Deadpool is an immensely popular character at the moment. It's kind of strange (as a past comic book reader) to see how he's blown up into a worldwide sensation. His red and black costume has been a favorite for many at comic cons for years now, but the character's fanbase grew considerably when the first movie was released in 2016. Now, with Deadpool 2 hitting theatres at the moment, there's a lot of buzz about the costumed fourth-wall-breaking vigilante.
Alessandro Botta and his best friend Christian, from Locarno, Switzerland, are huge Deadpool fans. They're passionate enough about the character that before they headed to the movie theatre to watch the superhero sequel, they dressed up in costume, grabbed some toy guns and met up in public.
However, as they walked back to Allesandro's house, where they planned to jump in the car and drive to the cinema, they ran into some trouble with the law. As they were walking back they were surrounded by eight police officers with their guns drawn, who mistakenly believed that they were about to launch a terror attack.
Quickly the photos started to circulate online, with the whole event looking like some elaborate marketing for the latest movie.
The pair were forced to the floor, where they were both handcuffed and escorted to the local police station. Alessandro spoke about the bizarre incident in an interview with Tio, and his words have been translated. "Neither of us thought it would be problem," he explained. "I did not understand why and my attempt to tell him that it was a misunderstanding was useless."
Apparently someone rang the police after spotting the two of them, explaining that two men were carrying guns and had their faces covered. You can understand why they may have been concerned - if you don't know who the character is, you just see potential psychos wondering the streets with firearms. And even if you do know them - it's not too unrealistic to imagine a gunman dressing up as a superhero in this day and age.
The pair were kept in a police station for only an hour before being released, but didn't get away completely unscathed. Christian was fined for wearing a face mask in public, which is against the law in Switzerland. "After the initial tension the police also realized what we were doing," Botta said. "The officers had a good laugh about it."
The police also released a statement about the incident, which read:
"The procedure was part of operational tactics. [Police] have to intervene as quickly as possible when they receive this type of information."
Apparently, they still made their way to the cinema in their outfits, although if you thought that they took their masks off and left their guns behind, it seems that they didn't by the photos they posted. "People were amused, and we sat in the audience, dressed as Deadpool, watching the movie," Alessandro said. "Despite everything, it was a great evening."
Here's a general rule: if you wonder around in public with a mask on and something that appears to be a real gun, you might attract some attention from the authorities, so it might not be worth the effort.
