Saying harsh things to officers when you think you’re being unlawfully detained may be an expected reaction… but not when your name is Jesus. The internet has gone crazy over a bizarre Covid-19 arrest made by the Moscow police.
A man walking his dog in central Moscow – an activity allowed despite the coronavirus-related near-total lockdown – was arrested in broad daylight, put in a police van and driven to the station as his scared pooch remained alone in the street. Sounds outrageous? Well, outrage was the initial online reaction to videos that emerged Saturday – but that was neither the whole story, nor exactly accurate.
Друзья, максимально дикая ситуация — на Патриарших арестовали мужчину, который выгуливал собаку. Собака осталась одна! Максимальный репост!
The man’s ordeal appeared in a whole new light when his identity – Jesus Vorobyev – and a video of him speaking to police have emerged. Let’s just say his demeanor was far from the standards of a Messiah.
It turned out that the man was not detained for simply walking his dog, but for being a repeat offender of the city’s self-isolation rules. Amid the pandemic, walks no further than 100 meters away from home are allowed, and public parks have been shut down. The officers had reportedly given the man ample warnings on other occasions.
But Jesus refused to cooperate with police when asked to produce his passport, and things escalated quickly.
“You know I wish that you all die together with your children, wives and mothers,” he appeared to shout at the officers in footage obtained by RT.
Vorobyov was eventually apprehended for disobeying the police and now faces the prospect of a 15-day administrative arrest (unlike the dog, which was brought back home by his wife). The man was released from the station after a few hours, but he’ll now have to show up in court on Monday.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. Vorobyov talked to the media about his arrest, saying that the officers acted like “fascists” and that parting a man with his dog is the same as separating a mother from her child.
Unfortunately for the man, far fewer were taking him seriously at this stage, as the internet responded with jokes – and with people online both stressed out and bored by the pandemic, there was no shortage of them.
The commentators noted that the site of the arrest – the Patriarch Ponds – has made the incident even more surreal. The park is where the opening scene of Mikhail Bulgakov’s iconic “Master and Maragarita” novel takes place, and its story alternates between Moscow of 1930s and Jerusalem during the trial of Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Jesus of Nazareth) by Pontius Pilate.
“Jesus detained at the Patriarch Ponds for walking his dog and arguing with the cops. The end of days is really here,” one of the commenters wrote, while another added that even the creators of “South Park” wouldn’t have been able to come up with such a twisted plot.
The very combination of “Jesus” and “Vorobyev” (“sparrow’s son” or “that of the sparrows”) sounds quite comical and mismatched to a Russian ear. So the man has been swiftly proclaimed the God of the Birds.
The online sleuths found out that Vorobyev’s given name was Denis, but he changed it to Jesus just for laughs. Even more bizarre are reports he used to be a policeman himself, but got sacked. Now Jesus apparently runs a small fashion brand, which specializes in t-shirts and hoodies with obscene prints.
After analyzing all this information, some on Twitter came to the conclusion that “the only victim in this situation is the dog.”
Это Иисус Воробьёв. По ходу не зря у него собачку отжали, они её бедную, с другом его паниным, того… 🐶🐶🐶🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/krRpqLSwrJ
