1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: Novel. May I see a show of hands? How many 2 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: people in this room have ever dreamt of wearing spandex? 3 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: One day around two thousand and ten, a guy named 4 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: Peter Tangan was flipping through Rolling Stone magazine when an 5 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: article caught his eye. It was called the Legend of 6 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,919 Speaker 1: Master Legend. I found out from this article that there 7 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: were more than a hundred people like minded costumed activists 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: that were in the country. You guys, there's really superheroes. 9 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: There's really superheroes. How exciting is this? Peter Tangan isn't 10 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: your average comic book fan. He's a photographer and you've 11 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: probably seen his work. One of his main gigs is 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: taking promo shots of Hollywood superheroes. He shot Christian Bail 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: for the Batman Begins poster, Chris Hemsworth as Door, and 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: also Will Ferrell as Elf. He likes to mix it up, 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: but sometimes living in the world of celebrities can feel 16 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: a little fake, and at a certain point in his career, 17 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: Peter longed to shoot something more real, and this article 18 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: about real life superheroes gave him an idea. In a 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: Ted talk he did in two thousand and fifteen, he 20 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: remembers the moment, and it hits me right then and there, 21 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: I say, I gotta figure out a way to make 22 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: Hollywood quality movie posters out of these guys. So Peter 23 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: started reaching out to the real life superheroes. He got 24 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: to know their work and shot them in glossy, big 25 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: budget photos where they posed with steely expressions against a 26 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: city backdrop. Inevitably, he decided to reach out to Phoenix Jones, 27 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: the greatest superhero of them all. Not long after, Phoenix 28 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: got a Facebook message from Peter and the two of 29 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: them talked on the phone, but it didn't go well. 30 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: Peter had met a lot of real life superheroes by 31 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: this point, and he was skeptical Phoenix's crime fighting approach. 32 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: And he's like, what you're doing is kind of dangerous 33 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: and actually maybe empathetical to the movement. You might want 34 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: to like calm yourself down, you know. Plus, I highly 35 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: doubt you're actually stopping as many crimes as you think. 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: He's like, I've seen it, maybe ten crimes that have 37 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: been stopped by realized superheroes maybe. And I was like, oh, okay, 38 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: well we're not friends. I don't like you. I'm not 39 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: going to talk to you again. And go fund yourself. 40 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 1: It's a wonder why none of Phoenix's old superhero buddies 41 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: or friends with him anymore. Anyway, after this initial call, 42 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: five months went by, and then Peter called Phoenix again, 43 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: and according to Phoenix, this time he was full of 44 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:40,799 Speaker 1: praise you called me. He says, look, you need to 45 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: come to California. I need to take photos and videos 46 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: and shoot you. Allegedly, Peter told Phoenix that he should 47 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: sit down with the lesser real life superhero community and 48 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: tell them it was time to hang up their costumes. 49 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: You're trying to like bring them a place they should 50 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: not go. You can go there if you want to, 51 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: but he shouldn't, and you need to make that really 52 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: clear because they'll all get killed. And then he bought 53 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: me a plane ticket. I left two days later and 54 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: I flew down to California. Be Peter. The thing about 55 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: Peter Tangan is that he's a big Hollywood guy and 56 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: he lives in a big Hollywood house in the hills. 57 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: He lives in the giant glass house. And I have 58 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: a secret identity. So I wore my mask every single 59 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: day all day. It was terrible. It's so ridiculous. It 60 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: was in Vandis, California, and this glass house on the 61 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: side of a creaking cliff looks like the Iron Man House. 62 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: Literally every wall is a wucking window, Like, why would 63 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: you invite a superhero a secret identity to a place 64 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: where every wall is a bucking window. It was trash. 65 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: I slept in my mask. It was just horrible. As 66 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: horrible as it was, it actually turned out to be 67 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: a major turning point in Phoenix Jones life. Up until then, 68 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: he and his team had attracted some media coverage, but 69 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: according to Phoenix, he hadn't actively sought it out, and 70 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: every time media would call me, I be like, no, 71 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: I don't want to talk to you. And he was like, 72 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: no one knows what you're doing, who you are, what 73 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: you stand for me. He's like, and everyone wants to 74 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: talk to you, so just go out tell him what 75 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: you mean, what you plan on doing. No one's gonna 76 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: get mad at you for telling what you're doing. He's like, 77 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: you're doing the dangerous work anyway, you might as well 78 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: protect yourself. Phoenix agreed to the photo shoot. In the photos, 79 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: he stands in a rain soaked street, fully costumed and 80 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: glares down at the camera. He'd look a lot like 81 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: Batman if it weren't for the gold chevron across his chest, 82 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:33,239 Speaker 1: which glows with an unearthly yellow light. When the pictures 83 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: were released, Peter's phone started ringing off the hook. Phoenix 84 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: wasn't just a local news curiosity anymore. People around the 85 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 1: country wanted to know who this mysterious crime fighter was. 86 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 1: Peter fielded so many calls for Phoenix that he ended 87 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: up becoming his semi official spokesperson. Peter is actually how 88 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: I got in touch with Phoenix in the first place, 89 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: and Phoenix was going to need his pr rep. The 90 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,559 Speaker 1: photo shoot catapulted him to a new level of fame. 91 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: Phoenix's knack for grabbing people's attention is one of his 92 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: greatest assets, but it's also maybe his greatest weakness. From 93 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: the team's at Novel and I Heart Radio, This is 94 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: the Superhero Complex, Episode four, Under the Spotlight. After the 95 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: Peter Tangan photo shoot, journalists wanted to fly to Seattle 96 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: and meet the famous Phoenix Jones. One of those journalists 97 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: was the writer and broadcaster John Ronson. John and Phoenix 98 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: hooked up for a piece that John was writing for 99 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,919 Speaker 1: g Q. John had flown over from England, and according 100 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: to Phoenix, the idea had been to try and uncover 101 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: a sex trafficking ring, but when they finally tracked down 102 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: some sex workers, things didn't go as planned. We couldn't 103 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: find anything right because none of them said they were trafficked, 104 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: which was a giant bust. And so instead I went 105 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: on patrol with John Ronson and took down thirty armed 106 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 1: crack dealers, you know, by myself. Phoenix and some of 107 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: the other members of the rain City Crew had taken 108 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: John on a patrol of the city. Instead, nothing was happening. 