back to article Seattle superhero arrested for assault

A Seattle self-styled “superhero” has been arrested on four counts of assault after intervening in a fight early on Sunday morning. Phoenix Jones, aka Benjamin Fodor, is well known in Seattle for wandering the streets in a homemade superhero costume seeking out wrongdoers. But he appears to have bitten off more than he could …

COMMENTS

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  1. Hud Dunlap
    IT Angle

    No different than the Guardian Angles

    http://www.guardianangels.org/

    They just wear a red beret instead of a cap.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      That's an oblique title....

      1. Ian K
        Coat

        RE: That's an oblique title....

        You're just being deliberately obtuse when you say that.

      2. Danny 14
        Go

        really?

        I found it rather acute.

      3. g e

        Oh stop it puhleeeeas

        You're all going off at a tangent

        1. dak

          These comments are just a sine that some people have too much spare time.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          It's not his fault..

          ..his comment was just a reflex.

        3. Titus Aduxass
          Happy

          I think you have the right angle there.

          1. NogginTheNog
            Coat

            The right angle?

            Only to a degree.

            1. Jimbo 6
              IT Angle

              Can we stop this now

              This discussion has got far too protracted.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Coat

                We're just trying to find the line of demarcation...

                ...between right & wrong.

                1. Maty

                  Hard to tell. The story was slanted.

                  1. Ben 42
                    Happy

                    This might be the best comment thread on the site. :-)

                    My geometry angle (no pun intended)? This post is complementary, of course.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    conclusion from the video

    what a complete and utter prat.

    well, at least he isnt walking around in day-glow blue paint with only a black posing pouch. (doc m)

    1. Code Monkey
      Thumb Up

      "what a complete and utter prat."

      In a nutshell, Mr Coward.

  3. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Facepalm

    "He inserted himself and sprayed them with pepper spray,"

    Yes, his description certainly fits an organ that gets inserted regularly!

    Perhaps the Hooded Dingbat or whatever his name is, has no idea that alcohol has a tendancy to polarise the mind and leads to the only three phrases you can manage to say when you're pissed. "The best mate in the world!", "Alright love, d'you like what you see, eh? or "OI, what's you're problem pal?!", depending upon how well you recognise the other person!

    I'm all for have-go-heroes but dressing like a pillock and leaping into every situation feet first is simply asking for trouble. You start having a go at the mate of a group who've just rolled out of a club after a night of drinking, and you're going to get your head stoved in!

  4. json

    yeah saw this on the TV.. somebody vid' the incident.. I thought it was hilarious..

  5. George Nacht
    WTF?

    Just thinking aloud

    While I can not approve of this guy´s tactics...or strategy...or costume for that matter, I can´t stop thinking: How much damage/injury/public outrage/threat to U.S. homeland security has he actually caused?

    Unless he is a chronic offender, a jail time for what he did seems a bit....harsh, or not?

    I stand ready to be corrected. Harshly, if necessary.

    1. Elmer Phud
      FAIL

      Fight?

      What fight?

      This sort of self-righteous twat would see a game of Twister and reckon it was a fight.

      Looks like he's after his own TV show - just like that pillock of a 'bounty hunter' and then there's Steven Seagull playing at cop.

      Keep off the 'roids, maybe

    2. Dropper
      Boffin

      Jail time

      The US has the largest per capita jail population in the western hemisphere, sending people down for crimes that most countries would choose to hand out fines is normal practice. There is a fascination with sticking people in jail here and having spent time in the big house seems to be something that the majority of the adult population have done. It usually goes like this.

      1/You commit a crime, the severity or actual harm done is of no real relevance

      2/ You are then given a public lynching by media, which usually includes the inane droolings of someone like Nancy Grace, who has been given celebrity status for shouting the bloody obvious on CNN - eg "KILLING BABIES IS BAD".

      3/You go to court which is televised live, the media then feeds angry-mob-inciting comments straight to hotel rooms juries will be staying at.

      4/If you killed a baby you go home (remember people like Nancy Grace need something to shout about), if you smoked weed, used pepper spray or walked on cracks in the pavement you go to jail for the number of years the judge discovers in his big book of punishments. Those terms may seem odd to some, after all who knows what we were angry about yesterday, but there is usually something for everyone, maybe using a garden broom in a threatening manner will get you 20 years because a bully used one to poke a child in the eye - stuff like that. Common sense is not permitted in the US justice system, because they don't have any in this country. Attempts at common sense in the US usually end up in murderers being paid compensation and school children being put in the electric chair.

  6. LPF

    So he breaks up a fight

    and he's the one being arrested, should have should back and allowed the feckers to stab each other!

    1. g e

      Exactly

      Is there a superhero called Darwin..?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I....am Darwin Man!

        I follow wrongdoers to their crimes and use my superpowers to make saracastic comments about their genetic makeup when the crime goes wrong.

    2. Pete 2 Silver badge

      So he crashes a party ...

      The video was shown as the outro on Newsnight last night. The guy came across as being somewhat pathetic. He barged in to a group of people "hanging" and started attacking them. Then he was shown being chased off by a girl in heels (the girl was wearing the heels, not the guy fantasizing about being a superhero, just to be clear)

      Rather than being some sort of public benefactor, he appeared to be someone who needed therapy and treatment rather than an award.

  7. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    Did he wear his underpants on the outside of his costume?

    Well, meaningful intentions (Good Samaritan and all that), but it does sound ill-advised. However, the plods would probably have to finish their doughnuts first before responding...

