Mentawai Counter Point: Response to Joey Cones Interview

ED NOTE: During Jeff Mull's interview with Joey Cones (INDO TRIP GONE AWRY), Mr. Cones, in an effort to protect personal and commercial interests, would not tell Mr. Mull where or with whom his 'incident' occurred. Thankfully one of the main players in the incident, Ray Wilcoxen, sent us his side of the story. We of course want to give you both perspectives, so discerning readers can make the final judgment. What you see below is a direct email response from Wilcoxen.

Culture collision

This is Ray Wilcoxen. I see that the story of what happened a few days ago is getting terribly twisted. I'd like to try to clear things up.

This is what happened as best as I can recall. Considering how unexpected and intense the situation was, maybe not everything is 100% correct, but it's close. Sorry it's so long. I just wanted to paint as clear a picture as I could.

I was coming back from a surf check with a guest. I saw a bunch of people doing something and steered the boat in to take a better look. There was probably 10 or so local guys on the beach with a white guy (Joe) and 2 or 3 local guys with another white guy (Steve) in a boat. Everybody was yelling! I steered toward the boat and Steve jumped out of his boat and swam toward me. The local guys were yelling at me, telling me that Steve was crazy and that he and Joe beat one of their friends. I motored toward the shore and saw Joe sitting on the beach. He was bleeding from the side of his eye and he was looking pretty dazed. The locals were calling for me to give them Steve so they could give him a beating too! I asked what the hell was going on and the locals said these guys were staying in a shack near our resort and that Joe had accused a local guy, Edward, of stealing his mask and snorkel. Joe was pissed about it that afternoon and that night. First thing the next morning he went looking for Edward. Edward probably stands about 5 foot 2 and weighs probably 115 lbs. Joe and Steve found Edward with a friend and Joe just proceeded to start punching Edward. Steve said he did nothing, but the locals said he helped but did not say how. Anyway, Edward's friend ran for help. When help arrived, Steve had already run off and Edward was bleeding from his cheek and blood was running out of his EAR and Joe was CHOKING him. One of the locals tried to stop Joe, and Joe kicked him. The locals then grabbed branches or whatever they could find and beat Joe. They beat him pretty badly, Joe told me later. After that, they saw Steve, who had returned to see what was going on, and chased him over to where I entered the situation. There was another guy there from Argentina (I'll call him Gonso) that was staying with Joe and Steve, and he told me all of what the locals were telling me was true, and even added some things about how obsessed Joe was about the missing mask and how he openly told everyone he was going to punch Edward out.

I had never seen these usually friendly people so angry! They wanted to beat Steven, but I told them that would only create a bigger problem and to just take the guys to the police. After some heated talk, they promised to not hit them again but told me that these guys had to be held responsible for what they did and that if I let them get away, I would be held responsible, whatever that meant. I told Joe and Steve that they were probably going to jail. But Joe was looking hurt so I told the locals we had to get a doctor for him first. They got pretty mad at me again and pointed to the blood coming out of Edwards ear and his now swollen face and blamed me for not caring about local people. I told them the doctor would look at him too, of course, so me and Steve went back to the resort. I had forgotten that our doctor left the day before so there was no one to help, but at least that gave Steve a chance to use our phone to call his parents to let them know what was going on and it gave me a chance to grab some resort money to see if I could buy them out of trouble. In America, Joe would be going straight to jail for what he did, and probably Steve too for going with him when Joe was hunting down Edward, if that is all he did, but here in Indonesia I thought we could buy them out of trouble. Perhaps going to Edwards village and paying off the family would settle things and no police would have to be involved.

