Archives October 17, 2011

Originally posted: http://blog.seattlepi.com/insidebelltown/2011/10/17/recap-of-phoenix-jones-return-to-the-belltown-streets-after-his-arrest/
By DAVID NELSON, INSIDE BELLTOWN
As I mentioned in my “5 things to do in Belltown and Downtown Seattle” post last week, Phoenix Jones and the other Rain City Superheroes were going to walk around Belltown and Downtown Seattle at 10pm on Saturday night.
He hinted the walk outside of the courtroom last Thursday morning and confirmed the walk with me Friday morning moments before I posted the 5 things to do list.  I usually visit one of events I mention for my weekend posts, I decided to attend this event and support Phoenix and his return to the streets — after all, he’s supported everything I’ve ever approached him about including the Safety Meeting honoring Matt Hale.
As promised, he showed up at 1st and Pike at 10:01pm according to my watch.
Also with him were Purple Reign, Mist, No Name, Pitch Black, Aquarius Knight, Belltown Citizens on Patrol, and approximately 40 people who wanted to walk around Belltown and Downtown Seattle.
Phoenix Jones thanked the people for coming and reminded everyone to call 9-1-1 and not put them self in danger should they see a crime taking place.
We walked east on Pike St and while walking he informs me he wants to see the Occupy Seattle protest site at Westlake Park.  We arrive at the protest site and hundreds of people are repeating their chants, Phoenix Jones goes right in to the middle of the crowd with KOMO TV by his side.  He stands there, listens to the chants for a couple minutes while people yell at him to sit down, he wished all the protesters good luck with their protest and leaves the scene.
The walk then head west on Pike St and then north on 2nd Ave towards Belltown.  Along the way, Phoenix was advising the walkers of areas in Belltown to avoid at night; most of the places he advised were parking lots.
During this stretch down 2nd Ave, we share a laugh after he informed me that the Kid ‘n Play comments he gets now are endless; in reference to his hair being similar to “Kid’s” hair.
He also announces that Belltown Citizens on Patrol is the city’s best neighborhood walk program and advises everybody to join them.
While walking down 2nd Ave, I mention a bullet hole in a parking sign from the deadly shooting in June 2010.  He asks to see it, and after showing it to him, he asks me to tell the story of what happened that night to the walkers.
We continued to walk down 2nd Ave and then head west on Bell St, and then south on 1st Ave to head back to 1st and Pike.
During the entire walk, we were surrounded with cameras, picture requests, and people welcoming Phoenix Jones back to the streets. He was applauded by nearly everybody who passed him and returned countless waves from restaurant windows and passersby.
Once we got back to 1st and Pike, Phoenix Jones invited people to ask him questions and introduced all of his other superhero friends by name.
A person asked him how his life has changed since his arrest and how he’s protected his identity since being revealed.  He informed the crowd of a change of address, a change of schools, a change of car, and possibly a change of haircut.
Another person informed him that she’s a single woman in Beltown and asked him what he recommends for her to remain safe while walking the streets in Belltown.  He advised her to walk in groups of at least two, and to avoid walking during the late night, early morning hours alone.
Another person asked how a person could become a superhero and join him.  Phoenix Jones mentioned that there are things he requires to join him and his crew, including a special skillset that can be used during a dangerous time, and also a bullet-proof vest.
He then took pictures with all who wanted pictures and the night ended around 11:30pm.
He still plans on joining the Belltown Citizens on Patrol walks, if you want to see what he’s all about, meet him there — you won’t be disappointed.
Phoenix Jones and the other superheroes will continue to walk the streets in the late hours and risk their lives to keep our streets safe.
Welcome back Phoenix Jones.

Originally posted: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ix-PXiZOo4Z-N_Jx8NWWWs0zkwvQ?docId=a51a823c485c4474a79aa1c01b22ae96
By Gene Johnson, Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Fabio Heuring was standing outside a Seattle nightclub on a Saturday night and smoking cigarettes with a friend when a man bolting from a bouncer ran into them. The enraged man ripped off his shirt in the middle of the street and prepared to give Heuring’s buddy a beating.
Just then, in swooped a bizarre sight: a self-proclaimed superhero in a black mask and matching muscle-suit. He doused the aggressor with pepper spray, much to Heuring’s shocked relief.
A couple hours later, though, the superhero ended up in jail for investigation of assault after using those tactics on another group of clubgoers, sending pangs of anxiety through the small, eccentric and mostly anonymous community of masked crime-fighters across the U.S.
