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neighborhood news update
Belltown Peeper Makes YouTube Crack Porn "Private"
Update (05-14-2008) Addicted to Crackheads Belltown Messenger --- Update (05-13-2008) Controversial Belltown videos are gone -- for now Seattle P-I --- Update (05-13-2008) Seattle policing: 'Would YOU sign up for this abuse?' Seattle P-I --- Update (05-13-2008) YouTube Crimefighter: Seattle Woman Fights Crime With Camera Q-13 Fox --- Update (05-13-2008) The Belltown Peeper, shocked by her newfound legal responsibilities as a "citizen journalist," has made her YouTube crack porn "private." "The videos are now private, if you are SPD or the city, please feel free to email if you would like to use the video - everyone else will need to use google archives, sorry. I only took the videos for two weeks, and it was never my intention to keep shooting videos or to leave the videos on for a long time, just wanted light to be shed on the problem, it obviously worked (and got blown out of proportion a bit), now lets see if it makes a difference. Thanks to the people who support the videos, and the negative comments were still appreciated because at least the city is talking! That is the first step, acknowledging a problem! Just as with these videos, the news often does not capture the full story, or the correct facts. And, as with these videos, take what you see and hear with a grain of salt. ;)" - Just yesterday, her profile said this: "**There has been some concern as to if "crackheads" are in fact smoking crack. The video does not capture as much as the eye does. The people in the "crack" videos are smoking white rocks from a glass crack pipe. I am 100% positive that they are not smoking cigarettes, as suggested." --- 05-11-2008 Belltown Crack Porn Scandal Still Simmering 
"Does she know for sure that everyone she labels "crackhead" is actually smoking crack, as the video titles imply? It's at least conceivable that if one of the people in the videos is identifiable and can somehow prove he was smoking cigarettes, he could sue for defamation, said David Ardia, director of the Citizen Media Law Project at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. -Seattle P-I 05-11-08 Here's an update on the controversy surrounding the Belltown Crime YouTube videos. The Messenger is working on a story about this for June. A web update will appear on Wednesday, May 14th. Update (05-12-2008) 'Stop whining. It's Belltown' and other perspectives on change Seattle P-I
Update (05-12-2008) Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times threw in his two cents today, gratuitous headline and all. Shining light on "real" Belltown  Here's the KIRO interview with Joe Corsi, apartment manager and Belltown's newly self-appointed anti-crackhead crusader. --- Here are some great (anonymous) comments from the (anonymous) Belltowner.com blog: By Alex R. Mayer on May 9, 2008 8:42 AM To anonymous responders on the anonymous Belltowner.com blog: I talked with Tim at Real Change yesterday and he wasn't offended by the word "bum." He says "it's in the vernacular." I trust him on these things. Remind me to not post to this blog without having had my coffee. These voyeuristic crackhead videos on YouTube are nothing new. I enjoyed the seamy, exploitative coverage on the local TV news. The condo videotapers should get Michael Powell's classic film "Peeping Tom" on NetFlix. Oh, and I live in the suburbs, in Seward Park. Our editor, Clark, lives in Belltown and he'll be better equipped to deal with this issue if he wishes to do so. I have connections in the Belltown "crackhead" community and just may start work on a story. I'll be actually face to face with these people, so we can get their side of the story as well as that of the residents. In most major cities, people smoke crack in alleys. Some people videotape this activity from the safety of their condos. I find it all rather unsavory and fascinating. I'm glad people have started posting comments to Belltowner.com! Cheers, -Alex --- By JDW on May 9, 2008 9:17 AM I was born in Seattle in 1959, and have been a member of Seattle's crack community for about twenty years. We have always considered Belltown our home: a safe, open environment in which to practice our lifestyle. In the 1990s Californians and other yuppies looked longingly on our 'hood and therein built concrete fortresses rising up into the sky. Then, suddenly, and with shock, they noticed there were people already living there. These denizens -- call us, say, Injuns, or pick your own analogy -- are unsavory to yuppies. Now, armed with video cameras, they aim to drive us out. Where to, Queen Anne? Might as well send us to Lubbock, Texas, for all the hospitality we could expect there. If I had a video camera I'd record you not picking up after your dog, trolling for hookers in your Beemers, insulting the waitstaff at Mama's. But I don't own a video camera. Tell you what. Next time you spy on me, give me a whistle and I'll flash you a moon. You'll be a YouTube star. --- JDW, Yes, me not picking up a dog turd is just as offensive as you lighting up and smoking crack. Well, I don't think the law sees it that way. We don't want you to go to Queen Anne -- we want you to go to jail (or at least to rehab)! It's that simple! I'll gladly turn myself into the local police station for not picking up some dog poop and you can turn yourself in for smoking crack. Let's see who ends up with a ticket and who ends up in jail. You don't have a right to practice crime in any neighborhood in the city and kudos to the people in Belltown fighting against you. If the videos on youtube are bringing about change from the police/mayor/city council, then keep 'em coming. --- By Anonanon on May 10, 2008 7:58 AM I think these videos are horrible. The lady videotaping should be ashamed of herself. The people she is taping are the most desperate and vulnerable people in the city, and she is exposing them to the wrath of the police. What did they ever do to her? (besides lower the profit for her overpriced condominium). These are her neighbors. She is a peeping tom.--- By Freddie on May 10, 2008 5:20 PM Good for her. Anyone has the right to live without fear and intimidation, and having crackheads in your ally is just that. This afternoon I was walking through Belltown on the way to MarketOptical only to see a bum drop his pants and take a dump in middle of sidewalk on 1st ... A group of tourists from Europe could not believe their eyes. --- By JDW on May 11, 2008 1:50 PM Couple of points. Yes, we are disgusting. We find ourselves disgusting. It's understood that if you go into a downtown alley in any large city except, say, Pyongyang, you will find disgusting people. Why doesn't our young videographer understand this? Maybe it should be taught in prep school. Secondly, I know I don't have the right to smoke crack. I can't help it. But it's not clear to me that anyone has the right to videotape strangers in a public place, post it, and call them crackheads. I suppose it's okay if they're committing crimes. But in many of the young lady's videos not much is happening. Example: "Crackheads playing football." No crack in evidence. No crimes. In one video a girl pees, a misdemeanor. The vid is called "Hooker pisses." Hooker? What? Yeah, we're disgusting, always have been. But there's a special room in hell for the preening, mocking, self-congratulatory, disgustingly anonymous crackhead voyeur who cranked out this porn. --- By AFF on May 12, 2008 12:13 PM It is unlawful for her to be audio recording these people without their consent under Washington law. She can video tape them all she wants in a public place, but audio conversations are different. Aside from that, I think she needs to realize she lives in Belltown and get over it. Her comments comparing Detroit to Seattle prove to me she never lived anywhere in the city limits of Detroit, this sort of stuff wouldn't even get a second glance in The D. Don't compare your youth in Harrison Township to inner city life. --- Banned by YouTube!View the crackporn filmed by the "Belltown Peeper" that was too hot for YouTube, even though you can't really see anything in this blurry mess. |
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