Friday, January 15, 2010

Update: Woman: AIDS video hoax meant to be public service

By NAOMI R. PATTON and TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

AIDS video hoax star Jackie Braxton looked like a bandit — some would say a terrorist — a large handkerchief with prints of $100 bills on them covering much of her face.

Only her brown eyes, thick black eyebrows and hair and big silver hoop earrings were visible as she warned on an Internet video that she had AIDS and had infected hundreds in Detroit.

“I’ve set out to destroy the world,” she said. “Three minutes of pleasure turns into a lifetime of death.”

The video posting to MediaTakeOut.com on Thursday soon went viral and wound up on YouTube.com. It was picked by the media and passed around in e-mails. Police and health officials received calls from people concerned whether the young woman’s message was true and about its potential impact.

By this morning, Detroit police had tracked down the source of the video and picked up Braxton, 23, of Detroit. Braxton admitted to police she was the woman in the video, but said it was a hoax.

She agreed to a blood test at the city’s Department of Health and Wellness Promotion Herman Kiefer Health Complex. The test was negative for HIV/AIDS, police said.

John Roach, Detroit police spokesman, said Braxton was released, though department officials were trying to determine if she can be charged with a crime.

Braxton, who performs under the stage name “Fame” on her YouTube channel and on a subscription-based porn Website she operates with her husband, said her video was meant as more than just a hoax.

'I wanted them to know' about the dangers of AIDS

Jackie Braxton said she created the hoax video claiming she had infected 500 men in Detroit with AIDS to make people aware of the dangers of unprotected sex and the threat of HIV/AIDS.

Braxton’s message was seen by at least tens of thousands Thursday and today on MediaTakeOut.com, which calls itself “The Most Visited Urban Website In The World.”

“If it scared people, my apologies for scaring them,” Braxton, 23, of Detroit told the Free Press today. “I wanted them to know — one night of pleasure could lead to a life full of pain.”

“Hopefully, it will serve as a public service,” she added.

With a noticeable jump in the number of people showing up Thursday and today at Detroit’s walk-in HIV/AIDS testing clinics, Braxton may have gotten her wish.

Police and health departments reported receiving several calls from people concerned about the potential impact of someone deliberating spreading AIDS.

But since Braxton agreed to submit to a test today that came back negative for HIV/AIDS, law enforcement officials and legal experts are unsure if the woman with “Bossy” tattooed on the left side of her neck can or will be charged with any crime.

“It’s somewhat new for us, something we’re researching,” said John Roach, Detroit police spokesman. “Our folks are looking at various state laws that might apply to a situation like this.”

Richard Krisciunas, a former Wayne County prosecutor for 28 years and current University of Detroit Mercy Law School professor, said Braxton exercised her free speech in creating the video.

Though it may have caused a public health scare, it did not necessarily present a legal clear and present danger to the public — akin to falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater.

“I can’t think of a crime,” Krisciunas said. “I don’t see a crime.”

Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion officials said an average of seven people a day come in for walk-in testing available on Monday, Thursday and Friday. On Thursday and today, the department saw about 15 people a day.

In the video, Braxton, the married mother of a 5-year-old daughter, holds up a list of people and reads the full names of some people she said infected with AIDS and herpes, claiming to have slept with people’s boyfriends, husbands and friends.

The video was viewed by hundreds of thousands on the MediaTakeOut.com Website, and more than 17,000 on YouTube by Friday afternoon.

“You’re all going to die,” she said in the video. “You see a nice shiny apple. You should have learned from Snow White: just because an apple was pretty and inviting, doesn’t mean it wasn’t harmful.”

Detroit police picked up Braxton this morning at an unidentified Detroit college, where she said she’s earning an associates degree in health administration.

She said was “shocked” by reaction to the hand-held video she casually shot.
“I just went in the bathroom, cut the camera on and just freestyled all the way through,” Braxton said.

Contact NAOMI R. PATTON: 313-223-3327 or npatton@freepress.com

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