109 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: He couldn't find any crimes to thwart, and so he 110 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: pulled out the big guns. That's John. He told me 111 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: that they headed to the Belltown neighborhood. It was a 112 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: sketchy pass of town tact three in the morning. There 113 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: was about five or six different groups of track dealers 114 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 1: on different street corners, and farious bires going between them. 115 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: Phoenix described a fairly intimidating scene. See, I was an 116 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: open cary state. Dudes walk around their guns out, They 117 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: stand on the corner right and when people come out 118 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: of the club, they strong armed them for money to 119 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: get their car out of parking. Lots thirty dudes with 120 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: open carried weapons in a parking lot. This was clearly 121 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: a dangerous situation, but John wasn't sure that the superhero's 122 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: presence made things safer. The crack dealers all unified in saying, 123 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: what the fuck do you think you're doing here with 124 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: your superhero outfits? And one of them said this may 125 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: be funning games for you, but this isn't funny games 126 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: for us. This is how we feed our families. And 127 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: then one of them said, if you don't get off 128 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: our block, we're going to show you what the Bernard does. 129 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: And they had a point like what the funk were 130 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: we doing trying to break the back player whose business 131 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: was of ours? I mean, I'm saying ours? What I 132 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: really made his phoenix is the way Phoenix tells it. 133 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: This was a heroic standoff. I look a ghost and 134 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: I said, ghost man, there's a good chance we're gonna 135 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: die here, bro, are you? Are you good? Ghost is 136 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: like yep? And I looked at Jack and Jack's like, 137 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: you're stupid, Jones. This is like a movie, you know. 138 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: I looked at a caballero and Cabby's like, oh, I 139 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 1: already called the car man, He's like, I hope they 140 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: don't should have the cops get you. I hadn't call 141 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: the cops, but John told me the danger really did 142 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: seem genuine. They came back to us and they said, 143 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: you are stupid motherfucker's Do you know that? Do you 144 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: know that you were stupid? Motherfucker's We should shoot you. 145 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: And I've got to say at this point, I was terrified. 146 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: They showed us the shape of a gun and the sweatpants. 147 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: They were clearly coming up with a justification to commit 148 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: an active violence against Phoenix. And they said, we should 149 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: shoot you, but if you refuse to leave, I guess 150 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: we're going to have to go home. And they did. 151 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: They all went home, and so Phoenix one. When Phoenix 152 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: told me the story, he didn't paint John in a 153 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: very favorable light. John Ronson hailed a cab and they 154 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: got in the cab and told the cab to wait 155 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: and was hiding in the cab and then he wanted 156 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: to come back up control with us and we're like, no, 157 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 1: you're hit in the cab. Bro like you're crazy, Like 158 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: you can come back out with us? And how did 159 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: a cab with a card Again, when I asked John 160 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: about it. He told me he wasn't in the taxi, 161 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: but he did try to hail one down. They all 162 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: had bullet proofess the superheroes, and I had nothing. I 163 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: had a T shirt in the cardigan, so I was 164 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: close to the cab so I could like escape for 165 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: hat too, but also close to Phoenix so I could 166 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: hear what they were saying so I could write it 167 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: all down. But if Phoenix says that he didn't let 168 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: me patrol with him the next day because I had 169 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: hailed a cab, that's not true. Phoenix was thrilled that 170 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:33,719 Speaker 1: I was there, and in fact, when I got back 171 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: to the hotel like six in the morning or whatever, 172 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: the first thing Phoenix did was like phone me to 173 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: talk excitedly about what had just happened, and he was 174 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: like hyper ventilating down the phone. That's not someone who 175 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: was so annoyed with a journalist that they didn't want 176 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: them to patrol with them the next day. And the 177 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,079 Speaker 1: only reason why there was no patrol the next day 178 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: was because Phoenix was doing a personal appearance at a 179 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: comic book convention in town, and I don't think he 180 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: did any patrolling that night. So the cab was true. 181 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 1: The rest of it was not true. There really relationship 182 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: was not exactly smooth sailing. But John doesn't hold a grudge. 183 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: On a personal level, I liked Phoenix very much. He 184 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: was my favorite of all the superheroes that I met. 185 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: He was charming, charismatic, fun odd in a kind of 186 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: engaging way. I'd say the most negative thing I would 187 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: say about Phoenix is that he had an odd relationship 188 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: with crime fighting. It was clear that he was kind 189 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: of addicted to it. It felt like there was an 190 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,680 Speaker 1: addiction there that he couldn't find any crimph to thwart. 191 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,440 Speaker 1: He was getting more and more frustrated. It's like he 192 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: needs a cigarette and he can't find one. But during 193 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: his time with Phoenix, John got a sense that crime 194 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: fighting wasn't the only thing he cared about. I think 195 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: got our first night, we heard a woman screaming and 196 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: Phoenix was like yacht Sie, running towards the Saga's family 197 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: had someone in distress he could save, and that as 198 00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: he was running towards the sound of the woman screaming, 199 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,199 Speaker 1: this cop pulled up and these guys spot down the 200 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,559 Speaker 1: window and it's the guy from YouTube. Can we get 201 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: a picture with you and fix It's like sure, so 202 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: you like stopped and took a picture with these guys 203 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: and from the time they were satisfied, so that the 204 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: screaming woman was nowhere to be seen ahead. According to Phoenix, 205 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: his relationship with fame is practical. It's what keeps him 206 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: from getting arrested or worse, and that protection is all 207 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: the more important if, like Phoenix, you're trying to do 208 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: superhero work as a person of color. I'm a black 209 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: guy in body armor running down the street punching white people. 