Tag Fodor

http://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-mason/a-public-statement-regarding-the-public-statement-made-by-phoenix-jones/280618685314589?ref=notif&notif_t=note_reply
A PUBLIC STATEMENT REGARDING THE PUBLIC STATEMENT MADE BY PHOENIX JONES
“The surest way for the wicked to prevail is for enough virtuous men to remain silent–lest they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” –Unattributed
“The sleep of reason breeds monsters.” –Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
PHOENIX JONES I’d like to make a public statement addressing the ‘news release’ posted earlier today by the district attorney Peter S. Holmes: first of all, no surprise that I was not charged with a crime as I did not commit one.
PHANTOM ZERO Ben Fodor was not charged with a crime because the individuals who he allegedly pepper sprayed did not step forward and left the area before they could be contacted by the police. Had those people stepped forward or statements had been taken, it is likely there would have been a criminal (and possibly civil) trail. Just because there was insufficient evidence to build a case does not mean that there was no wrong doing.
PHOENIX JONES Holmes claims I am a ‘deeply misguided individual.’ my concern about that statement is if I am ‘misguided’ while out on the streets of Seattle protecting people from violent assaults.
PHANTOM ZERO Holmes is free to think or say whatever he wishes. It’s his first Amendment right. His opinion might be informed by the fact that he is a District Attorney. Ben Fodor is also free to refute those claims, or if he is feeling particularily litigous, sue for slander or libel.
PHOENIX JONES ..would a ‘guided’ person just keep walking and allow someone to be kicked repeatedly in the head?
PHANTOM ZERO First, in the stabilized footage, there is evidence there is a fight. There is no evidence that someone is being kicked on the ground.
Second, a person might try to disperse a crowd without escalating the situation. Announce the police have been called. Stand, without weapons, as a witness. Perhaps by stating a camera is present, and also stating said individuals will turning the footage over to police, that those individuals are going to face police prosecution. Standard pratice for citizens should be: “observe and report.”
Third, a loud sound or a bright light, which is disconcerting and might evoke a fear response, might be a better stimulus to use than pepper spray, which is a pain response. Adrenalized (and possibly drunk) individuals tend to respond to pain stimulus by either fleeing or fighting–favoring fighting.
PHOENIX JONES He goes on to encourage legislature to pass a law about using large cans of pepper spray. Pepper spray is defined as a self defense tool and is very hard to use offensively,
PHANTOM ZERO If a person is actively seeking out trouble, or if they are purposely interposing themselves to escalate the situation to get police involved, that is an offensive, not defensive, undertaking.
A stiletto heel usually isn’t defined as a weapon, but can still be used offensively.
A shield is, by definition, defensive, but can be used offensively.
People have varied responses to pepper spray, and some people can have fatal reactions. In prisons some, whenever a guard uses pepper spray, it is mandatory report must be filed and that documentation reviewed to make sure that the use of force was not excessive, unwarranted, or an abuse of power, a medical professional must be present and that individual must immediately be tended to checked for an averse reaction and to make sure it is non-fatal, and the use of pepper spray is only warranted in situations where there is a threat of imminent and unavoidable harm.
There is no rational reason to carry a bulk of pepper spray unless you fear assault from an exceedingly large mob of people, and brandishing such weaponry can be considered threatening.
Self-defense is just that. Defending one’s self. Self-defense does not apply when attacking others. That’s called assault. That’s not defensive. That’s offensive.
PHOENIX JONES In the statement, they accuse me of having a vigilante alter ego. I have been very clear from the beginning that I am not a vigilante
PHANTOM ZERO I could be very clear that I am a Christmas elf, but that does not mean I am by my own subjective assessment.
PHOENIX JONES What I do is when I see someone in the offense of a violent crime and I detain them until the official police arrive, who have taken a public oath to serve and protect and follow the legal procedures that have been voted for by the citizens.
PHANTOM ZERO Any self-appointed person who undertakes law enforcement in their community without legal authority, as by avenging a crime, is a vigilante.
