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May 16, 2008 7:16:31 AM CDT



'Video Vigilante' Boasts Tar and Feathering 2.0  

Posted Feb 23, 08 11:29 AM CST in US Arts & Living    Most Covered

(newser) – Brian Bates captures unsuspecting people on candid camera, but his subjects don’t have reason to smile: He’s the self-proclaimed Video Vigilante of Oklahoma City, capturing men consorting with prostitutes and then posting the videos online. “If you get caught by the cops, you pay a fine,” Bates said. “If you get caught by me, you get a life sentence.”

The camera crusader taps into the wave of video activism documenting lewd conduct, the Los Angeles Times says. Bates’s videos are wildly popular, but critics blast his bravado. “He’s a positive influence,” said one prosecutor. “But a lot of people think he’s a pervert or a nut.” Still, Bates revels in his fame: “I’m a 10 o’clock news station’s dream.”

Source Los Angeles Times

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OKC's Own JohnTV | Feb 23, 08

'Video Vigilante' Boasts Tar and Feathering 2.0
Brian Bates, the self-proclaimed Video Vigilante of Oklahoma City, is among a burgeoning breed of activists who are using inexpensive video technology to capture immoral and socially unacceptable public...   (Getty Images)
'Video Vigilante' Boasts Tar and Feathering 2.0
In 2002, Video Vigilante Brian Bates caught two Oklahoma City police officers beating a black man, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bates says the case, which drew national headlines, has won him the ire...   (Getty Images)
'Video Vigilante' Boasts Tar and Feathering 2.0
Brian Bates, known as the 'Video Vigilante,' is seen in a southeast Oklahoma City neighborhood July 12, 2002 with the video camera he used to capture two Oklahoma City policemen repeatedly strike Donald...   (Getty Images)
'Video Vigilante' Boasts Tar and Feathering 2.0
(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)   (Associated Press)
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Prostitution: 20/20 Interview of the Video Vigilante (1998)   (videovigilanteokc (YouTube))
Al Roker with the Video Vigilante (re: Child Prostitution)   (videovigilanteokc (YouTube))

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YouTube   police   prostitution   Oklahoma City   prosecutors



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