Evil Elmo | |
|---|---|
 Mugshot of Evil Elmo in 2013 | |
| Born | Danny Mark Sandler 1963 (age 62–63) Ashland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Oregon |
Adam Sandler (bornDanny Mark Sandler;c. 1963), often referred to asEvil Elmo,[1] is an American criminal who has gained notoriety since 2012 for harassing bystanders in multiple cities in the United States while dressed as various characters fromSesame Street, such asElmo andCookie Monster.[2]
Sandler was bornc. 1964[3] as Danny Mark Sandler and is fromAshland, Oregon.[4] In 1984 he survived a 40-foot (12 m) fall from a highway bridge and was found on the ground six hours later without serious injury.[5] He received an undergraduate degree from theUniversity of Oregon.[6]
On November 7, 1999, Sandler was deported fromCambodia for operating apornography website called "Welcome to Rape Camp".[7][1][4] He was referred to byThe Cambodia Daily as "Cambodia’s first known Internet pornographer".[8] The deportation came after Sandler was arrested inPhnom Penh for alleged violations of human trafficking and pornography laws described in a complaint filed byMu Sochua, Cambodia'sMinister of Women and Veterans' Affairs.[8] According toThe Cambodia Daily, Sandler said he studied the law carefully and specifically untied performers during certain sexual acts to comply with regulation.[8]
The website was the subject of an academic paper published in theJournal of Sexual Aggression, with the author noting that viewers were encouraged to "humiliate these Asian sex slaves to your hearts content" and that viewers could pay to have their preferred bondage acts performed on the women.[9] Sandler claimed that the women featured on the site were not harmed, but told theAssociated Press that it would be a good thing if the site was perceived as encouraging violence against American women, because "I hate those bitches".[10] He blamed an ongoing divorce for his misogynistic attitudes. As a result of the scandal, he changed his first name to Adam.[10]
In 2012, Sandler was videotaped shoutingantisemitic andxenophobic remarks while walking around New York City'sCentral Park dressed as themuppet characterElmo.[6][11] Despite this, Sandler has publicly denied being antisemitic and says that he is actually Jewish.[4] That year, he was also charged with felonyextortion against theGirl Scouts of the USA, for whom he briefly worked.[1][12] Sandler threatened that if he was not paid $2 million, he would tell the public that the Girl Scouts organization arranged for sexual encounters between campers and adult men. He was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison.[3][13][14][15]
In 2013, also dressed as Elmo, Sandler threatened to rip out the throat of a femaleSan Francisco shopkeeper who had put up a sign saying the costumed man was not an employee of her store. He was arrested, jailed, and charged with being a public nuisance, to which he pled guilty, and was banned fromFisherman's Wharf,Union Square, and theEmbarcadero for a period of five years. While in San Francisco, Sandler also attracted attention for yelling at tourists who refused to pay him after taking his picture, falsely claiming to work at various stores, and intimidating people with "offensive rants". A manager of a local candy store said that Sandler falsely told people the store was run by the pharmaceutical industry, and that she thought it was "creepy" that "Evil Elmo" posed outside a candy store that attracted children.[1][12]
Sandler moved to Los Angeles and continued to go on antisemitic rants while working as a performer on theSanta Monica Pier. A 2016 article in theLos Angeles Times detailed Sandler's itinerant lifestyle, and said that while costumed performers were not uncommon in Los Angeles, "none of the other[s] is likely to carry a weight greater than Sandler". By this point, he was mainly dressing asCookie Monster. A police officer said that he had become a "national nuisance". Visitors at a local zoo complained that he had told them not to shop at zoo stores because they were "owned by a Muslim group". He allegedly threatened to beat up another man dressed as Cookie Monster, and told diners that the restaurant they were eating at had "poisoned a small child and bribed congressmen to cover it up."[4]
As of 2023, Sandler was active inSanta Cruz, California, where he was not charged with a crime; however, he was accused of "badgering people" and behaving in a "creepy" manner while wearing aCookie Monster suit. The police put out a statement advising people not to interact with Sandler if they see him.[2][12]