Juan (street protester)

Juan ("aka" Pedro), is a street protester operating in Seattle, Washington. He is known for yelling the same things, at the same location, for nearly twenty years.

Identity and popularity

The "Seattle Weekly" claims his name is "Juan".cite news
last = Stanley
first = Laura
coauthors =
title = Street Asylum
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Seattle Weekly
date = February 26, 2003
url = http://www.seattleweekly.com/2003-02-26/news/street-asylum.php
accessdate = 2007-04-19 ]
"The Stranger" claims his name is "Pedro",cite news
last = Levin
first = Rick
coauthors =
title = Commies, Cops, and Cubans
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = The Stranger
date = May 24, 2001
url = http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=7434
accessdate = 2007-04-19 ] although their newcomers' guide to Seattle refers to him simply as "the Frye Apartments Guy". [ [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=79031 Say WA? - Pullout - Secret Student Handbook 2006 - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper ] ]

Juan is a Cuban refugee. News accounts place his age at 57 in 2001, and 60 in 2004. [cite news
last = Schmader
first = David
coauthors =
title = FURIOUS MAN REMAINS FURIOUS
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = The Stranger
date = November 18, 2004
url = http://cgi.thestranger.com/2004-11-18/feature2.html
accessdate = 2007-04-19 ] He claims he is not homeless, although it is unknown where he lives and he occasionally appears at the Municipal building shelter. He is not on the streets to beg or busk and will usually turn down offers of money. He will also not accept food (because the police could have poisoned it).

Juan has fake profiles, sometimes several, on nearly every major social networking site that quickly gather friends; for instance, the "crazyscreamingguy" MySpace profile has over 1000 friends. [ [http://www.myspace.com/crazyscreamingguy MySpace.com - CRAZYSCREAMINGGUY - 58 - Garçon - 6TH AND PINE, US - www.myspace.com/crazyscreamingguy ] ] He is so well known that journalists write of him in passing, assuming the readers know what they are talking aboutcite web | url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2002-05-15/news/my-bike-buddy.php | title=Wave at the nice crazy man in front of Pacific Place yelling unintelligibly about the Seattle police being communist] . Other people have even made products available; such as a drink coaster available from SeattleNotables.com, and on occasion vendors selling t-shirts to tourists include his picture.

Concerns

Juan screams his rant and holds his sign daily in downtown Seattle, generally around 6th & Pine. He is often in front of the Pacific Place entrance or the flagship Nordstrom, though occasionally he is a few blocks away at Westlake Plaza or the Macy's. His sign has changed a few times but always has two main antagonists: the Seattle Police Department and the Frye Apartments (a local subsidized housing unit for the poor and mentally ill). Frye and the SPD are always "devil communists". Other people named on the sign will include Ron Sims, Fidel Castro, the Vietcong, the Pope and Catholics, atheists, Mexican immigrants, and all citizens of Seattle. His sign often contains references to Jesus Christ and scripture. It also says "I am the Son of God" but it is unclear whether that phrase refers to Juan, or to Jesus Christ.

Juan's ranting is unintelligible to most English speakers, owing to his hard accent and that he is hoarse from screaming for so long. Juan usually does not explain what he is going on about. When asked about it he will usually dismiss you, not as if you already know, but as if you are part of his persecution. He does blame everyone in Seattle for his situation, claiming that Fidel Castro paid the Seattle Police to circulate a petition that was signed by everyone in Seattle to evict him from the Frye Apartments and that everyone in the city should be tried by the United Nations.He is afraid of the Seattle Police, who he claims will assassinate him in his sleep.

References