As previously reported, Jason Russell, co-founder of Invisible Children, and the man behind the huge viral video that has received so much attention over the last couple weeks, Kony 2012, was arrested in San Diego after an incident which reports indicated included allegations of public intoxication, vandalism, and masturbating in public (police said one caller indicated he was “perhaps masturbating,” but this was not confirmed).

Shortly after the news broke, Invisible Children’s CEO, Ben Keesey, released this statement:

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.

TMZ (of course) has managed to get ahold of what they claim is footage of Russell and his “naked meltdown”. The guy in the video is too far away to be sure, but it seems fairly likely that it is indeed him.

The footage is an obviously of a nude man, so that makes it NSFW, but like I said, it’s from far away, so we’re not talking in your face obscene here. I’ve seen plenty worse in R-rated movies, and maybe even PG-13 movies at this point.

Reports indicated that there was masturbation involved, but this just shows what appears to be something along the lines of a maniacal pounding on the ground. The clip is very short though.

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Wow, how does TMZ get some of this stuff? I guess it’s the product of the era we’re living in, where everyone has a video camera in their pocket at all times. In fact, the more I think about it, I’m surprised there aren’t more samples of footage popping up.

It’s a weird story. There’s no way around it. Mental health problems are serious, as many have noted, but it is interesting that any attention brought to Kony 2012 will only help its goal of spreading awareness. If you haven’t watched the actual video yet, now might be a good time to do so, if for no other reason, than to get a better grasp on what this story is all about (it’s currently at 80,892,486 views):

To be clear, I’m not implying that this whole incident was a publicity stunt. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is, but I’m not going to make that assumption. Some people have mental issues. I’ve been around on the Earth long enough to know that. There has been a lot of negative PR around the Kony 2012 campaign, including harsh criticism from people in Uganda, who have actually had to deal with Kony. That combined with how big this thing has gotten, would be enough to put a lot of pressure on anybody.

To the point of accomplishing the goal of spreading awareness of Kony, however, it doesn’t really make a difference, because it is bringing attention to it regardless.

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