  8. Some Beggar
    Angel

    Article request.

    Could RegHardware do a "Top Ten Steadycams for Vigilante Sidekicks" please. Thanks.

    1. Psmiffy
      Boffin

      GoPro

      Is the obvious choice, works well in all lighting, has good action capture technology and is wide angle so you don't miss it when someone comes flying in (or out) from one side.

  9. VulcanV5
    Pint

    Good for Seattle!

    Never been the same here in the UK since the GPO was killed off and British Telecom arrived to dismantle all the phone boxes that hadn't previously been dismantled by evil wrongdoers.

    More than ever, this country needs a caped crusader so that the next time I'm jostled in a pub by a dumb neanderthal, I can invite him to step outside so we can Seattle this.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    kick-ass, yeah! :D

    This could only happen in one country in the world, when a Homo Sapiens emulates a (sarky) movie:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick-Ass_%28film%29

    Plot quote: "... an avid comic book fan, wonders why nobody has attempted to become a real-life superhero, and bitter that people do not intervene when a crime is being committed. He purchases a bodysuit and, after making modifications, embarks on a campaign to become a real-life superhero, despite having no superpowers."

    There is a saving grace though, the comment from the police:

    "If you see something that warrants calling 911, call 911. You don't need to dress up in a costume to do that."

    1. Elmer Phud
      Headmaster

      ahem, please remove the 'kick' from your title, thank you.

    2. John Gaunt

      911 Lag

      Calling 911 does not guarantee an immediate response. Minutes and seconds do count.

      When I was much younger, I had the crap beaten out of me. Someone intervened to stop the fight. He was under no obligation to do so. If not for him, then I would have sustained far more serious injuries than I did. I might be typing this with my tongue.

      When I was younger, I saw something suspicious. I drunkenly asked, "Are you OK?" The victim said "No" and ran off in one direction. The aggressor cursed me and walked in the other direction. If I had called 911, worse things would have happened before the police arrived.

      I am not encouraging anyone to intervene when illegal actions are taking place. Doing so can be extremely dangerous.

      1. Some Beggar
        Coat

        Surely it's only the 930 that suffers from lag ...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      call 911

      "When seconds count, we're only minutes away" - your local plod

  11. Unicornpiss
    WTF?

    What ever happened to "Angle Grinder Man"?

    That's my kind of superhero!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Only issue is

    I applaud his intentions, but from what the police and bystanders have said, there wasn't a fight in the first place. Which is what he's being charged for. If you walk up to a bunch of people and spray them in the face, it doesn't matter whether you're wearing a costume or not. If they were doing nothing wrong, it's still assault.

    Even if they were, it's still assault, you just have more options available as a legal defence.

    HTH.

    1. John Gaunt

      Fight or No Fight?

      I could not tell with certainty what was happening in the first seconds of the video that I watched. At least two men were moving around in close proximity. Fighting? Dancing? Goofing around? Then Phoenix Jones broke up whatever was happening.

      Apart from that, the video shows Phoenix Jones being repeatedly attacked by a woman with a shoe, a car hitting a pedestrian, a second altercation when the camera stops recording because (allegedly) the cameraman was slammed against the wall by someone, and the arrival of the police.

      Google around for the conflicting stories and viewpoints.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        The thing is though, if you're going to wonder up and pepper spray people, you need to know for sure they're breaking the law.

        If they were fighting and he sprayed them, fair enough. If they were goofing around (which I for one know I have done before with a group of friends) then that's not on.

        Everything should always be intelligence led - if you're going to wonder into something, make sure you know what you're wondering into.

  13. Purlieu

    "You don't need to dress up in a costume to do that"

    Like the costumes the cops don't wear, then

    1. Minophis
      WTF?

      Re: "You don't need to dress up in a costume to do that"

      "Like the costumes the cops don't wear, then"

      Actually the police wear 'uniforms' the difference is that: -

      a. They have to wear them (It's part of the job rather than for fun or to feed a delusion).

      b. The purpose is to identify them as police officers to members of the public.

      Mr Jones wears a costume. The only way the same conditions could apply is if: -

      a. He has to wear it because the voices in his head tell him to.

      b. The purpose is to identify him to the public (as a nutter).

  14. tmTM
    Thumb Down

    For a superhero

    He sure does dance around like a girl.

    and spraying a big can of pepper spray around?? Not very super.

  15. Matt Bryant Silver badge
    Go

    Rescue?

    ".....he may be hoping his fellow superheroes bust him out of jail....." OK, but only if I get to have mid-air sex with Malin Akerman first! Is it just me or does she look hotter without the blonde hair?

  16. Nev
    FAIL

    Not so much Watchmen...

    ... more like Defendor.

  17. DragonKin37
    Thumb Up

    Black N Yellow

    All i think when I see this guy is the song "Black n Yellow" by Kid Khalifa....uh hu u know what it is!

  18. kain preacher

    @DragonKin37

    Wait some here that listens to rap and does not refer to it as crap .are you ok DragonKin37 ?

    More like he got drunk and high l watching emneim videos. You know the one with him and DRE dressed like batman and robin.

    1. DragonKin37
      Gimp

      Preacher

      Thats what happens when "keeping it real" goes wrong.

  19. kain preacher

    "keeping it real"

    There was comedy show that did skits on how keeping it real goes wrong .

    Oh and since I've from the bay it's black and orange . San Quinn.

  20. Dan Wilkie
    Facepalm

    Also it was Whizz Khalifa... (Sigh, I make myself a sad panda)

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