KONY 2012's Jason Russell busted for public masturbation

Here's an imaginative way to derail a viral campaign to stop a Ugandan "child terrorist" - take off your pants and freak out in a suburban area of San Diego.

That's exactly what 33-year old Jason Russell of Invisible Children and "KONY 2012" fame did on Thursday. SDPD said they received calls at around 11:30 a.m. of a stripped-down dude running through traffic and screaming.

Some claimed he was wearing "speedo-like" underwear, others said he later got rid of those and started masturbating.

Cellphone video of Russell's meltdown is inside (NSFW, obviously)...

 

Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey has since released a 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.”

The hospitalization order is known as a 5150 psychiatric hold - it allows medical examiners to hold Russell for up to three days to determine whether he is a danger to himself or others. Gawker says that's the same hold they used for Britney Spears during her sans-hair psychotic break.

Jason Russell has been working for years to build awareness about Joseph Kony and his Ugandan "Lord's Resistance Army" - a military outfit that abducts and tortures children, forcing them to become soldiers.

The culmination of his efforts was the viral "KONY 2012" video, spread in fervor among social networks about a month ago.

According to Russell's wife Danica, the criticism of KONY 2012 is what sent Jason over the deep end:

Thank you to everyone concerned with Jason and his health.
Jason has dedicated his adult life to this cause, leading up to KONY2012. We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week, millions of people around the world saw it. While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony, it also brought a lot of attention to Jason-and, because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal, and Jason took them very hard.
Let us say up front- that Jason has never had a substance abuse or drinking problem, and this episode wasn't caused by either of those things. But yes, he did some irrational things brought on by extreme exhaustion and dehydration. On our end- the focus remains only on his health, and protecting our family. We'll take care of Jason, you take care of the work.
The message of the film remains the same: stop at nothing.

This is now Russell's most infamous viral video appearance, after unseating this... thing:

VIA: Gawker
SOURCE: NBC San Diego