210 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: I need some media coverage. So what does that look 211 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 1: like to you? Like, what's your strategy? Like what do 212 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: you hope to get out of being covered with the 213 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: media like that kind of stuff, not being arrested. I 214 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: think what people don't know is that, um, especially currently right, 215 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 1: there are two different Americas. Being a six ft tall 216 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: black dude in body armor running up to people who 217 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 1: have been previously assaulted in the streets is not a 218 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 1: solid look. People don't approach it the way that you 219 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: think that they would. But yeah, but when they see 220 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: Phoenix Jones, they see the symbol, the one that I 221 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: set up, the one they're aware of. They know what 222 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: my mission statement is they know why I'm there, and 223 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: it puts them as much at ease as a costume vigilante. 224 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: Can you know, as I shouldn't use that word as 225 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 1: a costume crime prevention specialist. That's what my attorneys told 226 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: me to use. Phoenix always has an answer for everything. 227 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: He always manages to come up with a reasonable explanation 228 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: for why he is right and everyone else is wrong. 229 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: When I spoke to Phoenix's former team members, they all 230 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 1: brought up his relationship with publicity. Here's El Caballero. A 231 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: lot of it. I felt like Jones's heart was for 232 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: protecting people, but then there was also this part that 233 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: I saw was actually his ultimate self at that time, 234 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: which was publicity. Midnight Jack told me that the rain 235 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: City Superheroes initially started out courting the media for strategic reasons. 236 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: It was a way to get a lot of attention 237 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: on crime trends, to call attention to problem areas the 238 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: police were not enforcing. But as things blew up that changed. 239 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: Ben was so hooked on the attention on the media 240 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,439 Speaker 1: following and the celebrity status and things like that that 241 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: it was a problem. So then he started having us 242 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: fucking not not necessarily fake footage, but kind of stage ship. 243 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: When we talked about his relationship with the cameras, Phoenix 244 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: never admitted to staging patrol videos, but it was an 245 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: accusation I kept hearing. Cabby told me once that you 246 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: guys were doing some media interview and you started making 247 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: stuff up, and he was like, too, that didn't happen, 248 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: and you leaned over and he said, hey, man, the 249 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: history is told by the victors, you know. Oh no, 250 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: I didn't. I leaned over and I said history has 251 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: written by the winners, So you were just making stuff up. 252 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: Phoenix even clarified for me the story Cabby had been 253 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: talking about was when the rain City Superheroes were on 254 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: Good Morning America. They're like, what's your biggest crime you 255 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 1: ever stopped? And I was like, Arson, can you give 256 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: some details? Like I can't give details. Phoenix couldn't give 257 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: any details because there was no Arson, Like, we didn't 258 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: have a lot of credentials at that moment, but we're 259 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: I'm good going in America and we're about to go 260 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: on TV. And I was like, fuck it, yeah, straight up, 261 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:16,959 Speaker 1: and I don't feel bad about it. I wouldn't take 262 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 1: it back, and I would do it again if you 263 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: admittedly just like make stuff up to the media, like, 264 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: how do I know what you're saying is true? It 265 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: wasn't admittedly making that hold on. If there's a way 266 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: for me to tell a story that makes it sound 267 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: better and doesn't change the core facts that are on 268 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: a police report, I will probably do that to Phoenix 269 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: is just giving the world when it wants. I don't 270 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: want to do interviews. I don't want to talk to 271 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: these people. I don't like you. I want to stop 272 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: bad people from doing bad things, and I want to 273 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: make people do it themselves and understand it. But the 274 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: government and the world we live in would not let me. 275 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: So I gave you what you wanted. You wanted a superhero, 276 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: because that's what you think what I was doing was, 277 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: So I gave you a superhero check. But no point 278 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: in any of this was this my like idea or goal. 279 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 1: It's these types of statements from Phoenix that I have 280 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: a hard time believing. But I wouldn't necessarily say that 281 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: Phoenix is lying when he says them. I think he 282 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: probably believes them to be true. And it's certainly true 283 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: that as a black man trying to fight crime on 284 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: the streets of America. The publicity provides him with a 285 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: level of protection that any of his former team members 286 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: who were white might not have needed. But I find 287 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: his unwillingness to admit that he enjoyed being a celebrity 288 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: as a kind of dishonesty for what it's worth. I 289 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: think Phoenix liked all the attention, and not just because 290 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: it made it easier for him to catch criminals. But 291 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: one thing does ring true and what Phoenix is saying here, 292 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: he spends his whole life attempting to live up to 293 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: a particular ideal of a superhero, and that's a lot 294 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 1: of pressure, and not everyone has the same idea of 295 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: what a superhero is. When those interpretations clashed, things got messy. 296 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: That's coming up O. Well, Phoenix Jones was making the 297 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: most of his newfound celebrity. One of his many appearances 298 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: got the attention of Seadellite Crystal Marks. That's her real name, 299 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: by the way, So she was kind of born with 300 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: a brilliant superhero alias. I've grown up in love with 301 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: superheroes my entire life. My dad was a huge NERD 302 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: into D and D. He was in the Navy where 303 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: they played D and D all the time, and he 304 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: got a friend of his to actually get my name 305 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: worked into a Superman comic book. I thought that was 306 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: the coolest thing. So when I heard that someone was 307 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: dressing up like one and doing something that a superhero 308 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: would do, it was irresistible. When Crystal saw the news 309 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: coverage of Phoenix Jones and his crew, she was immediately captivated. 