Joe Dixon is a major character in the 2016 action-thriller film The Purge: Election Year. He is the owner of a deli/convenience store in Washington D.C. who despises the Annual Purge, though he has so little faith in the political system that he does not believe that anything can change it. He is portrayed by Mykelti Williamson.
History[]
In 2040, the next presidential election draws near, with Senator Charlie Roan's campaign platform specifically targeting the Purge. Although Joe hates the NFFA and the Purge, he is not hopeful that Roan can win the election. Meanwhile, the Annual Purge is imminent and Joe is informed by his insurance company that the price of his Purge insurance has just shot up far beyond what he can afford, placing his business at great risk.
On the night of March 21st, the Purge begins. Joe and his assistant Marcos have locked up the deli and have stationed themselves on the roof with guns to protect the store from Purgers. A group of Purgers later drives up to the store, who are being led by Kimmy, a delinquent girl whom Joe threw out of his store that day for shoplifting. Kimmy boldly announces her intention of killing Joe and taking whatever candy is in his store, but Marcos shoots her in the shoulder. Kimmy and her friends then drive off, but promise to be back.
Later on, Joe and Marcos witness a Purge gang attacking two people. They discover that the victims are none other than Senator Roan and her bodyguard Leo Barnes. They gun down the Purgers and lead Roan and the wounded Barnes back to the store for shelter. However, the psychotic Kimmy and her gang soon return, now carrying cement saws in order to cut through the shutters. Before they can breach the store, Kimmy's gang are attacked and killed by Laney Rucker, a former Purger turned triage nurse. She urges Joe and the others to get aboard her armoured ambulance and they drive off into the night.
The ambulance is soon attacked by a helicopter operated by mercenaries who are tracking Barnes and the Senator. It turns out that Barnes had earlier been shot with a trace bullet, which was how the mercenaries were able to track them. After removing the tracer lodged in his shoulder, Barnes suggests that the group take refuge in an underpass. The underpass is occupied by a group of Purgers who then start banging on the side of the bus, but Joe lets out a Crip whistle and the Purgers suddenly stop. One of the Purgers replies to the whistle and then asks that Laney save his dying son. In exchange, the Purgers set up an ambush for Earl Danzinger's men.
The Purgers keep the mercenaries at bay while Laney's ambulance leaves. The group soon arrive at a makeshift triage station where people are offering medical help to Purge victims. There, the group meet Dante Bishop, the leader of an anti-NFFA movement. While looking around the camp, Leo and Roan discover that Dante's group are planning to assassinate Edwidge Owens, the NFFA's presidential candidate. Roan is opposed to this plan as it goes against her ideals and she does not want her presidency to be built on murder. She and her group then leave the shelter in Laney's ambulance, but they are blindsided by Danzinger's mercenaries. Joe, Marcos, Barnes and Laney flee back towards the shelter while Roan is captured.
A short time later, Dante's team are about to carry out their assault on the cathedral where the NFFA and their elite supporters are gathering. Leo, Joe, Marcos and Laney join them with the intent of rescuing Senator Roan. They arrive just in time to stop the NFFA from murdering Roan, starting off a shootout within the cathedral.
Death[]
After Roan is freed, she, Leo and Joe enter a back room where several innocent people have been tied up and prepared for ritual slaughter. As they start freeing captives, Harmon James enters the room with a shotgun and starts killing people. He exhausts his shotgun ammo and switches to a pistol. As he is changing weapons, Joe draws his own gun and fires, but James shoots Joe as well. Both gunmen fall to the floor and James dies. Joe is barely alive and quickly bleeding out. Before succumbing to his injuries, he urges Roan to win the election and put an end to the Purge for good.
Two months after the Purge, Roan has succeeded and become the new President of the United States, with her first act being the abolition of the Annual Purge. This does not go down well with those that supported the NFFA, who begin rioting across the country in response to the election results. Meanwhile, Marcos has taken over Joe's deli and is in the process of rebuilding it.