Gregory Wong, 31-year-old Jurassic Park cosplayer and fan film producer and actor, has been arrested in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department said Wong was arrested near the intersection of E. 1st Street and N. Main Street in downtown Los Angeles around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. The location has been the scene of several protests over the death of George Floyd.
From reports, Wong got dropped off by an Uber right across the street from LAPD headquarters. He then tried to get into formation with a unit of National Guard soldiers who were defending downtown LA from looters.
He was carrying an AR-15 assault rifle rather than an M4 or M16, the typical gear that would be carried by the National Guard, along with spare ammunitiion for the weapon.
He was spotted out by real National Guard almost right away. He was also carrying other tactical gear like night vision goggles and a sidearm. National Guard soldiers then reported him to the Los Angeles Police Department, who took him into custody.
Wong asserts that he served in the United States Army as a Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, but he has been the subject of “stolen valor” questions for years.
The Fandom Connection
Former reservist Jeremy Ma knows Wong through the Airsoft community and said that Wong would have never been able to blend in.
“No one I know in the military would do anything so stupid, he kitted himself out as if he was ready to go to Afghanistan and kick in doors. I’m a former national guardsmen, the National Guard deploy with their uniforms, body armor, riot helmets, and one weapon, usually a sidearm or a long arm, he showed up with a sidearm and a long arm, his body armor was the wrong color, he essentially had a lot of extra equipment,” Ma said. Ma also noted that Wong had recently been posting on Facebook that was available to help defend stores from looters, and that the lack of response from that was frustrating Wong.
Sonny Pepito is the owner of TacCity Airsoft in Fullerton, California, and also knows Wong. He described Wong as polite, and mild-mannered. “It’s just so weird he would do something this stupid, it seems childish,” Pepito said.
Wong is also executive producer and an actor in a Jurassic Park fan film, 2018’s Jurassic Park: Exodus, and creative consultant on another one, still in preproduction, called Jurassic Park: Island Survival. He owns a Jurassic Park replica jeep, and has been driving it to charity and convention appearances as a replica show car to events around Southern California.
While in police custody Wong claimed he was meeting one of his friends who was in the National Guard and told police his goal was to defend a jewelry store in downtown. While police say he never left formation. LAPD says they don’t believe he intended to hurt anyone, Wong was still was booked on federal charges for the manufacturing, possession or distribution of illegal assault weapons.
He was arrested and held on a $50,000 bond.
-30-
SCIFI.radio is listener supported sci-fi geek culture radio, and operates almost exclusively via the generous contributions of our fans via our Patreon campaign. If you like, you can also use our tip jar and send us a little something to help support the many fine creatives that make this station possible.
