…places like Times Square and Hollywood Boulevard are full of people hustling for tips from tourists who, unlike Jermaine, go to the trouble of dressing up as comic book character. Most of them don’t cause too much trouble. But occasionally the Hulk Smash urge takes over. For example, from the L.A. Times in 2007:
The buzz on Hollywood Boulevard on Friday was over the Chewbacca who police say crossed over to the dark side in front of hundreds of tourists at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
LAPD officers arrested “Star Wars” street performer Frederick Evan Young, 44, of Los Angeles in his furry brown wookiee costume Thursday on a charge of misdemeanor battery for allegedly head-butting a tour guide who complained about Young’s treatment of two visitors from Japan.
The incident — witnessed by Superman and other impersonators — is the latest clash outside the landmark cinema between visitors and performers dressed as movie and cartoon characters. They collect tips from tourists who pose for pictures and watch them perform in front of the theater, where generations of stars have placed their footprints in concrete.
Tourists have complained that some costumed characters turn abusive when they refuse to pay them to pose for pictures. Two years ago, actors dressed as superhero Mr. Incredible, Elmo the Muppet and the dark-hooded character from the movie “Scream” were arrested for aggressive begging. More recently, an actor portraying slasher movie favorite Freddie Krueger was taken into custody for allegedly stabbing another man, although no charges were filed.
COMMENTS:
* There was a notorious Elmo in Times Square a few years ago who would go on foul-mouthed anti-Semitic rants in between taking pictures and giving hugs. He was arrested several times but would reappear.
* Minimum sentencing guidelines and more prison beds tend to reduce this kind of thing: Only a small percentage of the population is this out-of-control. They’re fairly easy to detect, arrest and convict. When they’re warehoused in prison crime goes down.
* In the case of Jermaine, as John Derbyshire as noted, the present de facto religion is Negro-worship. Doing something about Jermaine would require recognition that he is a periodically slightly-daft, but dangerously violent Negro, which is impossible given present cultural standards. So some young women have to suffer some periodic serious, although almost-never, life threatening injuries. It’s just a sacrifice to the tribal gods.
* I can’t help thinking of the guy who was killed in Union Square a few years ago.
When you sucker punch people in the head on a city street, there’s a chance you will end up killing them.
* Lee Kuan Yew called busking ‘disguised begging’. Busking is poorly disguised mugging for a certain type of guy.
* In DC aka second chance city, even violent criminals are treated with kid gloves which leads to predictable results.
The alleged perpetrator, 21-year-old Antwon Durrell Pitt, had an extensive criminal history, including eight arrests in four years and a robbery conviction. Three times, he was sentenced under laws designed to promote leniency and second chances for inexperienced adult offenders. In two of those cases, he was sentenced under the District’s Youth Rehabilitation Act, a 1980s-era law aimed at “deserving” offenders under the age of 22.
Pitt’s case shows that such laws, combined with lax enforcement by key federal agencies, can give many chances to violent offenders despite repeated criminal behavior and the failure to abide by terms of release, according to a Washington Post review of court records, transcripts and probation reports.
* Here is the voice of one of Obama’s sons, from the comments on the local NBC station website story:
“These motherf**ers dont care about any rules & regs the city council just put in place & honestly i dont blame them. Personally, i wouldnt had punched the lady in thr face but i wouldve sure as hell had some choice words for her for not tipping me.”
JJ helpfully includes a photo of himself and a link to his Facebook page.
Anyone who visits NY should be wise to the ways of the city and know that nobody really gives you anything for free so that someone offering “Free Hugs” is actually expecting remuneration. NY is a high cost of living place and ain’t nothin’ free. If you are a naive Canadian woman, then JJ and Jermaine will teach you. Maybe JJ is one of the guys in the Elmo suits so he has a professional stake in educating tourists on this charming local custom.
If people thought that they could get away with not paying for these kind of services, it would be really bad for business – word might get out that you could get away without paying. If you bought a hot dog from a vendor and didn’t pay him, he might have the same reaction.
* Although he got off the first 15 or so times that he did this, I think that Jermaine’s luck has just run out. He has attracted the Eye of Sauron and he can no longer slip between the cracks in the legal system. A number of witnesses have come forward from other incidents in which he slugged women. Negroes have #1 privilege in the liberal system but women are not far behind. Even in De Blasio’s NY (Jermaine looks like his son too), I expect this time they will indict him on multiple counts of assault and he will do some time.