310 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: Late one night, she set out to see what Phoenix 311 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: was really about. I ended up kind of stalking his team. 312 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: The rain City superhero moved went through the streets of Seattle, 313 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: watching them break up fights. Crystal didn't want the rain 314 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,400 Speaker 1: City Superheroes to see her. I threw my hair upon 315 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: a ponytail, and I wore a hat and sunglasses at 316 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:10,919 Speaker 1: night in the middle of Belltown in Seattle. It was 317 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: not the wisest choice. She hid behind street corners and 318 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: counted thirty seconds before creeping along behind the superheroes. I realized, like, Wow, 319 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: anyone can do this, that's really cool. But I wasn't 320 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: seeing the things happening that mattered to me. Homeless outreach. 321 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,879 Speaker 1: As a kid growing up in Aberdeen, Washington, Crystal had 322 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: some rough patches in her childhood. When I was eight 323 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: years old, my biological mom and I were kicked out 324 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: of my grandmother's house and we were homeless. We had 325 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:40,360 Speaker 1: nowhere to go, living in our car, we lived under 326 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: a bridge, living on my mom's friends couches, and we 327 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: did that for a little over six months, and that 328 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: stuck with me. I was homeless as a kid, and 329 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: I wanted to see people reached out to in a 330 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:55,479 Speaker 1: compassionate way. For Crystal, Phoenix's team didn't seem like the 331 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: heroes she'd been looking for. I was like, do we 332 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: need to just be breaking up drunk fights? Can we 333 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 1: be doing more? So she started looking for alternatives. It 334 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: turned out Phoenix's Crew weren't the only superheroes in town. 335 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: Crystal ended up joining another group called the Washington Initiative. 336 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: They started out by patrolling around Belltown, that's Phoenix's turf. 337 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: It was a little bit of a not so friendly competition, 338 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: but we realized very quickly after the first couple of patrols, 339 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: where we were just seeing people stumbling to their cars, 340 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: we weren't really making a difference. So our team, the 341 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: Washington Initiatives, switched over to more homeless outreach Phoenix did 342 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: not take kindly to his fellow crime fighters. Evocatus soft 343 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: Phoenix's reaction firsthand. He would get in very animated, all screeching, 344 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: yelling matches about how other teams are just trying to 345 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: copy us or trying to draw his Facebook likes and 346 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: his fans his words away from him and ticket for 347 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,399 Speaker 1: their own, which didn't make a lot of sense or 348 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: mean anything to me. He felt incredibly threatened by anyone 349 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: else that would try to do this line of work 350 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: in his city. Phoenix used his social media to rail 351 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: against his new enemies. It was this feud online. If 352 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: I do this better, No, I do this better. Phoenix 353 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: Jones was constantly saying, like, fine, you can say that 354 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: you do homeless outreach better. I'm sure you do, but 355 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,399 Speaker 1: that doesn't really matter. That's not really taking care of 356 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,679 Speaker 1: a community as long as you acknowledge that I'm the 357 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: better fighter. The feud between Phoenix and the other Seattle 358 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: superheroes speaks to something I've noticed a lot in the 359 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,199 Speaker 1: world of real life superheroes. There seems to be an 360 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: ideological split at the heart of the community over what 361 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,120 Speaker 1: a superhero should actually do. Some of the real life 362 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: superheroes are all about action. They want to take down 363 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: criminals and stop violent crime. But there are a lot 364 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: like Crystal who see real superhero work as the humanitarian 365 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: stuff like homeless outreach. They are interested in getting into fights. 366 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: In fact, they see the flashy, action packed crime fighting 367 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: is reckless, irresponsible. Personally, I don't understand why these two 368 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: models can't co exist peacefully, but then I'm not Phoenix Jones. 369 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: Among the rest of Phoenix's crew, the reaction to their 370 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: superhero arrivals was mixed. Midnight Jack was more action oriented. 371 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: He was all about dousing people with flour and pepper spray. 372 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: Crystal didn't think much of his tactics though. Midnight Jack 373 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: as someone out on patrol, he's just not right, Like 374 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,159 Speaker 1: there were plenty of time so I've heard of things 375 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: where he had like a flash grenade or like a 376 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: smoke bomb or something, and he would set it off 377 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: on accident, Like you don't carry equipment that you don't 378 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,880 Speaker 1: know how to use. On the flip side, Jack thought 379 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: the other groups like the Washington Initiative or nothing but 380 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: attention seekers for whatever reason, they don't feel secure in 381 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: themselves or maybe they hate their job. They hate how 382 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: their life turned out, and so they're gonna go and 383 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: dress up like Spider Man and run around take selfies 384 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 1: and should lie down. I seen another crew kick a 385 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: homeless dude awake to give him a water bottle so 386 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 1: they could take a selfie of it, you know what 387 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: I mean, Like, I watched that happen. At the other 388 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: end of the rain City Superhero spectrum, Evo had been 389 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: getting tired of the media circus around Phoenix and of 390 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: the constant need to seek out drama in the streets. 391 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: He felt inspired by his group's new costumed rivals. Holy shit, 392 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 1: these guys are really professional. They're on top of this. 393 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: This is very different from what's been going on on 394 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: our team, where it's all about the Facebook likes and 395 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: it's all about how many followers do you have. Eva 396 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 1: reached out to the Washington Initiative and struck up a relationship. 397 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: At one point, he met Crystal Marks for coffee. Phoenix 398 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: fell two pieces over it, and he he wanted to 399 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: pat me down to make sure I didn't have any 400 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,919 Speaker 1: bugs or microchips planted on me, because their entire existences 401 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: around spying on Phoenix. According to him, despite Phoenix's paranoia. 