Dennis RomeroNo charges would be recommended in the case of Jason Russell, the creator of the viral and, arguably, somewhat discredited “Kony 2012” video, San Diego police tell the Weekly. And it's quite possible he's back on the streets.
Our police source says no case would be forwarded by cops to the local District Attorney nor to the San Diego City Attorney. Russell was detained by cops Thursday morning after a nude rant through the sidewalks of Pacific Beach in which he might or might not have masturbated. Some of it was caught on video (after the jump).
He was not, however …
… arrested, as was widely reported. And his nude raving did not, apparently, include vandalism of cars.
And so, with no self-touching or damage evident, cops took him into a hospital for observation, as our source says.
But, contrary to other reports today, Russell was not involuntarily held for 72 hours on a “5150,” or psych evaluation. He has been, apparently, free to go.
To the Invisible Children Family from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.
Ben Keesey, chief executive of the nonprofit Christian group Russell founded in San Diego, Invisible Children, said today that the video's maker had been under intense stress, pressure and criticism following the viral explosion of his “Kony 2012” video, which rails against indicted Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony and his use of children as soldiers.
Keesey said the “100 million” views and web explosion of Kony …
… was especially hard for Jason because the story was so personal for him and his family. That pressure took a serious toll on him, and unfortunately the whole world saw that.
Over the weekend Keesey issued another statement blaming “exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition” for the outburst.
But Russell has also had to face accusations that he and his organization were using Kony for fundraising — that Kony is already out of Uganda and a high profile target of Western authorities. For example, this site for the documentary The Corporation says of “Kony 2012:”
Fact: President Obama sent troops to find, and capture or kill him already.
Fact: Only about 30% of the money donated to IC goes to the cause.
So there's your backlash. Enough to send someone running nude into the streets? That's for you to decide.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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