PHOENIX JONES Holmes was careful to point out that I am ‘not a hero’. I believe that the victims on the street I have saved from being car jacked, bus jacked, assaulted, the people who have needed medical attention, and the 39,827 other people here on this page alone support what I do on a daily basis
PHANTOM ZERO Public opinion, popularity, or a myriad of good deeds does not give you special status of exemption from the law. When you are in violation of the law, you suffer the consequences–and while Ben Fodor’s character and other good deeds may be taken into account–it does not automatically grant a free pass.
PHOENIX JONES A hero can be defined as a lot of different things
PHANTOM ZERO “Hero” is a word. Claiming it for one’s self does about as much as claiming one’s self a Christmas elf.
PHOENIX JONES the good part of this is that district attorney Holmes is familiar with the law and came to the proper conclusion that I did not break the law.
PHANTOM ZERO Holmes didn’t push forward because the people Ben Fodor allegedly pepper sprayed didn’t step forward and there was insufficient evidence.
PHOENIX JONES However, what troubles me is that he wants to change the good Samaritan law that currently protects the citizens rights to interject themselves into situations where other people are being harmed and they need to know that they will not receive legal retribution for doing what is morally right. This in also an important day for activists and superhero alike as our way of life was being challenged.
PHANTOM ZERO Broad laws must be altered to cater to specific circumstances because of the lowest common denominator–the actions of a few who are irresponsible, or worse, abuse, distort, and corrupt the letter of the law.
In this case, Ben Fodor is the lowest common denominator.
If Ben Fodor feared for how the changes in this law will effect the citizens, understand that the result of his own actions are solely to blame, and the result this has on incidental bystanders, concerned citizens in his local community doing legitimate community watches, and/or other Real Life Superheroes rests solely and squarely on his own shoulders.
I find the sudden and unexpected convergence a bit disquieting, considering that the majority of the real life superhero community has shunned and decried Ben Fodor from his start of being “Phoenix Jones,” and Ben Fodor has taken measures to seperate and distance “Phoenix Jones” from the real life superhero community and movement by giving himself the label and claiming to be a member of the “Rain City superhero movement”–an organization which he claimed was completely seperate from the real life superhero community–and now that Ben has gotten this exceedingly bad press, it seems he seeks to distribute this new negative attention, and impose both his fight to regain credibility and his stigmata off on real life superheroes, which he consequently constantly puts down and has nothing to do with. (Edit: And, also, consequently, censors any voices of dissent which would be negative publicity by erasing the wall posts of individuals who voice concearns, or criticize his actions or methods–such as most recently in the case Drago Hammer, but also in regard to any RLSH, or RLSV, or any private citizen…)
Ben using this as a kind of clarion call to try and rally others behind him, by trying to suddenly associate himselfself with the real life superhero movement, is insulting. Realize that by he acting in this manner and by stating such an association, Ben Fodor casts a negative light on the masses who would not judge us an individuals, but who would seek to crush us as a collective group. By stating such, Ben Fodor risks tearing the concept of real life superheroes down, including those who are perfectly peaceful, altruistic/charitable, law abiding sensible do-ers of good–as well as the entire spectrum of the completely indepenent individuals who fall under the umbrella of real life superheroes who came before you who have operated exercising discretion and sound judgement.You don’t champion a cause or an idea with bad behavior, and you certainly should claim you are doing it in the name of a pro-social movement.

Originally posted: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/133198043.html
SEATTLE – Self-appointed superhero crime fighter Phoenix Jones could return to his day job of working with children if he is not charged or convicted of assault, state officials said Thursday.
Ben Fodor, aka “Phoenix Jones,” was informed this week by the state Department of Social and Health Services he could no longer work with vulnerable children. He had been employed teaching life skills to autistic children under contract to DSHS as a home-care provider.
The ban against working with children stems from his arrest on suspicion of assault last month, but he still has not been charged and the case is still before the city attorney.
An assault conviction would ban Fodor permanently from working with vulnerable people. But if he is not charged or convicted of the assault, he can request that his contract status be reinstated, said DSHS spokeswoman Jennifer M. Gau.
Fodor, 23, denies assaulting anyone. He says he himself was attacked while breaking up a late night fight last month and used pepper spray in self-defense. Police arrived at the scene and arrested him.
Gau says Fodor’s DSHS contract came up for renewal in October, and the arrest appeared on his background check, so his contract was not extended.
