The founder of the San Diego nonprofit Invisible Children who made the viral video "Kony 2012" about a Ugandan warlord was hospitalized Saturday after being arrested amid traffic in his underwear.
Jason Russell—33 and who co-founded the organization after creating a documentary of the same name with Poway High School graduate Bobby Bailey—was taken into custody near Ingraham Street and Riviera Drive about 11:30 a.m. Friday, according to police, who took him to a hospital.
The 30-minute video about how Joseph Kony impresses youths into his Lord's Resistance Army militia and how the soldiers sexually exploit young girl has logged more than 96 million views since it was posted on YouTube March 5.
"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," a statement from a New York public relations firm said.
His wife, Danica Russell, also issued a statement.
"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," she stated. "But yes, he did some irrational things brought on by extreme exhaustion and dehydration."
-City News Service
