Washington (dpa) – The maker of a film about a Ugandan warlord that has attracted millions of viewers on YouTube was detained for disorderly conduct in public, a California television station reported Friday. NBC San Diego said Jason Russell, a co-founder of non-profit group Invisible Children, was detained Thursday for reportedly being drunk, naked and masturbating in public. The report cited the San Diego Police Department. It said he was also allegedly vandalizing cars. “Due to the nature of the detention, he was not arrested,” police Lieutenant Andra Brown said. “During the evaluation we learned we probably needed to take him to a medical facility because of statements he was saying.” Invisible Children released a statement saying Russell was receiving medical care. Russell has been the focus of increasing media attention since his film went viral on YouTube last week and has been viewed more than 80 million times. “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,” Invisible Children's chief executive officer Ben Keesey said. On Monday, the organization rejected criticism about its funding and advocacy. The film accuses Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony of capturing of thousands of children over at least two decades. San Diego police said they had received calls on Thursday before noon of the man, Russell, who was undressed, running through traffic and screaming, the NBC station said. Critics have blasted the 30-minute StopKony film as a simplistic view by focusing on past atrocities by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, which is now thought to number fewer than 300 soldiers, and ignoring alleged human right's abuses by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/sYcru Tags: Arrest, Invisible Children, Kony, San Diego, Uganda Section: Culture, East Africa, Entertainment, Latest News, North America
