It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's just some "commercial activist" using a drone to record the sexual encounters of consenting adults.
In case you haven't heard, the Video Vigilante bought a drone. I'm sure we'll learn all about it very soon on an upcoming episode of Maury, but if you can't wait, The Oklahoman's Andrew Knittle has all the details:
An Oklahoma City man who uses his video camera to combat prostitution in south Oklahoma City is now using a GPS-guided drone — when the situation calls for it — to do what he calls “commercial activism.”
Brian Bates, known to many as the "Video Vigilante," posted a video Aug. 6 on his JohnTV website that shows a man engaging in sex with a female prostitute near a tire dump off South Robinson Avenue. It was his first such video where the “gotcha moment” was captured using a drone, Bates said.
“It's something I started carrying with me, not really knowing how it was going to work into my activism,” he said. “And I found that in very, very specific applications, I think a drone is one of the safest ways to go about my activism.”
Yeah, the Video Vigilante isn't some dude who makes money by exploiting the sexual activities of Johns with street hookers. He's a "commercial activist." In other news, I'm a "legitimate journalist" and Mary Fallin is a "competent Governor."
Seriously, what exactly is "commercial activism?" That would be like saying you're a "commercial volunteer" or a "paid intern." I googled the term, and a definition literally doesn't exist. It sounds like something Frank Luntz made up so the Video Vigilante can feel better about himself.
Here are the details of the drone footage:
In March, Bates spotted a familiar prostitute working his hunting grounds along South Robinson Avenue. He also recognized the “john,” a man in his 80s who Bates claims to have “busted” before.
Bates tailed the pair in his own vehicle for some time and noticed a green truck keeping tabs on the prostitute and her client.
“Possibly a violent pimp,” he said of the green truck's driver. “And that was one of the reasons I decided to use the drone at that time … to avoid a potentially violent confrontation with the pimp.”
At about the 4 minute mark in the video posted to his website and his YouTube channel, Bates deploys the drone — a white, futuristic-looking machine with four propellers and a powerful camera mounted on its base — from what appears to be a hundred yards away.
Listen, I don't really agree with what the Video Vigilante does, but I'll admit that footage sounds hysterical. Who doesn't want to see two people at the bottom of the barrel caught having sex in an abandoned lot by a drone.
Check out the video:
This past spring, crazy old Ralph Shortey introduced legislation that would allow people to shoot down drones hovering over their property without fear of facing a lawsuit. It didn't pass. After watching this video, maybe it's time we reconsider it. If we're not careful, the Video Vigilante may change careers and become a "commercial activist" who warns people of the dangers of sunbathing nude from the privacy of their backyard or school bus.
Anyway, you can watch more Video Vigilante videos over on his YouTube page. When you do, don't forget to click the ads and support his "Commercial Perversion" err... I mean activism.
