Phoenix Jones with a fan on the street.
Early Sunday morning Rain City Superhero Movement Phoenix Jones ran into a bar brawl and was subsequently detained by police. I was there to witness the whole thing and have been offering small updates all week.
But I haven't been the only one interested in the story- there has been a media explosion over the incident. Every Seattle media outlet has been following the story and it has caught on with media around the world.
This has led to Phoenix Jones picking up a large number of supporters on the internet- his official Facebook fan page has close to 34,000 fans from around the world. Some have replaced their own avatar with his picture or posted their own Phoenix Jones fan art.
A sample of some messages on his fan page wall:
"Pow Bam Kaboom......Bringing old sckool whip azz back! I LUV IT"
"Puerto Rico, USA supports you. Come here to inspire other people."
"You have restored my faith in humanity and made me realise there are still people in the world who actually care for others. I have so much respect for you!"
"Keep up the good work, Brother. Don't let the man bring you down."
"dude i just found out seattle has a super hero, i pray you stay safe and protected."
"Hats off to ya, man. A ton of people live in the world...Not many wanting to save it. Be strong, be safe!"
"Steven Seagal should support you,that would be AWESOME"
* * * *
The Rain City Superhero Movement will try to tap into some of this good will tonight for a Community Patrol. The Facebook event page reads:
Phoenix Jones, Purple Reign, and the rest of the Rain City Superheros would like to invite the community to patrol this weekend, Saturday 10pm 1st and Pike. The patrol will be approximately 2 hours. We'd like everyone to come and show their support while seeing how our evening patrols operate and ask any questions about what we do. If any crimes are witnessed we encourage you to call 911 and act as a witness. We do not want anyone to get hurt, if there are any altercations the RCSM team will step in to deescalate.
As of this posting, 17 people have indicated they "are attending."
* * * *
Heroes in the Night is finding a mixed legacy on the responding officer who arrested Phoenix Jones, Officer Camilo DePina. He was awarded as "Officer of the Month" by a Seattle television station in 2008 for successfully talking a suicidal woman off a bridge while off duty.
However, he was sued in 2010 for excessive force in a 2007 incident. In that incident a man, Dewoyne Lowe, had an argument with a security guard at a restaurant. According to KOMO news, court documents allege this story:
As Lowe began walking away, DePina cut him off with his patrol car, the suit alleges. The officer slammed Lowe's head, face-first, into the ground, cuffed him, then threw him onto the hood of the patrol car, (Lowe's attorney) said.
DePina punched Lowe in the groin and "continued his assault in the presence of Officer (Christopher) Christman at the police station by slamming Mr. Lowe's head into the counter multiple times," said (Lowe's attorney) in a written statement.
(Source: www.komonews.com/news/local/95822264.html)
Phoenix Jones says that he has encountered Officer DePina before. Jones alleges that he called in a bag of drugs he found on the street. He says that DePina responded, told Jones to "go home" and drove away. Jones alleges he again met DePina when he had one of his team members act as an "undercover agent" to buy drugs off a dealer. Jones says DePina responded and told him "I've had enough of this vigilante bullshit" and refused to book the dealer.
(Source: Interview on The John Curley Show.)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(Ack - early morning math mistakes. Corrected)
ReplyDeleteTea,
This is not balanced? In the first section, are we to believe that all support has been positive, overwhelmingly, or equally negative? It doesn't appear to indicate there was any dissent.
On the second part, we have a lawsuit, but not a result. Was this settled out of court? Was there guilt assigned? For a 4 year old event, which has possibly no bearing on the current Jones case. Are we to understand then, there have been no marks against this officer in the last 4 years since then? One wants to believe every few years a cop gets sued for something. This is then followed up with Jones's unsubstantiated claims against that officer. Were there witnesses to what Jones has claimed? Example: One can say Jones stole my Newspaper one morning, and told me "I'll be taking your lunch money too!" but with out corroboration (and again - the officer has sworn to uphold the law and not provide false testimony - what EXACTLY has Jones sworn to, and to whom?) there is no evidence - just Jones's say so. Who is the more credible party? Pretend Batman or a 4year service Police Officer?
Sorry.
-Lord Malignance
I would want my officer with 4 years of experience not wasting my tax dollars giving Phoenix Jones a ton of free media coverage.
ReplyDeleteThe police officer was doing the job he is paid to do, for which he has spent years prior being trained for. He is mandated by the people and city to which he serves, to perform this work.
ReplyDeleteJones was arrested for a lawful purpose, and the officer fulfilled his duty by enforcing the law. Jones could have gotten even more coverage if someone was murdered due to his recklessness with weapons. Aerosol crowd suppression devices ARE weapons. He used them on civilians without adequate consideration for the safety of non combatants. Any and every one that he attacked were innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Who exactly did he save? Who did he assist in arresting? No one? Just more footage for the (surprise!) Documentary Film then.
The news chases tragedy like vultures following the doomed. Odd that there's so many of them following Jones.
-Lord Malignance
Can't speak on the officer as I don't know the man, but what does bother me is the idea that PJ has undercover agents buying drugs. A civilian buying drugs is just that, a civilian buying drugs. If the pusher had been an undercover cop, or if the transaction had been acknowledged by the authorities, it would by law have meant the arrest of PJ's "agent." He would not have been able to claim he was operating a sting because civilians do not have the legal authority to do that.
ReplyDeleteWorse, Phoenix (as reported in these pages) will confront to agitate - to provoke, to get an assault, he can then respond to. Nice. Create the problem, then "leap into action" fixing the problem you created.
ReplyDeleteSuperheroes have to remain relevant somehow.
-Lord Malignance