402 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: Eva was undeterred and he and Crystal hit it off. 403 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: In fact, a couple of years later their relationship turned 404 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,160 Speaker 1: to more than a superhero collaboration. You know, her hands 405 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: would brush on on a patrol and like, and then 406 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: he and I started dating and we got married. These days, 407 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: Crystal isn't involved in the superhero movement, but she is 408 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: still a public servant from She was the deputy mayor 409 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: of Burian, a city just south of Seattle, and when 410 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,080 Speaker 1: she campaigned for office, she did not hide her past 411 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: as a real life superhero. It took me sitting down 412 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: with my husband and saying, like, does this actually translate? 413 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,439 Speaker 1: Does this type of real world experience of breaking up fights, 414 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: doing homeless outreach, does that actually translate into public office? 415 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,199 Speaker 1: And he helped me list out all the ways that 416 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: it did, leading groups, making decisions, strategic planning, all of 417 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: this stuff. And so I ran in seen. I took 418 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: out the incumbent in the primary with five people in 419 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: the race, and then I came in first in the 420 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:56,159 Speaker 1: general and I became deputy mayor two years into my arm. 421 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: When I interviewed Phoenix, this was one of the parts 422 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: of his story. I was was interested in asking him 423 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: about I'd heard stories of him referring to people like 424 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,159 Speaker 1: crystal marks with a derogatory term. It's a story I'd 425 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: heard from a lot of people who knew him. Apparently, 426 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: Phoenix called the heroes who focused on homeless outreach real 427 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,240 Speaker 1: life sandwich handlers. That seemed to be one of the 428 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: centers of beef around certain members of the rainsyt Haris 429 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,159 Speaker 1: was that, like you were like, if you want to 430 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 1: help people, like giving them a food, like you can't 431 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: be on my team anymore. That's not what I said, 432 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: say what happened. Like, for sure, if you want to 433 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: take our main focus and make it humanitarian aid, then 434 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,360 Speaker 1: you should find another team, because we do humanitarian aid 435 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,360 Speaker 1: for sure. But the concept is stopping crime. No point 436 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: in feeding people if the food you feed them gets 437 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: robbed at their house. It's that simple. I've never seen 438 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: a comic book with who runs around feeding people cheeseburgers, 439 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: except for the handblurger cartoons that I got from the 440 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: McDonald's in Like the Nights. We just have different concepts apparently, 441 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,120 Speaker 1: of like what fighting crime is. You can definitely hand 442 00:23:57,119 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: out food. You should definitely do that. There's nothing wrong 443 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,399 Speaker 1: with that, you don't need to wear an outfit for 444 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: that at all. Actually wearing an outfit to hand out 445 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: food to regular ass homeless people makes you an asshole. 446 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,360 Speaker 1: Why why is that? Because you're showing up and saying, 447 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: you guys are so disadvantaged to look at me and 448 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,399 Speaker 1: my giant suit handing you sandwiches that I made in 449 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: my own house. I mean, it's absurd. I think showing 450 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: up in a suit and saying, hey, I put on 451 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: this armor to protect you guys because I care about 452 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: you being stuck out here makes way more sense than 453 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: to me saying, hey, here's a fucking cheeseburger. By the way, 454 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,640 Speaker 1: look at my outfit. Amazing, insane, It's just incredible. It's 455 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: like the disconnect between that in fighting crime is mind 456 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: blowing to me. I don't even get it. Phoenix has 457 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,679 Speaker 1: a very specific vision of what it means to be 458 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: a superhero, and for him, anything less than active crime 459 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,879 Speaker 1: fighting doesn't measure up. But when you make busting criminals 460 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,439 Speaker 1: your goal, it isn't just the criminals you have to 461 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: watch out for. Phoenix's daredevil crime stopping approach brought him 462 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,360 Speaker 1: onto the radar of a powerful To me, the Seattle 463 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:18,200 Speaker 1: Police Department. That's coming up For a while. At least, 464 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,919 Speaker 1: it seemed that Phoenix Jones had managed to fulfill his 465 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,719 Speaker 1: dream of becoming Seattle's very own Night Wing, the superhero 466 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 1: Phoenix had looked up to as a kid. Things weren't 467 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: always perfect in the rain City superhero movement, but for now, 468 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: Phoenix was patrolling the streets several nights a week, chasing 469 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: down criminals and snapping photos with fans. But the more 470 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 1: attention he got, the more he rankled the local authorities. 471 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 1: The problem was that Seattle already had its own force 472 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,679 Speaker 1: of professional crime fighters, and they felt that Phoenix Jones 473 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: was stepping on their toes. Police worry Phoenix has recently 474 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: taste of fame, He pushes him to put himself in 475 00:25:55,400 --> 00:26:01,200 Speaker 1: harm's way. They insert themselves into a potentially volatile situation 476 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: and then they end up being victimized as well. Don't 477 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,120 Speaker 1: insert yourself into those situations. If you see something called 478 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,440 Speaker 1: nine and one police, hope he stops before it's too late. 479 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: A pattern began to emerge. Phoenix and his crew would 480 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: make the news for their latest active costumed heroism, and 481 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: the Seattle Police Department would issue an increasingly exasperated statement 482 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: to the effect of, thanks, but you can leave the 483 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: crime fighting to us. I didn't know anybody who actually 484 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,920 Speaker 1: thought it was a good idea for then to put 485 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,120 Speaker 1: themselves in harm's way, put on these outfits, if you will, 486 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: and make themselves a target for others. Carmen Best was 487 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: the chief of the Seattle Police Department from two thousand 488 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,439 Speaker 1: and eighteen to two thousand and twenty. She was the 489 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,679 Speaker 1: first black woman to lead the force. But before Carmen 490 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: became chief, she held a lot of different roles, and 491 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: she was there during the height of the Seattle superhero movement. 492 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,400 Speaker 1: While you truly respect what they were trying to do, 493 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,440 Speaker 1: I was very concerned one for their safety and two 494 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: for their full motive, because we really discourage as profession 495 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: people doing what we would view as a vigilanteism. Carmen 496 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 1: told me that the police department had been watching the 497 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,439 Speaker 1: superheroes out on patrol and making their TV appearances with 498 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: growing concern. They don't have all the same protections that 499 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: a law enforcement officer who's sworn in, who's had the 500 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: training that we have in place. There was an instance 501 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: when one of them was injured pretty significantly and was stabbed. 