Seattle’s Citizen Superhero Arrested On Assault Charge

A Seattle man, who calls himself “Phoenix Jones” faces assault charges for allegedly spraying pepper spray into a crowd of people that he claims were fighting, according to an article posted on yahoo news. By contrast, the Seattle police hold the position that these people were dancing.

“Phoenix Jones” who authorities have identified as Benjamin Francis was arrested Sunday while still wearing his black and gold cape, a bullet proof vest, and carrying 2 cans of pepper spray. Ironically enough, Jones is a member of the Rain City Superhero Movement, which is a group of vigilante self-ordained superheroes who claim that they patrol the Seattle streets to fight crime.

Francis now faces counts of assault against 2 people who claim that they were dancing while they walked to their car when they and a group of others were inexplicably doused with pepper spray by the alleged superhero.

Francis, who was caught on tape by a journalist, claims that he ran into a crowd to break up a fight. This video, posted on the Facebook page titled “Phoenix Jones,” shows Francis running towards a crowd  beneath an underpass in downtown Seattle. Police claim that the video evidence is unclear as to whether the people were fighting or just playing around.

Furthermore, the police report indicated that Francis and his group had a history of pepper spraying people in the streets of Seattle. Additionally, several others in the group claimed that they were pepper spayed by Francis, but fled before law enforcement officials arrived.

Jones is a father of two who has been roaming the streets of Seattle in search of situations just as these 4-5 nights a week.

Superheroes Or Super-Dumb?

Francis, who believes that it is his duty to rid the Seattle streets of criminal activity, has stated that “criminals feel free to run just wild in my city, and I’m not going to stand for it.”

It seems to me that Jones and the rest of the so-called superheroes have watched one to many superhero movies. His beliefs and actions are admirable, however, I think it is best for Seattle citizens as well as these so-called superheroes if they leave crime fighting to Seattle’s law enforcement officials and return to their day jobs. This would prevent incidents like the case at hand from happening again in the future.

Additionally, I believe that Francis could better contribute to society if he stayed at home and helped raise his kids instead of parading around in a superhero outfit 4-5 times a week.

What do you think?