“If he is not convicted of the assault, Fodor can request that his contract status be reinstated,” Gau said. “Meanwhile, he has the right to appeal the decision not to extend his contract.”
On his Facebook page, Fodor says the loss of his job won’t stop him from his mission as Phoenix Jones.
In fact, he says he’ll start patrolling during the day when he isn’t looking for a new job.

Originally posted: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/State-keeping-superhero-away-from-disabled-kids-2249423.php
Seattle’s self-proclaimed superhero Phoenix Jones lost his job working with disabled children after his arrest for investigation of assault.
On Oct. 11, two days after he was arrested by Seattle police, the Department of Social and Health Services alerted his employer about the case, said DSHS spokeswoman Sherry Hill, who handles children’s administration.
“The provider was asked to remove him from any cases that we had,” Hill said. DSHS asked that he not be around vulnerable children while the case was pending, she said.
That caused Jones — whose real name is Ben Fodor — to lose his job working with autistic kids ranging from age 4 to 18, according to Publicola. “I had to leave work in the middle of the day,” he told the website. “It was embarrassing.”
Hill clarified that Fodor is not permanently disqualified from working with kids, but the agency wanted to “err on the side of caution” by telling his employer about the assault investigation.
Fodor, 23, was arrested the morning of Oct. 9 after police said he interjected himself into a crowd near the Alaskan Way Viaduct and pepper-sprayed innocent people. Fodor, who speaks to media as Phoenix Jones, has said he was trying to break up a fight and was later assaulted.
Fodor was released on bond just after noon the day he was arrested. On Oct. 13, he said he was not guilty of a crime. He has not been charged in the case.
But Fodor could still be charged with assault, and a spokeswoman for City Attorney Pete Holmes, Kimberly Mills, said this week that a final decision has not been made. People who are convicted of assault are prohibited by law from jobs working with vulnerable adults and children.
Employers are required to background-check people who work with developmentally disabled children and adults. People who do not pass the background check are put on a state list disqualifying them from such jobs.
Fodor could go back to his job if the case is dropped and he is not convicted, Hill said.
Often an attention seeker, Fodor went to his Oct. 13 court hearing with a mask, but had to take it off inside the courtroom. He revealed himself outside court as television cameras rolled, but didn’t talk then about the alleged assaults.
“I think I have to look toward the future and see what I can do to help the city,” he told reporters.
Police say he should not interject himself in situations, but should call 911. Fodor promised he’d be back on “patrol” soon.
Fodor also goes by “Flattop” when he fights in the local mixed martial arts scene.
Speaking as the costumed Phoenix Jones Guardian of Seattle, Fodor has told reporters he was breaking up a fight during the Oct. 9 incident.
Police say he barged into the situation — something they say he’s done in several other cases — and assaulted the women and men with pepper spray.
Video of the incident shows two women chasing Fodor and a man with face paint, hitting them and telling the self-proclaimed superheroes to leave.
A woman in the group admitted she hit him, but only after he used pepper spray on her friends for no reason, she said.
“He says, ‘I’m a superhero’ and sprays everyone,” the woman told KING/5. “Nothing gives him a right to do that. That’s harassment and assault.”
Seattle firefighters were called to treat those affected by the pepper spray during the incident. Fodor has said he is the actual victim.
While dressed as Phoenix Jones at an August Belltown community meeting, Fodor promoted the use of pepper spray for self defense.
A spokesman for Phoenix Jones, Peter Tangen, said last month that it appears the officer who arrested Jones had an agenda and that, when Jones said he was assaulted, the officer laughed at him. He also said police have refused to take statements from two people who were following Jones.
“I think the biggest story here is that the SPD didn’t really follow protocol in any way, shape or form,” Fodor told KOMO/4 as Phoenix Jones last month.
A police incident report shows police spoke to two people who were with Fodor at the scene.
At least one cameraman typically follows Fodor as he walks around Seattle in his black and yellow costume, and both people were said to have been there to document the self-proclaimed superhero’s activities.
“That video began in the area of 1 Av/Columbia St looking to the west,” the report from Officer Hosea Crumpton states. “On the video a group of people could be seen on Columbia St looking to the west. The group was gathered, but there did not appear to be a fight. A/Fodor could be seen running into the group and engaging the subjects. A/Fodor could be seen pepper spraying several individuals in the group. People in the group then turned on A/Fodor and chased him away.”