502 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: You know, we definitely were coutuming them when that occurred. 503 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: You know, it was our you know, our worst fears 504 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,399 Speaker 1: realized in that situation and also intervening in the manner 505 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: that they did, they put themselves in some legal jeopardy 506 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: as well. Carmen didn't know which would be superhero was 507 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 1: in this instance, but Phoenix claims he's been stabbed on 508 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: patrol more than once and she definitely remembers him. Of course, 509 00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: his name came up. He did the most amount of 510 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: interviews and was pretty extroverted, if you will, and how 511 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 1: he approached this whole thing. In my opinion, I think 512 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: the opinion of many within the police department, this seemed 513 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,080 Speaker 1: a little bit like fantasy work, you know, putting on 514 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,360 Speaker 1: a uniform or an outfit, because you're actually not a superhero. 515 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,639 Speaker 1: You're a person who's intervening and what can ostensibly be 516 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: some pretty dangerous situations, and you can interfere in such 517 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: a way that causes harm to you, not only yourself, 518 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 1: but to the person you're trying to assist as well. 519 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,400 Speaker 1: So we were very concerned about it. I understand this argument, 520 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: and I think it applies to a lot of people 521 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: in the real life superhero community. But I also think 522 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: that this is one of the areas where Phoenix does 523 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: have a point. He's not the type of Yahoo who 524 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 1: simply put on a costume and jumped into this job 525 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 1: without thinking about it. He actually put in the time 526 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 1: to train. I can't imagine being a cop and not 527 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: having these certain skills. You know. It's not like going 528 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: lifting weights. It's like running and training my knife disarms 529 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: like I have. I do Wednesday knife disarms, right, I 530 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: do Saturday hand to hand combat like that all the time, always. 531 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: And he isn't only prepared for physical altercations. He also 532 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: has clearly spent time studying the laws around what he 533 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: can and can't do when fighting crime. Oh I don't 534 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: hire a lawyer anymore because I know all this stuff. 535 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you can see I know all of the laws. 536 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: The hard part for me is filling out the paperwork appropriately. 537 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 1: I've won them all, just be clear, every single one 538 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,640 Speaker 1: of them I've won, except for one I consider a win, 539 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: but technically it was not. It was like a no contest. 540 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: The guy just didn't show up. But I mean that's 541 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: still kind of a win. A lot of the media 542 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: reports and statements from the Seattle Police around two thousand 543 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,239 Speaker 1: and eleven seemed to speak to an underlying worry that 544 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: Phoenix might use excessive force in his crime fighting or 545 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: that he wasn't accountable for his behavior. But those are 546 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: the same accusations that the US Department of Justice made 547 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: about the Seattle Police Department in the same year. The 548 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 1: d j's Civil Rights Division receive the letter in two 549 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: thousand and ten from the Washington a c l U 550 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: and thirty four other civil rights and community based organizations. 551 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,960 Speaker 1: The letter requested an investigation into multiple incidents of excessive 552 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 1: force by the Seattle Police Department, particularly force used against 553 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: persons of color. The d o J launched an investigation, 554 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: and their report found that the SPD were engaging in 555 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: a pattern or practice of unnecessary or excessive force, and 556 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 1: that the chain of command does not properly investigate, analyze, 557 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: or demand accountability from its subordinate officers for their uses 558 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: of force. They also found serious concerns about biased policing. 559 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: To date, in April, the Seattle Police are still under 560 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: federal oversight as a result of that report, though a 561 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: lot of activists in the city think their reforms haven't 562 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: gone far enough. It's also a reminder of what Phoenix 563 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: was talking about earlier, of the additional risk that he 564 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: faces because he's trying to fight crime as a black man. 565 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: Phoenix talks about crime fighting like it's his whole reason 566 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 1: for being. It's intense, but it's also not unique. A 567 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: lot of people are drawn to this line of work, 568 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: but very few of them grind the nipples off a 569 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: batman outfit and go around hiding trampolines and alleys. I 570 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: feel like a lot of people like the more traditional 571 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: path for someone who had those ideals about fighting crime 572 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: would be to just join the police force. I'm curious 573 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: why that was not appealing to you, because I want 574 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: to help people, and you don't see the police as 575 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,280 Speaker 1: being helpful. The police are very very helpful in certain 576 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:44,720 Speaker 1: situations when they understand it, and the right day, when 577 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 1: you catch the right officer and you happen to have 578 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: an open in chet situation. But that's not what I 579 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: consider policing. Where police really shine is investigating crimes that 580 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: have already taken place. But that is not justice to me. 581 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 1: That's legalized retribution. I think if you're a police officer 582 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: or a crime fighter, your job is intervened between the 583 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: incident and the person at the moment of that incident, 584 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: not to investigate afterwards, like investigating afterwards is what you've 585 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: done when a plan fails. Talking to Phoenix, the biggest 586 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 1: beef he seemed to have with the cops was that 587 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 1: he thinks they aren't effective at stopping crime. But Phoenix 588 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: saw that as an opportunity, a gap the cops weren't 589 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: able to fill, but a superhero might. Cabby also saw 590 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: the rain City Superheroes as a way of making up 591 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: for the police's ineffectiveness. They show up after a crime 592 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 1: has happened, and a lot of things happened in between 593 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: when a crime is happening and when law enforcement actually 594 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: arrives or medical services arrived to actually deal with the problem. 595 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 1: That in between space was where the rain City Superheroes 596 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: saw work to be done. But even at their most intrepid, 597 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: they always got law enforcement involved, despite their own bivalent 598 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:04,280 Speaker 1: relationship with the cops. In fact, on their patrols, Evil 599 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: told me there was even a role dedicated to police liaison. 