Meet the IRL superhero protecting the people of Beaverton, Oregon

In a world where Batman may be a misogynist billionaire angling for the Republican Presidential nomination and Superman is a petty thief working in the U.K., one man fights for justice on the mean streets of Beaverton, Ore. His name is Guardian Shield and he’s here to make sure that no one’s trying to do anything shady in Beaverton’s parking lots.

“I want to be taken seriously. Everything I do is legit, as much as possible,” the masked vigilate told Fox News. “I make sure no one is breaking into cars, no one’s fighting, everyone is getting home to their families after a hard day of work.”

Clad in an outfit that’s equal parts Deadpool and Daredevil, Guardian Shield patrols the Beaverton streets with a fully-stocked arsenal that includes a ballistic shield, batons, a stun gun, pepper spray, a flashlight, a first-aid kit and—of course—a GoPro.

The specifics about the legality of the Guardian Shield’s hero work are interesting given that the law doesn’t exactly account for “superheroes.” Citizen’s arrests are allowed in Oregon so long as as the citizen has “probable cause to believe the arrested person committed the crime.” Oregon law also states the citizens may use a certain degree of physical force in their arrests short of actually murdering a criminal, save for in instances of self-defense.

Also, other Oregon counties have relied heavily on community-driven patrols as their main form of policing in the past. In Josephine County, for example, when public funds to keep a state-backed police force dwindled, patrols of armed citizens picked up the slack and successfully maintained a relatively low crime rate.

Unlike those patrol squads who had cars and guns, the Guardian Shield’s primary method of transport are his two legs—something that he’s looking to change. Given that flight is not an option, the hero has set up a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising enough cash to buy a Shield-Mobile.

“If I intervene, that means that somebody was down and nobody was doing nothing,” Guardian Shield said of his dedication to crimefighting. “I’m tired of that.”