The cameraman who took that video, Ryan McNamee, initially told seattlepi.com in an email that “police have not contacted me for a statement and has not shown any interest in my footage or what the other journalist and I saw.”
Asked about the police report in which officers describe the video, McNamee said that “police glanced at my camera for a couple of seconds but didn’t examine the footage or ask to see it in any detail.”
However, based on the time-stamp on the footage, the police report describes about a minute of the video, which McNamee posted online.
Download a PDF copy of the Seattle police incident report.
Fodor is also known as the mixed martial arts fighter “Flatttop.” According to mixedmartialarts.com, Fodor’s won his first official amateur fight in December 2006 and had his last win in July 2010. His record is 11-0, and his last fight ended in a two-round TKO.
A Seattle Twitter account, @FlattopFodor, describes Fodor as the current two-time Ax Lightweight Champion and current welterweight champion in Washington. The last tweet from the account was Aug. 5, 2010.
As Phoenix Jones, Fodor “has a history of injecting himself in these incidents,” Crumpton wrote in the alleged assault report. “Recently there have been reports of citizens being pepper-sprayed by (him) and his group. Although (the man) has been advised to observe and report incidents to 911, he continues to try and resolve things on his own.
“There was a report earlier in the night in which several nightclub patrons had been reportedly been pepper-sprayed by (him) during some type of disturbance. Those people left the area before they could be contacted by police. Officers arriving on that call noted the odor of pepper spray was still in the air.”
In November 2010, Seattle police officers were alerted to Phoenix Jones and other self-described superheroes, after officers were confused by their presence at crime scenes.
Officers had learned the identity of Jones before the bulletin was distributed. The “superheroes’ ” story – often compared to the movie “Kick Ass” – exploded in popularity after seattlepi.com first reported on an internal police bulletin, which said the characters drove a Kia registered to one superhero’s godmother.
Seattlepi.com did not initially name Fodor because he wasn’t the subject of a criminal investigation. Fodor does not have any other criminal charges in Seattle. He was previously arrested in Washington after being stopped driving with a suspended license, according to court records.
For more Seattle police and crime news visit the front page of the Seattle 911 blog.

Originally posted: http://publicola.com/2011/10/25/opa-investigated-leak-of-phoenix-jones-info/
By Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

Originally posted: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Woman-who-hit-Phoenix-Jones-Nothing-gives-him-a-2214912.php
A woman who admits she hit self-proclaimed superhero Phoenix Jones with a shoe says he used pepper spray on her friends for no reason.
It was “the most horrifying experience in my life,” she told Mynorthwest.com.
The incident early Sunday has been investigated by police, who arrested and jailed Jones, whose real name is Benjamin Fodor.
City prosecutors are supposed to decide this week whether to charge Fodor with assault in the incident.
Police say Fodor, 23, used pepper spray on a group of men and women early Sunday near the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Video of the incident shows two women chasing after Fodor and a man with face paint, hitting them and telling the self-proclaimed superheroes to leave.
Fodor says he was a victim in the case.
Now one of the women who was with the group under the viaduct has told her story.
“We were just walking down to our parking lot after having a good time in Seattle, when a little argument broke out between our group and the other group, and all of a sudden we were attacked. I turn around and we’re being attacked by these guys wearing Halloween costumes,” she told Mynorthwest.com
The woman, identified only as Maria, told KING/5 that the man declared himself to be a superhero.
“He says, ‘I’m a superhero’ and sprays everyone,” she said. “Nothing gives him a right to do that. That’s harassment and assault.”
She acknowledged in the interview that she hit Fodor with her shoe.
“I started hitting him, saying, ‘Who are you? What are you doing? Leave us alone, we didn’t do anything!” said Maria.

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.”

Originally posted: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/131945518.html
By Lindsay Cohen
SEATTLE – An extra set of eyes is watching the streets of downtown Seattle, as self-styled superhero Phoenix Jones returned to his patrol after enduring a week filled with controversy.
ones, whose real name is Benjamin Fodor, was back walking the streets of Seattle on Saturday night. He patrolled with other members of the Rain City Super Heroes, as well as regular citizens he invited to tag along.