600 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: I started being all one, which means if we saw 601 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,720 Speaker 1: an actual crime happen, we would call Seattle Police, right away. 602 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: That was like step one was called them always know 603 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: where we're at, the street corners and the intersections. You 604 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: know exactly where we're at so we can report it. 605 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: But when the police did show up, things could get tense. 606 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 1: Cabby told me a story about a patrol when things 607 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: went south. We rolled up in Belltown and saw this 608 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: guy harassing this man and woman who were a mixed 609 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,240 Speaker 1: race couple, and instantly we knew, like we felt like 610 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:44,800 Speaker 1: this guy was racist, like trying to attack this couple. 611 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: According to Cabby, one of the other rain City superheroes, 612 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: Captain Karma, approached the man and told him to leave 613 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: the couple alone. And this guy, like Butterfly, kicked him 614 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: running the chest and threw him out in the street, 615 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,200 Speaker 1: and I was like what the Cabby says, he ran 616 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 1: over and pin the guy in a wrestling hold until 617 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 1: the police finally arrived. They pull up and they pull 618 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 1: out their guns. They're like, let him go, let him go. 619 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: We're like, we want to press charges. This guy just 620 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 1: attacked a couple with their baby. We think he's a 621 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,920 Speaker 1: racist or whatever. Like they're like let him go, and 622 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: like this guy's violent and they're like let him go. 623 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,120 Speaker 1: So the rain City Superheroes did what they were told, 624 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: and they let the guy go. When he runs up 625 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,399 Speaker 1: and he punches the cop in the face. So then 626 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, the cops, who have their weapons drawn, 627 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,320 Speaker 1: are wrestling with this guy and the guns are pointing 628 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,719 Speaker 1: around like to all these different people, putting everyone's life 629 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: in danger. And so I grabbed the guy again. Cabby 630 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: claims he broke the guy's wrist. The police demanded that 631 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: the superheroes unmasked and hand over their footage, which they 632 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 1: agreed to, but then the police let the guy they 633 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 1: had just subdued go free. I'm like, nope, I want 634 00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:02,719 Speaker 1: to press charges. Sorry, we can't press charges against him, 635 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: Like why is that? Because that's crazy, and they're like 636 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,359 Speaker 1: diplomatic community, he's from the Russian embassy. So they ended 637 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 1: up letting him fucking go pardon my language, and we're 638 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:18,480 Speaker 1: there looking like dumbasses like guess, I don't know, sitting 639 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 1: there with their mass of like hands on the hood, 640 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:26,440 Speaker 1: like we were criminals Russian diplomats. Aside, there are a 641 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: lot of videos that showcase the dysfunctional relationship Phoenix and 642 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:34,360 Speaker 1: his crew had with the Seattle police and Phoenix became 643 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 1: increasingly vocal online with his criticisms of the cops. Let's 644 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: make sure I understand this guy assaults person, the guy 645 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,200 Speaker 1: walks away clean and free. Nothing happens. Police won't take 646 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,760 Speaker 1: my statement, won't take my paperwork. I am pretty piste 647 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,920 Speaker 1: off right now. Phoenix had a couple of favorite targets 648 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 1: to beef with. Seattle has lost its mind when it 649 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 1: comes to what a real crime is. Has lost its mind, 650 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: and part of that is Pete Holmes and his inability 651 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:05,800 Speaker 1: to do his job. Phoenix is talking about former Seattle 652 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 1: City Attorney Pete Holmes. Me and Pete Holmes have a 653 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:10,440 Speaker 1: history of hatting each other. To the distric attorney of 654 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:17,720 Speaker 1: Seattle is a complete joke because trash trash from Holmes 655 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:22,040 Speaker 1: was in charge of all misdemeanor prosecutions in Seattle. He 656 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:25,040 Speaker 1: has sandy gray hair parted at the side and glasses, 657 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: and he embraced a lot of left leaning policies when 658 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 1: he was in office. He declined to be interviewed for 659 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: this series, but he's gone on record multiple times telling 660 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: Phoenix to stand down. Holmes once said to the press quote, Mr. 661 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 1: Photor is no hero, just a deeply misguided individual. He 662 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: also argued that Phoenix couldn't rely on Seattle's Good Samaritan 663 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:53,560 Speaker 1: laws to protect him. He said, quote, our state's Good 664 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:57,919 Speaker 1: Samaritan statutes are designed to protect individuals who happened upon, 665 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:03,040 Speaker 1: rather than actively seek out opportunities to render assistance to others. 666 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,840 Speaker 1: These laws are not designed to protect a branded, costumed character, 667 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:12,200 Speaker 1: his roving video crew, or their copyrighted videos from the 668 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: reach of torte plaintiffs. It's not surprising that Phoenix and 669 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 1: Pete Holmes kept butting heads the first couple of times. 670 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 1: The first like ten or twelve times, it was just 671 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,000 Speaker 1: me pleading with him to actually charge the criminals and 672 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:24,760 Speaker 1: him explaining to me how I'm not a police officer, 673 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 1: and me being like, yeah, no, ship idiot, I don't 674 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:29,040 Speaker 1: need to be a police officer, and him saying, well, 675 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,120 Speaker 1: it draws a weird precedents. No, which draws a president 676 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:32,840 Speaker 1: is a guy running around a rubber suit and actually 677 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,399 Speaker 1: finding crime that draws a precedence. Maybe should do your job. 678 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: Throughout things were getting increasingly tense between Phoenix and Seattle's 679 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,760 Speaker 1: law enforcement, and while his fellow superheroes didn't necessarily disagree 680 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:50,080 Speaker 1: with him, they worried that Phoenix's outspokenness would provoke a backlash. 681 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 1: Jones really instigated the hatred of SPD. That's Cabby. He 682 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:58,760 Speaker 1: was just always like an interviews anything, He's like, cops, 683 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:01,920 Speaker 1: if they would do their job, blah blah. I was like, dude, 684 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,040 Speaker 1: I mean, that's not really how it is. He's a 685 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,640 Speaker 1: total dick to them, which I understand. A young black dude, 686 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 1: I get it, And I'm not an apologist for law enforcement. Basically, 687 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:16,440 Speaker 1: people call and they show up afterwards. It's like trash collectors. 