Hannah remained sober from 2003 until his death. Hannah and Brennan also filed a civil suit against the producers the producers agreed to pay an unspecified amount in damages, and to no longer use Hannah and Brennan's images for promotional purposes. In 2002, Hannah and Brennan testified in the criminal trials of the producers of Bumfights, on several charges, including the soliciting of felonies the defendants were acquitted on the majority of charges and sentenced to community service for conspiring to stage an illegal fight (in 2005, they were sentenced to 6 months in prison for having failed to complete the community service). Both men were also paid to get Bumfights tattoos: Hannah's tattoo was across his knuckles and Brennan's was on his forehead. Brennan, an army veteran, and Hannah (who was injured in basic training), were paid an average of $10 per stunt. He subsequently was filmed performing other "stunts" for the Bumfights videos, including riding a shopping cart down a flight of stairs, ramming his head into steel doors so hard that he today suffers from epilepsy, and beating up Donald "Donnie" Brennan, another homeless man, so badly that Brennan's leg was broken in two places and required surgical intervention. In the early 1990s, he moved to California, where he was approached by Ryan McPherson to produce Bumfights. After his injury, he started drinking heavily, leading to his homelessness and alcoholism. He was soon discharged after injuring himself during basic training. He started drinking at 14, despite having a "good family." He was a construction worker until the age of 27, when he joined the U.S. “How Rufus with all these problems was able to make this remarkable change.Hannah was raised in Swainsboro, Georgia. “You can make a difference in another person’s life,” he said. "If they read it, they say 'Wow, Rufus Hannah, as low as he was, and how bad it was, the tattoos, the beatings we can change our lives and make a difference.'" "I hope this book will make a difference," said Soper. Judge Charles Ervin sentenced the men to six months in jail for violating probation.įor both Hannah and Soper, the book offers the promise of something good coming out of so much suffering. Then, a judge ruled that Bubeck and McPherson lied to the court, submitting false paperwork stating they'd performed 280 hours of volunteer work at a local homeless center. In June 2003, they pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, smiling and joking in court. They sold thousands of copies of the movie on the Internet. Producers Zack Bubeck, Daniel Tanner and Ryan McPherson were charged with felonies for making the video tapes. Hannah lives with double vision and equilibrium problems – injuries sustained during the Bum Fights stunts – as well as tattoos on his fingers reminding him every day of his participation in the film. "I'm sure they didn't grow up wanting to be homeless," he said. They are real people, they have a story, according to Hannah. "I've had that happen to me, and it's not a good feeling." "Just take time to speak to that person, you know, don't ignore them like they're invisible," Hannah said. Hannah speaks to schools, telling students not to ignore a homeless person on the street. "I like to say sometimes, it's like day and night, the change in my life," Hannah said Monday when discussing the new book. He's been rewarded for the time he spends talking to young people about his experiences and working to get homeless people protected by hate crime legislation. Now, sober for eight years, Hannah lives in his own home in La Mesa. "If he chose the program, great, you move on. "I offered him a casket, or the program," Soper said. Soper didn't hesitate to use tough love on the homeless man, even going so far as to drive him to a mortuary. Those trust issues were fed by Hannah's experience with the movie. It took time for me to even confide in Barry.” “From the beginning, I did not like Barry,” Hannah told a cable television host on Monday. One of the driving forces for Hannah’s life-changing decision was Barry Soper, the owner of an apartment complex who befriended Hannah and eventually hired him. Fish tacos to Eggo waffles: San Diego Unified announces second year of free lunch program
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