still. This is a synthetic RLSH on the rise here. If there weren't a million other signs, consider how the team exists basically to glorify an individual.

    Still -- if a synthetic guy helps you I think you won't care that he was manufactured. But I had to say this. Honestly... who couldn't see it at this point?

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  9. There is an entire team of RLSH and X-ALTS that patrol NYC regularly. Some of us have been doing it since before PJ even hit puberty.

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  10. Are you covering NYC in the documentary?

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  11. @Anonymous: The NYC guys have been covered in "Superheroes: The Documentary" already. They are brave and steadfast, considering that they have little police support and they patrol high crime areas every week. There seems to be some confusion about our project, we are not focusing on Phoenix Jones, we cover Pacific Northwest RLSH from Portland to Vancouver. The subheading "The rise of the Rain City Superhero Movement" refers to the recent media hype and how it has affected RLSH in the PNW region.

    We will be talking to great heroes such as KnightOwl, Thanatos, BlackKnight, SkyMan, White Baron, Red Dragon, Phoenix Jones, Blue Sparrow, Roswell, Ghost, Pitch Black, Thunder 88, Thorn, Buster Doe, and hopefully some others!

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  12. @Zero: While I agree with your progressive ideas, I think it was too late for PJ or anyone else to do that before the guy smashed a car. The media hyping and other baggage aside, seeing someone commit this kind of vandalism and try to run away requires action. Most critically, calling the police. That is, unless there is a better way to ensure that car-smasher remains accountable for his actions (I.E. leaving his business card/insurance info). Were you implying this?

    Granted, I'm not out there yet. Maybe my opinions will change once I'm patrolling regularly and not simply a citizen who goes on long walks.

    -Bridges

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  13. Phoenix Jones is number 1. All others are number 2. Pun intended.

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  14. Yea All the Other RLSHs suck. They run around in costumes feeding the homeless. You don't need to do it in costume. At lease PJ is right in actually fighting off people who are destroying property. Do you think the police would have been there to stop that guy from vandalizing the car in time without PJ?

    PJ actually has a costume that works too. These other people walk around in costumes I can make in 20 minutes. I can't take it seriously when they wear them because they aren't scary nor symbolic. At least PJ's costume is recognizable and versatile with all the body armor and such. Everyone else is wearing polyester and cotton, and find security in groups of 5 people, all of which are barely physically fit to run a mile in under 8 minutes.

    I know people are trying to fight "apathy" but I mean, they don't have to do it in costume if they aren't actually Fighting anything.

    For the most part, RLSHs are just people lying to themselves, expect for a select few who are actually putting themselves in situations that need law enforcement intervention but don't have enough time for law enforcement to intervene.

    All the fake RLSHs, like Phantom Zero and those guys, should just stop. Yes, you guys are heroes in helping the homeless and guiding drunks away from their cars, but you don't have to wear costumes because truly, you only wear costumes to be noticed. The rest of us, who do this on our way to work or coming back from a party, don't need to wear costumes or care about being noticed because IT IS A WORK OF KINDNESS THAT EVERYDAY PEOPLE SHOULD DO, NOT RAVENOUS FANBOYS THAT WANT TO LIVE IN A FANTASY WORLD.

    Everybody, do your part, and help the homeless and the impaired. Leave the real superhero work to people like PJ and law enforcement, who actually put themselves in danger and are well equipped for it.

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  15. I keep trying to find "Superheroes, the documentary" but I am finding nothing about it. I would love to see it & also I can't wait until October for this one to come!

    I have seen Kick Ass & Super. They are fun movies, but definitely not true to life. So, it would be great to find this in a documentary form.

    P.S. I am grateful to all of the RLSHs for all that they do.

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