The group left from Pike Place Market around 10 p.m. and made a stop at Occupy Seattle before heading to Belltown.
Fodor says he wants to clear up confusion about his role and continue his mission.
“Theres been a lot of confusion about people thinking, like, I’m delusional or I’m crazy or that I don’t understand what I’m doing,” he says. “And I wanted people to walk around and understand what it is I’m doing.”
He says last week started off as one of his worst ever, but then quickly became liberating.
He was arrested early on the morning of Oct. 9, after an alleged fight that was caught on video by a friend.
On the videotape, Fodor runs up to a crowd while dressed in his superhero outfit, pulls out a can of pepper spray and appears to shoot it at several people.
He was arrested on suspicion of assault, but prosecutors earlier this week declined to file charges.
Outside court on Thursday, he dramatically took off his mask and revealed his true identity – and said he plans to keep fighting crime on the streets of Seattle, as he did Saturday night.
In fact, it’s something that everyone can do, in his or her own way, he says.
“Everyone’s doing it – they just don’t know,” says Fodor. “If you walk from your car to a show and back to your car, that’s being on patrol. The only difference is, when I see crime, I call 911 first, wait, and when it gets dangerous I step in. And I feel like every citizen could do that.”
Fodor adds that he’s in a backup suit, because what he calls his “super suit” was taken into evidence by police, after last week’s arrest.

Originally posted: http://publicola.com/2011/10/14/phoenix-jones-says-hes-training-a-replacement-hero-nightstick/
By Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

Originally posted: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15301830
A self-styled superhero known as Phoenix Jones has been unmasked in a Seattle court as he waits to see if he is charged with a pepper spray attack.
Police say Phoenix Jones – real name Benjamin Fodor – attacked four people who had left a Seattle nightclub.
As the court hearing ended, he tore off a dress shirt to reveal his black and yellow superhero costume.
Prosecutors said they had not yet decided whether to file charges, but Mr Fodor vowed to continue crimefighting.
The 23-year-old, who leads the Rain City Superhero Movement, said he was trying to break up a fight. The clubgoers insisted to police they were not fighting.
“I will continue to patrol with my team, probably tonight,” he told the Seattle Times on Thursday. “I am just like everybody else. The only difference is that I try to stop crime in my neighbourhood.”
During the hearing, a court officer asked Jones to remove his mask. He did so, but then put it back on to speak to reporters.
Seattle Police are not likely to be calling on Mr Jones to help them keep Seattle safe.
“If people want to dress up and walk around, knock yourself out,” said 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.”
According to the Associated Press news agency, a police report says there have been increased reports of citizens being pepper-sprayed by the would-be superhero and his group.
Although Phoenix Jones “has been advised to observe and report incidents to [police], he continues to try to resolve things on his own,” the report says.

Originally posted: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/HOLD-UNTIL-CONFIRMED-Superhero-Phoenix-Jones-2213166.php
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY AND SCOTT SUNDE, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
In the streets of Belltown, he is Phoenix Jones Guardian of Seattle.
But this self-proclaimed superhero, who may be charged this week for a pepper-spray incident over the weekend, goes by another name: Benjamin Fodor. Or, if you’re a fan of mixed-martial arts fighting, you know him as “Flatttop.”
Fodor, who patrols downtown in a costume and with sidekicks, was arrested early Sunday for investigation of assault, and the City Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case.
Police say Fodor, 23, used pepper spray on a group of men and women early Sunday near the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Video of the incident shows two women chasing after Fodor and a man with face paint, hitting them and telling the self-proclaimed superheroes to leave.
In his other life, Fodor competes in the local world of mixed-martial arts fighting and has won a local championship. According to mixedmartialarts.com, Fodor’s won his first official amateur fight in December 2006 and had his last win in July 2010. His record is 11-0, and his last fight ended in a two-round TKO.
A Seattle Twitter account, @FlattopFodor, describes him as the current two-time Ax Lightweight Champion and current welterweight champion in Washington. The last tweet from the account was Aug. 5, 2010.
As Phoenix Jones, Fodor “has a history of injecting himself in these incidents,” Officer Hosea Crumpton wrote in the Sunday incident report. “Recently there have been reports of citizens being pepper-sprayed by (him) and his group. Although (the man) has been advised to observe and report incidents to 911, he continues to try and resolve things on his own.
