Salt Lake's superheroes patrol the city looking to fight crime
Originally posted: http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-salt-lakes-super-heroes-patrol-the-city-looking-to-fight-crime-20110503,0,6573619.story
By Aaron Vaughn
With their identities concealed and with names like Asylum, Fool King and Professor Midnight, a Salt Lake superhero group says they seek to enact justice.
The Black Monday Society is a group of men whose influence comes straight from the movie screen and comic book page. They are self-proclaimed crime fighters and good samaritans who patrol the city streets at night.
“How many groups do you want to do since there is eight of us, do you want to break it up into threes?” shouts the leader of the group, who goes by the name of Insignis and sports a metal face plate and dreadlocks.
Insignis introduces his posse to FOX 13 as they gather outside the Salt Lake City Library.
“This is Omen, he is one of our soldiers,” Insignis says, then gestures to another large individual in a skull mask with stringy white hair. “Ghost is better than bringing a gun on patrol. He’s our wall, he’s the one who will pick you up, toss you about if you need it.”
They all are dressed starkly different than the spandex-wearing traditional superheroes. And they are not clean-cut “boy wonders” either.
The hero “Asylum,” who wears a black head mask with a grotesque painted on smile, says he came from a sorted past. He says he sought out drug users who owed money.
“If you got so much in drugs and didn’t pay your money, I was the dude that showed up at 3 in the morning and beat you until you got the money,” he says.
And “Fool King,” who wears a jester mask, says he was an ex-gang member. He says he is making up for it by giving back to the community as a super hero.
Two of the heroes are fathers and most have day jobs. While one, who goes by the name of Professor Midnight, is a complete mystery and whose identity is unknown.
The super heroes patrol outside bars, clubs, and places most try to avoid — like dark alleys– for fear of what’s back there. They are looking for trouble in order to stop it.
On a usual patrol they split into groups of two or three.
“We call the cops if there’s a fight,” one of them says. They say they dress up as a means of intimidation.
Salt Lake police say they don’t condone or condemn the group’s crime fighting efforts and they have not had any problems with them in the past. The public treats them with mixed reaction while they are on patrol. Some respect what they do, or at least the boldness of dressing up. While some say their actions may interfere with law enforcement.
Police say they would investigate the group’s action if they were to receive complaints.
