The Prologue
As a dramatist and public performer, I have a natural instinct to express myself theatrically. Combined with my discipline as a ten year martial artist, I am sometimes seen by others as an overwhelming presence. That being said, not everyone who encounters me in costume as “The Sun God” will agree with all my performance methods. As a result, I find myself regularly pursued, questioned, and judged by various authority figures – e.g. Police, Public Safety, Faculty, etc.
Though never an easy task to deal with, I have learned to value these encounters, specifically with officers of the law, because they provide me with a unique insight to how certain individuals attempt to manage their, sometimes exaggerated, inner fears. As such, I have decided to keep an active journal to record my confrontations with authority; sharing my side of the story as I continue onward the emotional journey that is "Theater-On-The-Walk™" -- My life, my struggle.
The following police report is my honest interpretation of what took place during the time of incidence. With respect to all those involved, all names shall be kept confidential.
The Unofficial Report
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 – Dartmouth Public Safety received a midnight phone call from an agitated Undergraduate female student. The student reported a noise complaint from outside her residence of Wheeler Hall - where outside her window and many others could be seen “The Sun God” sitting atop a large pyramid structure along Fayerweather Hill Road listening to music.
In addition to her initial complaint, the student, whom I never formally met, felt compelled to personalize the situation; voicing that I had been personally harassing her for several hours.
The Situation
I departed my residence in North Park at 11:00PM dressed in costume ready to express a range of emotions through an ensemble of music to the open world -- an artistic form of social activism entitled Theater-On-The-Walk™ serving additionally as my creative writing graduate thesis in Masters of Liberal Arts and Sciences (MALS).
I crossed through BEMA (a small expanse of open landscape in College Park) and made my way directly towards the pyramid landmark to hang out and relax. A place where every now and then I typically would spend about fifteen minutes or so listening to music, gazing at the stars, and waving in response to the occasional “Sun God” screams and double-beeps from the horns of enthusiastic drivers passing along College Street.
Being Careful not to cause a public scene for too long and not knowing that anyone had been offend by my presence, I casually migrated towards Berry Library talking to various students and friends along the way and crossed the street to Rope Ferry Road. It was at this time, along the far end of the dimly lit, vacated road that I found myself entrapped by a Public Safety Security vehicle.
Confrontation with Authority
Quickly exiting the vehicle to confront me were two security officers who said they received a complaint about a noise disturbance. Given the small size of campus combined with limited resting locations outside, I saw this as a mutually understandable frustration. Having received noise warnings in the past, I knew this situation wasn’t a big deal but for some reason the officer kept pressing me about my “relationship” with this young lady – a person who I honestly couldn’t even recall; as typically, I am introduced daily to dozens of curious new faces while in costume.
Yet, despite my claim the officer presumed to further question me with increasing attitude “I know you know what I’m talking about” he said while raising his voice – as if alluding to the idea that I had been harassing this person. At this point in time I became inwardly very upset. Though I seldom ever speak it, having to wear a mask in the open public forum in front of all your peers, faculty, and family is an emotional journey with numerous vulnerabilities, and now, being forced into the position to defend my integrity as a decent human being against such petty mind games just felt awful. The officer leaned toward me “Johnathan, you know what you did!”
In response, I decided to take off my mask and look at this man face-to-face to try and understand why an officer, sworn to uphold the law, was attempting to bait me on a fictitious account beyond the initial complaint he presented. “Look” I said frankly, “I don’t know who this person is or what she wants from me, but it’s obvious she doesn’t like me.” The officer then tried to coax me into formalizing his informal inquiry by requesting that I “submit an electronic report of my personal account to Public Safety” –to which I bluntly replied “No”.
The Aftermath
The officer gave me a verbal warning not to play music near Wheeler Hall but gave no further defining specifics of the proximity I was restricted to. In addition to this he also told me not to contact the individual who made the complaint. I couldn’t help but feel felt this was an inadequate solution to a concern that clearly needed improved articulation among both parties involved.
In hearing the tone of my frustration, the officer stated he “was just doing his job” – to that I never denied but rather what irritated me was the spontaneous interrogation I had to endure. Perhaps I am ignorant when dealing with authority but I strongly felt as if I was being persecuted and led on without any apparent regard to my initial responses.
Finalizing our conversation, I told the officers I understood their request and respectfully shook both their hands. The officer gave his respects and departed along Occom Ridge. Undeterred, I put my mask back on and continued to pursue the unknown of the night without hesitation. For the hour that followed before deciding to call it a night, I noticed Public Safety kept an intense surveillance on me; issuing patrol vehicles to pursue my movements in an assortment of tactful methods. According to the Department of Safety and Security website, night security is “done at random times to prevent anyone from patterning our movements”.
The pursuit, though strategically distant at times, was relentless. Without a doubt, they certainly do a good job at tracking down people but sometimes I wonder, in light of the College Administrations plan to cut $100 million dollars from the Dartmouth College budget over the next two years, if following me is a wise utilization of campus resources. The pursuit became so bothersome that at one point I seriously considered calling Hanover Police to file a stalking charge.
My Final Thoughts
I further want to acknowledge that in spite of my emotional evaluation of Public Safety and Security, I know at heart they are all good human beings with families and loved ones; for at the end of the day, when all is said and done, they do a good job. And though their methods, intimidating at times, may make us feel uncomfortable, are in fact beneficial and even transformative. For it is in confronting our inner tension that we experience the nature of our true character as human beings.
Additionally, we are in turn, privileged, because though terrifying, these are rare moments that we should learn to embrace. Among the great timeline of our lives, we are all put the test at some point and though it never comes in the form or time we imagine, at least by confronting our fears early on we will have gained wisdom as we prepare for the world journey that awaits us.