“There was a report earlier in the night in which several nightclub patrons had been reportedly been pepper-sprayed by (him) during some type of disturbance. Those people left the area before they could be contacted by police. Officers arriving on that call noted the odor of pepper spray was still in the air.”
Last November, Seattle police officers were alerted to Fodor as Phoenix Jones and other self-described superheroes after similar police were confused by their presence at crime scenes.
Officers had learned the identity of Jones before the bulletin was distributed. The “superheroes’ ” story – often compared to the movie “Kick Ass” – exploded in popularity after seattlepi.com first reported on an internal police bulletin, which said the characters drove a Kia registered to one superhero’s godmother.
Seattlepi.com did not initially name Fodor because he wasn’t the subject of a criminal investigation.
His story went viral last fall with publications across the globe weighing in.
Fodor as Phoenix Jones and others drew crowds for their patrols in Belltown earlier this year. At a Belltown community meeting late this summer, they distributed free canisters of pepper spray for self defense.
But patrol officers have long said these superheroes are putting themselves in danger by confronting people.
Seattle firefighters were called to treat those affected by pepper spray Sunday morning. Fodor, who calls himself Phoenix Jones in interviews, has said he is the victim.
A spokesman for Phoenix Jones, Peter Tangen, said it appears the officer who arrested Jones had an agenda, and that when Jones said he was assaulted the officer laughed at him. He also said police have refused to take statements two people who were following Jones.
“I think the biggest story here is that the SPD didn’t really follow protocol in any way, shape or form,” he told KOMO/4. Speaking as Jones, he told the station that police did not take statements from companions who were on the scene.
However, the incident report shows police spoke to two people who were with Fodor at the scene. Both said they were there to document his activities. At least one cameraman typically follows Fodor, who wore a black-and-gold-colored suit.
Police have since confiscated his costume.
“That video began in the area of 1 Av/Columbia St looking to the west,” the report from Officer Hosea Crumpton states. “On the video a group of people could be seen on Columbia St looking to the west. The group was gathered, but there did not appear to be a fight. A/Fodor could be seen running into the group and engaging the subjects. A/Fodor could be seen pepper spraying several individuals in the group. People in the group then turned on A/Fodor and chased him away.”
The cameraman who took that video, Ryan McNamee, initially told seattlepi.com in an e-mail that “police have not contacted me for a statement and has not shown any interest in my footage or what the other journalist and I saw.”
Asked about the police report in which police describe the video, McNamee said that “police glanced at my camera for a couple of seconds but didn’t examine the footage or ask to see it in any detail.”
However, the police report describes about a minute of the video based on the time-stamp on the footage, which McNamee posted online.
In previous interviews with seattlepi.com, the man known as Phoenix Jones has said that is his name and not discussed his background other than saying the people in his group have military training or a martial arts background.
The spokesman for Jones, Peter Tangen, did not discuss Phoenix Jones’ legal name and said the man has “absolutely has no comment” on his name.
“There’s nothing delusional” Tangen said when asked of Fodor. “He’s just a civic activist trying to make the streets a safer place.”
Tangen said the man known as Phoenix Jones has to be vigilant about his safety and the safety of his family, including a young child. But he was not aware with specific threats against him.
The spokesman said Phoenix Jones was unlikely to talk to news outlets that published his name. Tangen said the he didn’t know if Fodor had applied to be a police officer, but said he did not have a military background.
Fodor, speaking as Jones, told KOMO/4 there’s video evidence of his being assaulted, but an officer didn’t want to see the evidence.
“Pepper spray is a defensive weapon, and if you watch the video, I’m being attacked,” he said. “And I only deploy the pepper spray when I’m being attacked.
“At no point did I hit anyone. At no point do I pepper-spray anyone who’s not attacking me. I’m very confident in the video.”
Police say they’re confident in their report. They also say people should not interject themselves into scenes that should be handled by professionals.
When the man known as Phoenix Jones spoke to seattlepi.com for the Nov. 2010 story that started the media whirlwind, he said he didn’t condone people walking around on the street with masks.
“Everyone on my team either has a military background or a mixed martial arts background,” he said, “and we’re well aware of what its costs to do what we do.”