Although the media seems to be focusing on the KONY 2012 goal of capturing this warlord, there have been some hiccups along the way. Jason Russell, co-founder of Invisible Children and director of “Kony 2012”, was detained for masturbating in public just a month before his long-awaited “Cover the Night”. His actions were blamed on extreme exhaustion and dehydration. Nonetheless, this was the person everyone viewed as the trustworthy Christian who was making a change in the world. Unfortunately, this impromptu incident has a lot of people questioning the campaign now. It’ll be interesting to see the outcome on April 21st.
Because PSU is situated in the heart of Portland, it’s expected than many students will be involved in “Cover the Night” Portland. Will you be a part of this event? Have the current incidents affected your thoughts on this campaign?
Well for one no one really has the full story in regards to the details of the incidident and secondly I myself and any person reading this have probably never been under as much stress as this guy. Shit happens, we’re all humans and we’re all capable hold snapping under pressure.
Alex: I absolutely agree, thanks for your comment!
Last Friday, during an official Invisible Children-organized screening of KONY 2012 part 2 in the Northern Ugandan city of Gulu, the audience started to pelt the screen, and IC organizers, with rocks. Ugandan police, in turn shot tear gas at the crowd and fired their rifles into the air, causing panic. One death and several injuries were reported.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1387926/-/aw2cd3z/-/index.html
It was the second riot, or near-riot, that Invisible Children’s videos have provoked in Uganda.
From the linked Uganda Monitor story:
“Ms Margaret Aciro, whose picture appears in the Kony 2012 video showing her lips, nose and ears mutilated, has criticised the documentary, saying it is aimed at making money using victims of the northern insurgency.
Ms Aciro, 35, abducted by rebels of the LRA in 2003 from Paicho Sub-county in Gulu Municipality, was among thousands of people who flocked Pece War Memorial Stadium on Friday to watch the filming of Kony 2012 by Invisible Children.
“I watched the Kony 2012 video but I decided to return home before the second one (Kony 2012 Par II) because I was dissatisfied with its content. I became sad when I saw my photo in the video. I knew they were using it to profit.”
Bruce: Wow. There are so many sides to this story. I think the framing has definitely caused most of its contraversy. Thank you for chiming in!