The town of Burnsville has the hero it needs — a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a Dark Knight.
Burnsville resident Samuel David Daniels, 25, patrols the streets of his hometown, garbed in a black mask and cape. Daniels told the Asheville Citizen Times July 9 that, similar to Bruce Wayne, who witnessed his parents’ murder at the age of 8 and was inspired to become Batman, Daniels decided to embrace he role after the tragic death of a cousin in December 2021.
“I looked out my window and I saw the bats swooping across the distance, and that almost signaled an omen to me: to become a bat. I took the symbol, and I try to inspire good into everyone I meet to be their better selves,” Daniels said with a deep sincerity.
What does Batman do?
A Burnsville native and a 2020 graduate of Mountain Heritage High School, Daniels travels around Burnsville, looking for people to help. He reports suspicious activity to police, hands out supplies to people who are homeless, cleans up litter or graffiti and gives rides to people in need.
“Just anything I can do to help,” he said. “Just the other night there was a woman who was drunk and needed to be driven home” from a party at The Jukebox, a bar in Burnsville, after police were called, he said.
“Just simple acts like that is what heroism really (is). It’s not about fighting bad guys or being in big action sequences that people expect. It’s about just doing what you can for your fellow man,” he said.
The small town of Burnsville in Yancey County, about 30 miles northeast of Asheville, is only home to about 1,600 residents, but “Batman” makes a big impact informally “patrolling” the quaint downtown, with the town hall, courthouse and several businesses nestled around a grassy square.
Daniels said that he first began dressing as Batman in 2020, but in 2022, after his cousin’s death, he fully committed to the role. He drives a black Dodge charger with small metal bat emblems on the front and the back. He dresses as Batman “almost every night,” attending community events in Burnsville and sometimes driving to Asheville.
“I help the community in every way I can,” he said. “People just need someone to be there for them. I always wanted someone like Batman to be out there. If I can make him be out here, I sure as hell will.”
Swooping in to help during Helene
In the immediate aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, which struck Western North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2024 killing more than 100 people across the state, Burnsville was devastated. Daniels’ elementary school, Micaville Elementary, was “wiped off the face of the map,” he said.
The town’s post office was demolished, and other familiar landmarks were leveled or washed away in historic-level floodwaters. Daniels said he initially focused on helping his immediate family rebuild their road ― they live close together, and the road was washed out ― before venturing into the broader community.
“It was a lot that we had to go through together. I had to be there for them emotionally. I couldn’t just up and leave them like I feel like I used to,” he said.
Daniels said that he realized after Helene that while he projects an image to the world of preparedness, ” I couldn’t even hardly help myself.”
When Daniels went out after Helene, he didn’t initially go as Batman.
“I didn’t go out in costume for a good bit, not for the first few weeks. I didn’t want people to take to it the wrong way. I needed to be on the ground doing things as any regular person because it was the regular people coming together, the communities, they were the real heroes,” he said.
A batman arrest
Daniels had a brush with trouble on Feb. 12, 2025 when he was arrested while wearing his batsuit and charged with trespassing at the Yancey County Chamber of Commerce.
Police allege that Daniels was standing on the roof of the Chamber on West Main Street in Burnsville at 6:22 p.m. yelling that he was Batman, Burnsville Police Chief Brian Buchanan told the Citizen Times July 10. He was asked to leave by Chamber staff and allegedly returned about a half-hour later, Buchanan said.
Other than that arrest, there hasn’t been any other trouble, Buchanan said.
“We’ve explained to him not to do anything that would be considered a police matter. If he sees something, to contact us,” Buchanan said.
Daniels received a deferred prosecution deal in the trespassing case. He pleaded guilty April 1, 2025 and served six months of unsupervised probation. After his probation was completed, the charge was dismissed. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health assessment, and he was barred from the Chamber of Commerce.
Daniels declined to comment on his arrest, saying only that it was an “imposter” who was arrested, but he said that his relationship with police in general is positive.
“Whatever they need, they ask,” he said. “They don’t see so much of an issue to charge someone who is going out of their way to help folk.”
‘Kindness and compassion’
Childhood friends and family of Daniels told the Citizen Times that Daniels has fostered a lifelong love of superheroes.
Teddy Silvers, 24, of Spruce Pine said that he and Daniels met in middle school and attended Mountain Heritage High School together. He said that Daniels goes to Funshine Day Camp, a camp for people with intellectual disabilities, in his Batman suit.
“They show him as a mascot. People get to take pictures of him. He’ll go around and sign autographs. He’ll pass out gifts,” Silvers said. “His whole thing is he wants to make somebody’s day a little bit brighter.”
Silvers said that he himself is a cosplayer — someone who dresses as fictional characters and attends conventions — and he initially thought that’s what Daniels was doing.
“Cosplaying had always made sense to me, and when I learned that it became serious, at first I didn’t know what to think. My biggest concern was just safety and like whether or not he was going to be OK,” Silvers said.
Silvers concluded that embracing the persona made Daniels happy.
“For me, he’s my friend, and I’m willing to support him however way he wants,” Silvers said.
Liam Henson, a 24-year-old Raleigh resident who is originally from Burnsville, said that he and Daniels have known each other since kindergarten.
He said that for Daniels, being Batman is about community service.
“It’s more about the charity and the community work, and … he just so happens to dress as Batman,” Henson said. “He’s very passionate about the work that he does.”
Kristy Daniels, Samuel’s mother, said that like Silvers, her biggest concern has been about Daniels’ safety.
“He doesn’t ask for recognition. Anybody that needs anything and Samuel finds out about it, then Batman will bring them what they need. He will try his best to help others,” she said.
Kristy Daniels said that when her son is not in costume, he works as a chef. He also speaks German and Russian, and he’s passionate about history. She said that some in Burnsville don’t understand why Daniels puts on the suit.
“I’ve heard people say he’s crazy. He’s not crazy. He knows he’s Samuel. He doesn’t think he’s Batman. He just does it for the people,” she said.
She said he enjoys bringing hope to his community.
“The costume is fun and all, but what really matters is his kindness and compassion behind it. That’s who he’s always been,” Kristy Daniels added.
Since February 2026, Samuel Daniels has been working with a nonprofit organization called Community Heroes, an activist organization created to support “real life superheroes” like Daniels, people who go into their communities as superheroes and help those in need. All members go through a comprehensive background check, according to the organization’s website.
“It’s more organized and official rather than people walking up in costume trying to act like a vigilante,” Daniels said.
Daniels said that when people think of the Burnsville Batman, he wants them to think of justice.
“Anyone can be the Burnsville Batman,” he added. “It isn’t just me.”
Reporting by Kara Fohner, Asheville Citizen Times / Asheville Citizen Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
