Why did Brian Bates get the nickname of the “Video Vigilante”?
I guess I’m most qualified to answer this question since I am Brian Bates, aka the Video Vigilante. Completely frustrated with street prostitution in my community I picked up my video camera in 1996 to get the evidence required to get an arrest and conviction. When I turned in the resulting video all the local news stations covered the story. One station in particular (KWTV Ch9) referred to me as a “Video Vigilante.” After the 2nd and 3rd tape, all the media began referring to me as “the Video Vigilante.” I initially did not like the moniker and asked the media not to refer to me as a vigilante. However, after a year of not being able to shake the name I finally gave in and embraced it. In reality a moniker gives me alot of personal anonymity and the media loves to use it any time they can. Since then I started a website at VideoVigilante.com and post videos on YouTube under the same moniker.
