Lake country man Tim Dubyah at heavy metal concert in Penticton.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ REDDIT/ Batcountryswatter

Penticton Jesus has arisen since his very public arrest at a heavy metal concert last weekend and he’s almost ready to turn the other cheek.

We found Penticton Jesus, but he remains somewhat anonymous, identifying himself only as Tim Dubyah. He has donned his robe and sash to hit many a mosh pit, but says this was the first time it got him removed and thrown in the drunk tank.

“The pit at this show was weak,” he said. “Not saying people should get hurt, but this pit was weak and it’s the first time I’ve seen security guards in the pit.”

He was described by witnesses as looking angry as the night progressed at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Saturday, Jan. 21, where Anthrax, Black Label Society and Exodus were playing.

That isn’t exactly how Dubyah remembers things.

“First of all, I wasn’t angry,” he said. “But I was angry when I got kicked out. Maybe it is what my normal 50-year-old resting face looks like.”

The night started out well, with Dubyah posing for photos with other concert goers. It was at an intermission that he was tempted into the mosh pit and that's when the inebriated Jesus got crucified.

“Between Black Label Society and Anthrax I went to get a beer and some popcorn and this pentagram comes up on the screen, so I put my horns in the air and walked to the front, I had a floor ticket,” he said. “I grabbed the rail with a popcorn and beer in hand and some people were freaking out saying I was being aggressive, but I wasn’t being aggressive.”

READ MORE: Drunk, angry Jesus arrested during Exodus concert in Penticton

That’s when he faced his great test — a security guard told him to come down off the rail.

“I dumped my popcorn on him,” he said. “Security came out of nowhere and were on me like stink and took me away. I still have cuff marks. They were so tight, my thumbs are still numb. I just had hip surgery and I’m getting carried out with these guys trying to twist my legs in all these weird ways – it... hurt. I wasn’t trying to resist, I was trying to relieve the pain.”

They hoisted him over the sea of people to police to take him away.

Once he was in the back of the cop car, the cuffs were loosened.

Dubyah admits he could have acted better.

“I apologize to anyone who felt threatened by me at that concert,” he said. “I half agree that I should have been kicked out. I’ve been to a hundred metal concerts with pits way more dangerous than that.”

His only real regret is that two of his friends weren’t allowed back into the show. They followed him, as expected, as he was being carried out.

Dubyah spent the rest of the night in police cells and resurrected without charge not three days later but early the next morning.

READ MORE: North Okanagan man nabbed with 1.5M contraband cigarettes

When told he has developed quite a following, Dubyah, who now refers to himself as Popcorn Jesus, wasn’t overly surprised.

“This isn’t the first Jesus concert,” he said. “I went to Slayer with my wife and she was dressed as a possessed nun. People loved it. We were posing for photos all over the place. Who doesn’t want photos with Jesus at a Slayer concert? If I am entertaining people by just having a good time, that is awesome.”

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