April 03, 2017
Braxknuckles/Instagram via Twitter
An unnamed man turned heads near Temple University's campus by running around the streets naked and screaming on Friday morning.
It started with a nine-part, two-minute video that user “braxknuckles” – aka “Pre-Game James” – posted on Instagram on Friday morning.
The setting: The North Philly streets near Temple University’s campus. The antagonist: A naked man. The theme: People trying to figure out what in God’s name the naked man is doing roaming the streets. The end result: Police show up with Tasers.
That, of course, is an oversimplification of the Instagram story that consumed Philly’s viral-story quota if only for a few hours.
If you haven’t seen the entirely NSFW video, you can do so via this link or scroll down to the bottom of this post. It’s the sort of content that needs be obscured from plain sight.
If you’re not inclined to watch the profanity- and nudity-laced segment – can’t say I blame you – here are some highlights:
• With the words “Don’t Do Drugs” captioning the footage, the camera zeroes in on a naked man walking down the sidewalk. When the photographer tells the naked man that he’s walking around naked, the naked man responds, “Who cares? My mom doesn’t believe in God.”
• He’s then shown blocking traffic and telling a police car that “Slavery existed.”
• He then runs across the street outside Diamond Pizza (1700 Diamond St.) and tries to grab a woman who makes clear in no uncertain terms that she does not want to be touched. He then sprints up the block screaming that “I’m going to die.”
• Braxknuckles captions the next scene “If he was black, he would’ve been dead & naked #facts.” Then, there are sirens, and police (both Philadelphia and university) give chase on foot.
• You can see and hear Tasers being put to use. The naked gentleman does not flinch, but when he’s taken down by four officers, he screams, “They’re going to kill me. I’m going to die right here. They’re going to lock me up and kill everyone.” And that’s how it ends.
For those wondering what happened when the camera stopped rolling, I checked in with Philadelphia police over the weekend. Officer Troy Brown of the department's public affairs unit responded as such:
“In regards to the incident you are inquiring about, a male was Tasered and he was transported to Hahnemann Hospital for evaluation,” he wrote on Monday morning. “At this time no charges have been filed.”
Police did not release the man's name as he has not been charged in connection with the Friday morning incident. Here's hoping he, and everybody else involved, are OK.
WARNING: The video below is graphic and contains language that some may find offensive, as well as nudity.
only in philly... and of course on my street, right outside of my damn house 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5CiUVJa4T0
— Lindsay Meyer (@lindsayN0Tlohan) March 31, 2017