688 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,719 Speaker 1: It was like, you deal with it afterwards. But at 689 00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 1: the same time, we got all put under the whole blanket. Oh, 690 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,560 Speaker 1: these guys think they're vigilantes. They're taking the low their 691 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:33,800 Speaker 1: own hands. It's like, no, we're not. In the early 692 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,440 Speaker 1: hours of October nine, two thousand eleven, Phoenix was out 693 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 1: in downtown Seattle patrolling with Ghost, a videographer named Ryan McNamee, 694 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,800 Speaker 1: and the journalist t Krulos. And we met back in 695 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:48,600 Speaker 1: episode one. It had been a long night and Phoenix 696 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,279 Speaker 1: was nearly ready to wrap things up. Then he says 697 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,160 Speaker 1: one of his crew spotted a fight outside of bar. 698 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: Phoenix looked out and I take off running towards because 699 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: I could see these eyes are kicking this person on 700 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:06,480 Speaker 1: the ground, just beating him up. When they're kicking each other, 701 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,560 Speaker 1: punching each other, that's tea pushing each other down the street. 702 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,520 Speaker 1: Phoenix ran at full tilt and leapt into the middle 703 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:20,799 Speaker 1: of it. I'm like, breaking up, fight, breaks up, everything's cool. 704 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,319 Speaker 1: Then they start yelling about getting a gun and all 705 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:25,120 Speaker 1: kinds of other stuff. They take up to their car. 706 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,880 Speaker 1: They try to chase me around. The guy chased me 707 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:29,919 Speaker 1: comes at me, so I just spotted with pepper spray. 708 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: No big deal. He pepper sprays them, and the pepper 709 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:39,359 Speaker 1: spray dissipated into the air and everyone was coughing and 710 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,120 Speaker 1: rubbing their eyes. In the midst of this chaos, a 711 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:50,839 Speaker 1: woman started attacking Phoenix with her shoes. I have body armors, all, okay, 712 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,920 Speaker 1: but I started and then she fell on her face. 713 00:39:54,200 --> 00:40:00,040 Speaker 1: The minute she fell, those dudes went crazy and he 714 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:05,480 Speaker 1: started coming back at us. It all sort of grouped together, 715 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:11,239 Speaker 1: and then they rushed us. What Jesus and attacked us. 716 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 1: I actually got punched in the face, and I was like, 717 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:22,879 Speaker 1: don't don't punch me. We were in a very kayak situation. 718 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:29,400 Speaker 1: I was genuinely very afraid for my safety. Seriously, your 719 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,920 Speaker 1: camera put your camera camera is up. At one point 720 00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:33,839 Speaker 1: it looked like they might be looking for a gun. 721 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,759 Speaker 1: Phoenix pulled out his trusty pepper spray again and gave 722 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:43,920 Speaker 1: the attackers another dose. Ghost got kicked and fell over 723 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,319 Speaker 1: our trash can busted his finger up. I have hand 724 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:48,960 Speaker 1: surgery from how bad you are its hand. We're not. 725 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:52,360 Speaker 1: They started throwing rocks at us and then tried to 726 00:40:52,400 --> 00:41:08,960 Speaker 1: run us over with a car. Finally the cops showed up, 727 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:15,359 Speaker 1: and they were pissed. The first thing this officer said 728 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,920 Speaker 1: was Phoenix Jones, I'm tired of playing these games with you, man, 729 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,880 Speaker 1: I'm tired of this game. We're about this rest the 730 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 1: whole bunch of year clean. According to both Tea and Phoenix, 731 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,080 Speaker 1: the police officers were not interested in hearing what Phoenix 732 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:32,759 Speaker 1: had to say. They wouldn't look at our video, they 733 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't listen to us. They're like, we've had enough, you stupid. 734 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,440 Speaker 1: You've already pupiseday three people today, which is true, but 735 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,240 Speaker 1: you arrested the other two. Like maybe you don't understand 736 00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:43,960 Speaker 1: how this works, you know, And then your cop was 737 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:45,960 Speaker 1: saying stuff about like, you're not a police officer, you 738 00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:47,800 Speaker 1: don't have any authority. You guys are really arrogant that 739 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:49,600 Speaker 1: you can make a difference, and I was like, yeah, 740 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:51,120 Speaker 1: it's crazy to think you can get into a car, 741 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:58,160 Speaker 1: drive to a crime and make a difference, right, douche. 742 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:03,120 Speaker 1: The cops arrested Phoenix and took them away in their car. 743 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,000 Speaker 1: The people who Phoenix said had been fighting would let go, 744 00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:10,520 Speaker 1: and the other Rain City superheroes melted into the night. 745 00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:16,360 Speaker 1: He was left standing on the street corner alone, and 746 00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:18,440 Speaker 1: that's when I looked down at my hands, and I 747 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:22,480 Speaker 1: saw that my hands were shaking from the adrenaline of 748 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:28,080 Speaker 1: what had just happened. I've always liked Phoenix personally, and 749 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:30,560 Speaker 1: I think that he's done some good things for the 750 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:34,360 Speaker 1: city of Seattle. But it made me realize that the 751 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,960 Speaker 1: real life superhero thing could be really dangerous. And in 752 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:42,680 Speaker 1: that circumstance, I think that his intention was to help 753 00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:46,160 Speaker 1: save people because he saw people fighting, but that's his 754 00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:50,800 Speaker 1: interaction made the situation a lot worse. The pepper spray 755 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:55,600 Speaker 1: made everyone angry, and it turned the scene into total chaos. 756 00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:03,000 Speaker 1: The tables had turned on Seattle's comic book crusader. This 757 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:08,520 Speaker 1: time it was Phoenix who ended up behind bars. Phoenix 758 00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:11,320 Speaker 1: Jones was arrested by saddle P d on suspicion of assault. 759 00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:14,680 Speaker 1: Officers st Jones told them he spotted two men fighting, 760 00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:17,760 Speaker 1: but could not explain why four people, including two women, 761 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,759 Speaker 1: got pepper spray. Pepper sprayed priest reports of citizens being 762 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,640 Speaker 1: pepper sprayed by Jones and his group pepper Spray, No 763 00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:27,960 Speaker 1: big deal, pepper sprayed made everyone angry. The officer wrote 764 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:31,120 Speaker 1: that Jones had a history of injecting himself in these incidents. 765 00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:34,360 Speaker 1: No deal. Everyone was coughing and rubbing their eyes, and 766 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:39,160 Speaker 1: deal turned the scene into total chaos. Jones has been 767 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:44,120 Speaker 1: advised to observe and report incidents to only smokes that man. 768 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:53,600 Speaker 1: I bet this never happens to you. What's a superhero 769 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:58,200 Speaker 1: to do when his back is against the wall. That's 770 00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:19,719 Speaker 1: coming up on The Superhero Complex. The Superhero Complex is 771 00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:23,120 Speaker 1: hosted and written by Me, David Weinberg and reported by Me, 772 00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:28,440 Speaker 1: Amalia Sortland and Caroline Thornham. Production from Amalia Shortland and 773 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:32,600 Speaker 1: Caroline Thornham. Sean Glenn, Max O'Brien and David Waters are 774 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:38,239 Speaker 1: executive producers. Fact checking by Andrew Schwartz. Production management from 775 00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 1: Sharie Houston, Frankie Taylor and Charlotte Wolf. Sound design, mixing 776 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:47,719 Speaker 1: and scoring by Nicholas Alexander and Daniel Kempson. Music supervision 777 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:52,319 Speaker 1: by Nicholas Alexander and David Waters. Original music is composed 778 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:57,840 Speaker 1: by Paul Housden and special thanks to Peter Tangan, Willard Foxton, 779 00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:04,000 Speaker 1: Matt O'Mara, Katrina Norvelle Beth and Macaluso, Rin Rosenbaum, Shelby Shenkman, 780 00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:07,239 Speaker 1: and all the team at U t A. For more 781 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:16,880 Speaker 1: from Novel, visit novel dot Audio m