By Tony Perry and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times –
SAN DIEGO — San Diego police said Friday that they don’t expect to seek any criminal charges against Jason Russell, the filmmaker behind the viral “Kony 2012” video, after a bizarre incident.
Russell was dressed only in underwear, darting in and out of traffic in the Pacific Beach neighborhood when officers spotted him acting oddly on Thursday afternoon, authorities said. Police said some callers reported that Russell was naked and touching himself.
Russell was cooperative and “no problem for the Police Department,” Lt. Andra Brown said. Officers took him to a mental health facility because they worried that he posed a danger to himself or others.
At the headquarters of Invisible Children, the San Diego nonprofit that produced the video about African militia leader Joseph Kony, security guards blocked the entrance.
Workers could be seen removing black and red “Kony 2012” banners from inside the lobby. No one answered the phones, but people could be seen inside talking on cell phones. Some were crying.
A New York-based public relations company released a statement from the organization’s chief executive, Ben Keesey, acknowledging that Russell had been hospitalized.
“Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition,” the statement said. “He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday.”
The organization skyrocketed to fame when the 29-minute video went viral. It has been viewed 80 million times on YouTube.
The video on the fugitive leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army provoked a worldwide outcry about violence and the use of child soldiers.
