Joseph Gibbons robs bank, claims it is all for art. A former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and filmmaker by the name of Joseph Gibbons, robbed several banks, stole a total of $4,000; he told New York police the heist was part of an art project, and he might be telling the truth.
Joseph Gibbons robs bank using a small camera, leaves with $4k, and tells New York cops, he is not a criminal, just an art lover, who happens to be a sociopath.
On December 31st, 2014, Joseph Gibbons, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, entered the Capital One branch at Bowery and Grand Street near Chinatown in New York.
Mr Gibbons was not there to open a bank account, he was there to steal, but there is a twist. The highly educated man, who taught at MIT’s Program in Art, Culture and Technology from 2002-2010, and who is a critically acclaimed movie maker, did not have a gun, or a knife; his weapon of choice was a little pink and silver camera.
According to an officer from the New York City Police Department, Mr Joseph Gibbons handed the teller a note that read “THIS IS A ROBBERY. LARGE BILLS. NO DYE PACKS/NO GPS,” and filmed the entire robbery with the camera stuck in his pocket.
The crazed man/genius told the scared teller that the money was for his church. The teller gave him the amount of $1,002, which he placed in a bag and left.
Few days later, he was apprehended by police, (the authorities have not revealed how they were able to track the thief), and he shared an outlandish tale.
On Friday, Joseph Gibbons appeared in court where he confessed that he did indeed steal the money, but explained that it was part of a film that he is currently making.
During the court appearance, it was also revealed that in November, Joseph Gibbons was the man, who stole $3,000 from a Rhode Island bank, using his camera.
Despite the fact that Gibbons’ attorney argued that his client is not mentally stable, Judge Abraham Clott set his bail at $50,000.
Joseph Gibbons’ cellmate, Kaylan Sherrard, 27, spoke to the media by phone, and stated:
“He was doing research for a film. It’s not a crime; it’s artwork… He’s an intellectual.”
The lawyer and the cellmate might be accurate. In 2002, Joseph Gibbons released a first film or experimental autobiography, called Confessions of a Sociopath, Part 1, which won second place at the Black Maria Film and Video Festival.
The movie, which was screened in small theaters in France, The Netherlands, and America, featured Joseph Gibbons aka Joe Gibbons, explaining that he is a sociopath, who was diagnosed with “negative identity,” and “narcissistic personality disorder.”
The viewers followed Joseph Gibbons as he used drugs like heroin, consumed large quantity of alcohol, and stole books. Talking about the movie, the man, who has the headline “Joseph Gibbons robs bank using a small camera,” splashed all over the internet, explained that he was indeed in a mental institution for numerous years.
He also admitted to committing the crimes that are seen taking place in the 37-minute flick. And Joseph Gibbons was quick to tell reporter, Christian Holland, that he plans to continue filming himself doing things that are against the law for Confessions of a Sociopath, Part 2 and 3.
In a 10-year-old interview with Big Red and Shiny, the infamous lecturer said:
” Well, I shot a lot of that in the 80’s—70’s, 80’s, and it was all pretty straight forward in framing it. Well, in the first part it’s really just contextualizing all this material with hospital notes and the doctor’s notes. I got the records from McClane’s Hospital; I spent time there. So those are all verbatim. But just by framing my home movie footage with that it’s distorting it. So it really may look much more pathetic than I really was, I think at that time. And more solitary, because you don’t see any other people, really. So that’s fiction; even though the materials are all unaltered, it’s just what’s left out that makes it fiction.”
The man, who has made over 22 films, including His Master’s Voice, Multiple Barbie, Fugitive in Paris, His Master’s Voice, Sabotaging Spring, and A Time to Die, added:
“I also threw in, I think, a few things that were not straight—actually there’s very little, but people still think I made up a lot of it. The thing with my psychiatrist, my real psychiatrist is a fake and they think that the whole thing’s made up and sometimes none of it. But I guess that they just don’t trust that it’s true. But sometimes it’s not true intentionally and sometimes people just don’t believe me. Like the job search that I do at one point in the movie and it’s all, I mean, it wasn’t serious at all. I was looking for a job then, but I just started having fun with it—calling jobs that I could never get. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like I’m trying to fool anybody into thinking that I’m trying to get a job as a flight instructor. I don’t know what people think about that.”
The story of Joseph Gibbons robbing banks for art, has many laughing with silly comments like, “it has been done before,” and “will he tape himself getting beating in jail too?”
But few others say, this man is mentally ill, and needs to be locked in an institution. Joseph Gibbons robs bank for art’s sake and grabs headlines, what say you?
