I was working on changing out the alarm systems on all the Longs Pharmacies when CVS bought them. My co- worker showed me an article on Mr. Xtreme that he found in an old storage room. I realized there were other people who give a damn about the city, so I called up and joined the XJL. That was about 8 years ago, and I've been doing it ever since.
Grim's twitter accountFrom 1995 to 2000 I was a vigilante. I was carrying illegal weapons and fighting with gang members and other types of criminals. It wasn’t until I became involved in the security industry that I learned that what I had been doing was severely illegal and could lead to me being incarcerated for a very long time. I focused on being a security professional and made hundreds of arrests while working as a plain clothes officer for Transit here in San Diego. As I was promoted, the job changed and the sense of freedom and adventure was gone. I was chained to desk doing tons of paperwork and I missed the streets. I had seen the HBO documentary featuring XJL founder Mr. Xtreme and I saw that he was doing things the right way. Years later I revived my Vigilante persona and began to patrol again, except now I was following the good examples placed forward by Mr. Xtreme and other RLSH’s Urban Avenger contacted me and we began to patrol together for the next few years. After attending the San Diego hope event in 2018 the XJL invited me to patrol with them and that’s how I’ve spent the rest of this year. Being a RLSH is the only activity that I’ve ever been involved in that feels like being a plain clothes officer. It’s exhilarating, Liberating and at the end of the day it allows me to experience the Adrenalin and sense of purpose that is achieved when you do good deeds for others and help those in need of assistance.
I have always loved volunteering and giving my time to organizations doing work that appealed to me. I started in high school with a group that went to local libraries and schools acting out popular children’s books encouraging kids to read more and use their imaginations. Later I worked with a Big Sister program, homeless shelters serving food, animal shelters, just to name a few. But like most of us in the community, my childhood wasn’t friendly and I suffered the kind of betrayal and trauma that is far too common and should never be. I swore that I would do whatever I could to keep others from suffering. So I volunteered as much as I could. I first learned of the RLSH community about four years ago when I was looking for my next mission. I was out on the town with some friends for a bachelorette party when I saw a group of people dressed in (what I thought was) cosplay. I have always been kind of a nerd so caught up and asked for a photo. They were kind and agreed. The next morning as I was shuffling through the photos from the night before I realized I didn’t recognize any of the cosplays so asked my son (Yce) if he knew who they were. He told me they were “San Diego’s Superheroes” and there was a documentary he had seen on HBO. I immediately jumped on the internet and started researching. I watched every video I could find, watched a couple of documentaries and was so inspired. There were these people all over the USA doing different things to better their communities and having fun while doing it. Creating their own hero and living the fantasy we all have has kids (especially those of us who grew up enjoying comic books). I posted the photo from that evening on Insta with #signmeup within a couple of days they responded with who to contact if I was actually interested. I emailed, scheduled a patrol, and the rest is history. I knew after the first night that I was hooked. We did some actual work and helped people in real time. It was the best feeling I’d have ever known. Working to help and inspire through anonymous acts of kindness and protection has bettered my life in so many ways and introduced me to the best partner a RLSH and woman can ask for.
I've always wanted to be a superhero every since I discovered what they were. As I grew to an adult, somewhere alond the way being a "superhero" in my mind was only make-believe; until one day I learned about the RLSH movement way back in 2006. I was immediately inspired and my desire to be a superhero was rekindled all over again. What really motivated me to get out there and do this is I finally got fed up seeing so many YouTube videos and Facebook posts of individuals getting attacked and beaten and dozens of witnesses just standing around cheering, watching, filming, or just ignoring the situation altogether. I'm not out for the thousands that don't need me, but I'm out there for the few that do.