Invisible Children Co-Founder Detained for Public Masturbation

Reuters
Adam Clark Estes 10,071 Views Mar 16, 2012

Update 4:54 p.m. Jason Russell had a bad day. Invisible Children just released a statement about why the 33-year-old was running around San Diego in his underwear and causing a ruckus on Thursday:

Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition. 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. Jason’s passion and his work have done so much to help so many, and we are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue. We will always love and support Jason, and we ask that you give his entire family privacy during this difficult time.

For what it's worth, the cops say that he was very cooperative, when they took him into custody. "He was no problem for the police department however, during the evaluation we learned that we probably needed to take care of him," Lieutenant Andrea Brown said at a press conference on Friday. Based on the tweets we've seen so far, his public image will need some care as well. A lot of care.

Original Post: We don't yet know exactly what happened or what charges Invisible Children (creators of the viral and controversial "Stop Kony" video) co-founder Jason Russell might face, but the headlines produced by his Thursday night run-in with cops will not help the cause. The only details about the arrest that NBC San Diego has so far is that Russell "was allegedly found masturbating in public, vandalizing cars and possibly under the influence of something." The story does not say if he is being charged for anything, but they do report that after receiving calls about "a man in various stages of undress running through traffic and screaming," Russell was cooperative once cops arrived on the scene. They're promising more updates. 

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