The comic book-inspired patrolling of city streets by “real life super-heroes” has been getting more popular in recent years, thanks largely to mainstream attention in movies like last year’s “Kick-Ass” and the recent HBO documentary “Superheroes.” And as the ranks of the masked, caped and sometimes bullet-proof-vested avengers swell, many fret that even well-intentioned vigilantes risk hurting themselves, the public and the movement if they’re as aggressive as the crime-fighter in Seattle.
Some have gone so far as to propose a sanctioning body to ensure that high super-hero standards are maintained.
“The movement has grown majorly,” said Edward Stinson, a writer from Boca Raton, Fla., who advises real-life superheroes on a website devoted to the cause. “What I tell these guys is, ‘You’re no longer in the shadows. You’re in a new era. … Build trust. Set standards. Make the real-life superheroes work to earn that title and take some kind of oath.'”
It’s not clear how many costumed vigilantes there are in the U.S. The website www.reallifesuperheroes.org lists 660 members around the world. They range from members of the New York Initiative in New York City and the Shadow Corp in Saginaw, Mich., to a character named Nightbow who says he has patrolled the streets of Carlisle, England, for three years.
Some take on their fictional identities while doing charity work.
Benjamin Fodor, better known as Phoenix Jones, is the most prominent face of the Rain City Superhero Movement, a collection of vigilantes who appeared in Seattle over the past year. Early on Oct. 9, about two hours after he saved Heuring and his buddy, the 23-year-old man charged a group of people leaving a downtown nightclub as a videographer trailed him.
From the shaky camera work, it appeared there may have been some kind of disturbance in the group. Fodor insists he was breaking up a fight when he hit the crowd with pepper spray; the people who got sprayed told police there had been no fight. He was briefly booked into jail for investigation of assault, but prosecutors haven’t charged him yet. He appeared in court last week while wearing his superhero costume under a button-down shirt.
“Recently there have been increased reports of citizens being pepper sprayed by (Fodor) and his group,” the police report noted. “Although (Fodor) has been advised to observe and report incidents to 911, he continues to try to resolve things on his own.”
Fodor remained unapologetic after the court appearance, saying he’s just like anyone else except that “I decided to make a difference and stop crime in my neighborhood.” He invited members of the public to join him on patrol Saturday night.
Heuring, a 27-year-old shuttle driver from Auburn, is a fan.
“Without a question, there was a fight going to happen,” he said. “It could have ended ugly had he not come in. He used good judgment in our case. He saw who was instigating it and who he needed to defend.”
But many in the vigilante community point to Fodor’s arrest as a watershed moment: As more people — often, young people — fashion themselves into superheroes, they risk finding themselves in similar situations where they wind up hurting innocent members of the public or being shot, stabbed or beaten themselves. Such negative attention could doom the movement, they say.
Stinson, who is 40 and says he has a military background, said that if the movement is to continue to grow, it needs to do a better job policing itself. He envisions a nonprofit organization that would have departments devoted to fundraising and building community trust and alliances. He also thinks there should be tactical superhero training — including how to take control of a volatile situation and defuse it.
Filmmaker Michael Barnett followed 50 real-life crime fighters for 15 months for his documentary “Superheroes.” Many have great intentions, he said, but that doesn’t mean their methods are proper.
“The police by in large appreciate an extra set of eyes, but they really, really want these guys to do it according to the law,” Barnett said.
Masked crusaders began appearing in the 1970s with San Diego’s Captain Sticky, who used his Superman-like costume to fight against rental car rip-offs and for tenant rights, Barnett said. They spread throughout the country in the 1980s and 1990s, and became more popular thanks to the faster communications and online support communities of the Internet.
Barnett said he met plumbers, teachers, cashiers and firefighters who leave their day jobs behind every night in the name of security. Their weapons include pepper spray, stun guns and batons. Relatively few have any combat training or any formal knowledge of how to use their arsenal, he said.
That concerns the professional crime-fighters.
“If people want to dress up and walk around, knock yourself out,” said Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson. “Our concern is when you insert yourself into these situations without knowing the facts, it’s just not a smart thing to do. If you think a situation warrants calling 911, call 911.”
Not all of the vigilantes take a confrontational approach. A 53-year-old man in Mountain View, Calif., who calls himself “The Eye,” keeps a low-enough profile that officers there have never booked anyone arrested with his help.
“The only reason I know him is because he’s my neighbor,” said police spokeswoman Liz Wylie. “He’s a neighborhood watch block captain, a very good one at that.”