When we got back, Joe was already resting in our worker housing, but the local guys told us that word had gotten back to Edward's village of Edward's beating and that there would be a bunch of pissed off people coming any time. I called a local friend in Padang for advice and he said to get to Siberut and to the police there ASAP. We had to get out of there before they arrived. With no authority around, it could get ugly. The thought of trying to get to Padang never came up, but if it had we could not have done so because none of our boat drivers at the time had the experience to take our canoe 80+ miles across the open ocean to Padang. And lucky we didn't decide to do something that stupid because by the time we would have gotten our fuel ready and gathered up the compass and GPS and all, the mob would have arrived on the island and who knows what could have happened! So we changed our plans of settling things in Edwards town, Mole Limo, and jumped on the boat and headed for the police station in Siberut. If Joe and Steve went to jail, they went to jail, but at least they would be safe. We were only 15 minutes away from the resort when we met 2 small canoes with 3 or 4 people each in them. Some of the people in them were angry and yelling, but the kepala desa (Moses), the head government person in the area, was there as well so I was confident that nothing really bad would happen. His boat, the more calm or the two, came alongside and Moses jumped in our boat and we sped off. We talked about settling the whole thing in Mole Limo again, but then a BIG boat came towards us with probably 30+ people on it, and they were VERY angry! They were yelling and screaming for us to stop! Joe and Steven thought they were dead for sure! And I remembered the chapter in my psychology 101 book on mob mentality, and I knew that once the violence started it might not stop until people were dead, no matter how reasonable these people usually might be, and I could very well have been one of the dead! Moses called for calm and told them that he was responsible for Joe and Steve's safety. But they looked SO angry and agitated that even Moses had doubts he could control them, so the talk of going to Mole Limo stopped and we were on our way to Siberut again! We went full speed ahead away from the big boat full of pissed locals, but it wasn't long before one of our engines began to stall! The 2 smaller canoes caught up with us and boarded our boat. Moses and I pleaded for calm and the only violence was a little slap to the head of Steve. With a stalling engine and the chance that the big boat would catch us, our only choice was to change plans again and head to Mole Limo, Edward's hometown, but also Moses' home town where he would have the most respect as well. Moses and I were able to get everybody on our boat to promise us that there would be no violence if we went to Mole Limo, and they agreed. When we arrived there, we were greeted by some unhappy people, but we easily were able to pass them with calls for calm. We then went to a house that was built of cement and Joe and Steven were put in a back room. The locals put a bookcase against the window of that room for Joe and Steve's protection and then guarded the door until the big boat arrived. When it did, they stormed the building. But the guys, true to their promise, guarded the door and called for calm. Gonso and I were not safe in the room with Joe and Steve and almost became the target of the mob's anger, but the other locals protected us. After about 10 or 15 minutes of yelling and pushing, things cooled off. The most angry of the bunch left, then I entered the room where Joe and Steve were. Steve was really shaken up, and why wouldn't he be? For the past 2 or so hours he thought he was going to jail, and for the past hour he thought he was going to die! Joe was looking pretty composed, seemingly resolved to just take whatever happened as he had pretty much looked the whole time, although he got lightheaded and lay down later. I told them everything was going to be fine. We all then told the story of what happened to Moses and a few others. It was obvious Joe was guilty of starting a fight and beating a local and Steve was part of it by association at the least. The only thing left was what the penalty was, which, in this neck of the woods, equates to how much money they had to pay. You have to remember, this is not done with just foreigners, this is how they settle all their problems. Problems are settled in cash or bartering. Sometimes jail time, but that can only happen if the police are involved. I am in the middle because I am the only one that can translate. The locals first wanted 200 million rupiah (about 22k dollars). I told them they were out of their minds. They went outside to talk with everyone and came back with 75 million rupiah (about 8k). I told them that was a lot of money, even for a white person. I told them that Joe said he was from a poor family and I told them I believed that he was telling the truth, and I said the Steve was only 19 years old and was too young to have that kind of money. I told the locals that these guys were not my guests or my friends and I was telling them the truth. But they insisted on 8000. I told them Joe and Steve had next to no money on them. That is why they were staying in a shack instead of our resort. Gonso said he had 1000 dollars and I told them I had around 2000. Gonso could loan Joe and Steve 1000 and I could buy their surfboards for the 2000 that I had and they would have 3000 in hand that day. I told them just to take the 3000 and be satisfied. They again insisted on 8000. I told them that if they wanted that kind of money, Joe and Steve would have to call home to get it sent from the US and that the government there would surely get involved and call the Indonesian government and it would be a big problem for everybody. They still insisted. What else could I do? After much debate, we settled on the locals holding their passports until we could get to a Western Union and get the rest of the money. They typed out a confession of the beating of Edward because Joe thought he stole his mask, and it included a promise to pay the rest of their debt and that the passports would be held until they did. After I explained to them what it was, we all signed it.

We all then exited the room into the bigger room, then sat down and Joe and Steve said how sorry they were to everybody for what they had done, and the locals told Joe and Steve to go through the police or kepala desa when something happens instead of beating someone like that. Everybody then shook hands and hugged and said sorry, and we left. Joe and Steve returned with me to the island. Joe returned to the shack he had rented and Steve came with me and enjoyed a cold drink at the resort and used our phone to call his parents.

That night I talked with Steve's dad. I assured him everything was ok. It was only a matter of paying money and they could get home, no problem. I knew it was a lot of money to pay, but it was better than an Indo jail, which is where I thought they could easily be. And, to tell you the truth, I wasn't feeling too sorry for them at this point. They beat a defenseless little guy until his face was swollen and bleeding, and his ear surely had a perforated ear drum and quite possibly permanent hearing loss looking at all the blood coming from his ear. A few surfboards and 6k was not making me feel sorry for them. And all over a fricking mask and snorkel! I didn't say any of this to Steve's dad. Steve seemed like an alright guy so I didn't want to tell his dad about this ugly incident. I told him they were safe. He begged me to go with his son to get the money to make sure he would be safe. As busy as I was, I could not say no. How could I? He offered me money to do it, but that was not the reason I went. Believe what you want. So the next morning I accompanied them to the closest major city, Padang.

In Padang, we were immediately taking to the police. It was a surprise to the locals that had accompanied us to exchange the money for the passports, but not for me. I had a small hope that Joe and Steve could just pay and leave, but, like I told the locals the day before, this was surely going to be an international incident and a big problem for everyone. Now I had to worry about them going to jail for who knows how long and at what price, or worry that the US government would be pissed at me because they thought I had not done the right thing by not reporting to them what had happened, or worry that the local people where I work and live, which is just about the most remote place in the world, would be pissed at me because they might think I reported them to authorities, or worry that the police would be pissed at me for bringing trouble to them! I sat in the car with Joe and Steve thinking about how badly my situation sucked, and I had literally risked my life to get there!

In the police station I was relieved, although admittedly surprised, that the guys would not go to jail. I think it was super lucky for them that we did not reach the Siberut police with Edwards swollen face and bleeding ear. I was also surprised that the letter of guilt and promise to pay was deemed legal, even under the circumstances it was signed under. So I guess that evens out. I was also surprised that the person the US Embassy sent to gather information and assist Joe and Steve in Padang was a person that has a long standing, nasty feud with one of my partners and also is in a bitter fight with an association that my other partner heads, which to some is sort of a land resort vs. charter boats fight, and this representative the owns charter boats and we have a land resort! . How can someone be sent by the US government to compile information with a huge conflict of interest like that! And, by the way, in the police station I had a policeman, obviously unhappy with the situation, try to get me to give him my sunglasses then proceeded to say terribly degrading things to my wife in front of me when I did not. Just the cherry on the top, eh?

I can't believe how Joe and Steve have apparently crucified me. I know it was confusing for them because they did not understand the language but, after all I did for them, they should sure as shit be giving me the benefit of the doubt! First, I get out of my safe boat and throw myself between Steve and an angry mob and negotiate both his and Joe's safety after they beat the crap out of a defenseless little guy, taking the responsibility of them going to the authorities upon myself in exchange for their well-being. Then I grab resort money and accompany them to try and buy them out of trouble, and end up almost possibly getting killed by an out of control mob. After helping to calm a village full of riotous locals, I negotiate the best I can and get them back to their rented shack before nightfall with a promise of a rented boat by early morning to take them back to Padang then out of the country. Then I accompany them to Padang because Steve's dad begged me to make sure he was safe, even though we have our most important group of guests ever arriving at the resort in just a few days, and there I have to pay for the boat Joe and Steve rented, which they will probably never pay me back for (almost 900 bucks!), and have to sit and listen to a policeman humiliate my wife and me. And my reward for this is that my character gets brutally asaulted in the media apparently with Joe and Steve's blessing. Unbelievable.

I don't want to tell anyone what my character is like. Please just start asking people that know me. When they come back to you with their assessment, please picture me in this traumatic and unique situation and make your own conclusion. If I made any bad decisions, it was because of a crazy and unpredictable nature of what was going on. I hope there is at least one responsible person in the media who will come down here and get the true story. Interview all the locals and myself, and most of all learn the customs and laws in the very remote part of the world. And I hope that at least one of those guys will want to clear his conscience and tell the story the way it was. They owe me that!