The video message at the bottom of this post, from Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey, attempts to shed additional light on the reasons for Russell's outburst while assuring viewers that the Kony 2012 campaign has not ended.
Keesey starts out by saying that "these last two weeks have been.. really tough." That's a bit ironic considering what the victims shown in the Kony 2012 video have gone through; he probably should have left that part out. Nonetheless, the position from Keesey is that Invisible Children was hoping to get a half a million sets of eyeballs to watch their video and that they weren't prepared for what they got - 100 Million. He then points to all of that attention bearing down on Russell, who didn't know how to handle it. His way of doing so was apparently to call even more attention to himself by running naked through the streets of San Diego. I'm sorry, I'm having a tough time buying this.
These guys are well-intentioned but they have no clue what they're dealing with. Joseph Kony - the guy they're after - is a Muslim Brotherhood pawn. Until they're able to see the bigger picture, they could do far more harm than good. They've already set out to make Joseph Kony famous by selling merchandise that bears his likeness. This too is dangerous because it very well could lead to the Che Guevara effect, where people like Carlos Santana wear t-shirts that make a mass murderer iconic.
Mr. Keesey, instead of blindly pressing forward, perhaps you should take Russell's behavior as a sign that you're in over your heads, however well-intentioned you may be.
Via the LA Times:
To the Invisible Children Family from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.
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