“And those are the ones we’re going after.” “The real bums are the bums behind the camera, not the ones in front of the camera,” said Browne Greene, attorney for Brennan and Hannah. Themselves and beat each other for a videotape sold over the The news conference was held to announce a lawsuitĪgainst the producers of the videos who already face criminalĬharges in the case for allegedly paying homeless men to hurt The wordīumfight is tattooed on Brennan's head and the word Bumlife on To television crews after a news conference in San Diego. Others stomp and pummel each other until bloody.īarry Soper, left, helps Donnie Brennan, center, show his tattoos Another man, a self-described crack addict, sets his head on fire. On the tape, a homeless man is seen ripping out his front tooth with pliers. La Mesa police have said about 300,000 copies of the “Bumfights” tape have sold at $20 each. Tanner and Michael Slyman have withdrawn their innocent pleas or not entered pleas to argue that the charges have no legal basis. The men are seeking unspecified punitive damages for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil rights violations and other allegations.Īfter a three-month criminal investigation in the San Diego suburb of La Mesa, prosecutors last month charged four filmmakers with paying Brennan and Hannah to commit felony assaults on each other. “Who in their right minds is going to run their heads into a sign?” “When you’re drinking for 20 years as I have, when you don’t have a beer in your hand you would do anything to get one,” said Brennan, who bears a “Bumfight” tattoo on his forehead in bold red letters and others on his arms and belly. In fact, Soper "rescued" Hannah and Brennan from the filmmakers after the two men called Hannah's boss from a Las Vegas apartment building where they'd been "stashed.San Diego ? Two homeless men who say they were paid to hurt themselves and beat each other for a video sold on the Internet filed suit Wednesday against the filmmakers, who also face criminal charges.ĭonald Brennan and Rufus Hannah say the makers of “Bumfights: A Cause for Concern” took advantage of their alcoholism to persuade them to ram their heads into steel doors and signs and get “Bumfights” tattoos in bold letters across their hands and foreheads. Interestingly enough, Soper met and hired Hannah before Hannah ended up on the video series that gave him any fame. Urged by a neighbor to help the transients rather than run them off, Soper hired the two to do odd jobs around the complex. "You're ruining our canning route," Hannah snapped back. When he caught Hannah inside the Dumpster that morning, he got mad. Soper, 65, doesn't usually pay much attention to his trash receptacles, but someone had defecated next to this particular one a day earlier, so he was watchful. The two met next to a dumpster, according to the Union-Tribune: Much of that is thanks to Soper, who helped Hannah write a book-hence the renewed interest-called A Bum Deal, about Hannah's life and his work as an advocate for the homeless (he's currently trying to get legislation passed that would regard crimes against the homeless as hate crimes). He's also the subject of a San Diego Union-Tribune profile. He's married to an "old flame," with whom he'd already had two children, and he's eight years sober. Rufus Hannah, who along with his best friend Donnie Brennan was featured in the original Bumfights, and who has the word "bumfights" tattooed across his knuckles, is now a property manager in San Diego, working for Barry Soper, a real estate developer. Remember Bumfights, the deeply depressing 2002 video featuring homeless men goaded into doing stupid things like fighting each other and getting "Bumfights" tattoos? Well, the video's biggest "star" isn't a bum anymore-though he still has his infamous tattoo.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |