Meet The Guy Trying To Shame Mexico City’s Rich Into Behaving
Meet The Guy Trying To Shame Mexico City’s Rich Into Behaving
Arne aus den Ruthen’s Periscoping of rich lawbreakers have people debating whether he’s a hero or violating people’s rights.
posted on Mar. 2, 2016, at 5:26 p.m.
Karla Zabludovsky
MEXICO CITY, México — The woman probably didn’t even think about what she’d just done. She simply did what many residents of this megacity do regularly: she threw out a garbage bag on the sidewalk and walked away, certain that no one would notice.
But Arne aus den Ruthen did. What’s more, he broadcast it on Periscope for the world to see.
“Pick up the trash bag. Pick up the trash bag!” Den Ruthen can be heard saying over and over, his tone escalating throughout the nearly 5-minute-long transmission. The woman refuses to pick it up at first, accusing Den Ruthen of touching her. “I’ll take you to the public prosecutor’s office for health crimes,” Den Ruthen threatens her, and she starts to cry. She tells him she’s a government employee in a last-ditch effort to get a free pass.
The woman, whose identity is not known but was christened #ladybasuras, or Trash Lady, on social media, paid a fine. Since then, Den Ruthen, the director of borough management — charged with following up on reports of potholes, broken streetlights and other irregularities on public areas — in one of Mexico City’s most affluent neighborhoods, has streamed hundreds more videos of people breaking regulations caught in the act. Many have gone viral.
A heated debate has emerged as his popularity in the Miguel Hidalgo neighborhood has grown, with some praising Den Ruthen’s work as the first line of defense against corruption and entitlement. Others criticize his transmissions as public, digital lynchings and possibly a violation of citizen’s rights.
More:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/karlazabludovsky/meet-the-guy-trying-to-shame-mexico-citys-rich-into-behaving#.joR41Ve6E
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