14 DAY TRIAL // The Rain City Superhero Movement may sound like a comic book fan event but it couldn't be more different than one: a group of 9 Real Life Superheroes is patrolling the streets of Seattle, fighting and preventing crime in what is the biggest vigilante movement of the kind.
Of course, the Real Life Superheroes have masks, costumes and “stage names,” personas that do the good deed without them having their identity revealed to the public or the police.
Nevertheless, what sets them apart from other vigilantes in real life (like Shadow Hare, of which we were telling you last year) is that, as per their own words, they all have military or martial arts training.
According to SeattlePI, police have issued a statement confirming the existence of the Movement and warning citizens that their involvement in police business should only be to the extent of dialing 911 when they notice something wrong: vigilantism is not encouraged or condoned.
“Seattle police say a group of self-described superheroes have been patrolling the streets at night trying to save people from crime. They call themselves the Rain City Superhero Movement and say they're part of a nationwide movement of real-life crime fighters,” Seattle PI writes.
“Investigators identified nine people dressed in costume going around Seattle after dark. A police source said the characters go by Thorn, Buster Doe, Green Reaper, Gemini, No Name, Catastrophe, Thunder 88, Penelope and Phoenix Jones the Guardian of Seattle,” the same publication informs.
The vigilantes' identities have not been revealed to the press and, so far, no charges have been brought against them for interfering with police work.
Phoenix Jones, though, says they're not doing anything wrong. Moreover, he too says that no one should become a vigilante just because they can, stressing that the Movement is more than just a bunch of guys going out in ski masks looking for trouble.
“I don't condone people walking around on the street with masks. Everyone on my team either has a military background or a mixed martial arts background, and we're well aware of what its costs to do what we do,” Phoenix Jones says.
Entomo, another member of the Movement, agrees. What they're doing is giving people hope again by showing them that there still are people out there – ordinary people, by all appearances – willing to work with the police to protect them.
“Inspiration plays a major role in this, of course. You can inspire people to believe in a symbol. You can inspire people to believe they can CREATE themselves a symbol and embody it – and it's not a lie,” Entomo says.