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[richmanpoorman420]

UPDATE 8/12/17

Rich has quietly returned to San Jose without saying anything to the people involved in the callout process. He has not addressed any of his violent behavior since his initial (privately posted) statement. Rich and his friends have maintained that the people behind the callout are primarily white or somehow emotionally unstable, in an attempt to invalidate our collective statement.

In an effort to make the callout more accessible, we have designed two sets of posters. We are asking people– especially those in the Bay– to wheat paste or flyer these around to get the word out. We suspect that there are still people who don’t know about Rich’s violent behavior due to his dismissive tactics. Since the initial callout was posted, conversations about other Bay Area perpetrators who dodged accountability have come to light. In solidarity with their survivors, we have included them in the callout posters. These names include:

*Antwon, a Bay Area rapper who was previously involved in an accountability process for sexual assault and has gone on to rape other women.

*Nick Haynes, who was previously outed and as one tumblr user noted ran in the same social circles as Rich.

*Phil Olivas, one of Rich’s friends who is physically and emotionally abusive toward his partners. He has also been aggressive in his defense of Rich’s abusive behavior.

*Vic Vasquez aka Kool A.D., another Bay area musician and rapist.

We find it troubling that people who are involved in radical spaces and tout transformative justice has a long history of rape apologist behavior.

Lastly, we would like to add that we are tired of violent people inserting themselves into radical or safe spaces, and utilizing their access to prey on vulnerable people. Almost all of the people on the list have used radical politics as a means of gaining financial/social clout, and in turn abused that power when confronted about their abusive behavior. This is unacceptable but sadly common. Many people across the US have written messages of solidarity. These supporters have also shared their own experiences with being ostracized or harassed for calling out abusers. Had someone listened to any of Rich’s survivors, perhaps his most recent assaults would not have occurred. Please consider reexamining the ways you support survivors, if at all, and distribute these posters widely.   

**If you would like to give or receive support, please email richmanpoorman (at) riseup (dot) net

[richmanpoorman420]

RICH GUTIERREZ: A WARNING

[richmanpoorman420]

UPDATE: 6/20/17

We are aware of a video about Rich that is making the rounds and forcefully attaching itself to this blog. We want everyone to know we (survivors and support) have nothing to do with this video. We find it a disgusting display of what passes for “support” in this community. It is violent, triggering, and incredibly racist. We will not link to this video or this blog but if you find it please feel free to report it. If you made this video please take it down immediately out of respect for the survivors and their healing. If anyone is interested in actually supporting the survivors please feel free to boost/re-post the call out and/or email us [email protected]

[richmanpoorman420]

RICH GUTIERREZ: A WARNING

Rich has a pattern of sexual assault, consent/boundary violations, emotional abuse and manipulation. This statement is based on the experiences of multiple women/nb people. He has victimized woc experiencing vulnerable or precarious life circumstances. Attempts to directly confront Rich on these matters has proven fruitless. This page will attempt to share helpful information in as clear and accessible a manner as possible.

WHO IS RICH?

Rich is from San Jose and currently lives in Chicago. He plays in Busted Outlook and Permanent Ruin.

https://www.richgutierrez.com/

http://landspeedrecord.tumblr.com/

https://twitter.com/_supremenothing

https://www.instagram.com/supreme_nothing/

https://www.instagram.com/Baldwins_turkish_decade/

https://www.facebook.com/SupremeNothing

http://www.supremenothingpress.com/

https://www.instagram.com/supremenothingpress/

https://mobile.twitter.com/SN_Press

https://www.facebook.com/supremenothingpress/

https://bustout.bandcamp.com/

https://permanentruin.bandcamp.com/

SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS (TW)

• Non-consensually and violently forcing oral penetration

• Restraining partners non-consensually during sex

• Removing condoms during sex without informing partners, non-consensually initiating unprotected penetrative sex

• Seeking out people who are emotionally or socially vulnerable and exploiting their trust in him - these behaviors are a form of predation that is best described as grooming* (see below)

• Positioning himself as a “victim” or as “vulnerable” in order to manipulate people he abuses into being dismissive of other people’s attempts to hold him accountable

• Gaslighting people who have attempted to hold him accountable for his abuse of them

• Enforcing power disparity in relationships by manipulating partners into being exclusive with him; while secretly having concurrent sexual relationships with other people

• Exploiting cultural access and labor from people who he has abused as well as appropriating their work/plans

• Failing to inform potential partners of his past behavior, despite being made aware of the above experiences and their impact.

* Resources on the concept of psychological grooming for people who haven’t encountered the term before:

http://outofthefog.website/top-100-trait-blog/2015/11/4/grooming

(we don’t mean to endorse everything on this website, but it is concise)

http://www.kbsolutions.com/Grooming.pdf

(starts on page 16)

WHY IS THIS JUST COMING OUT NOW?

Rich has successfully constructed an image of himself as a self aware feminist ally, especially using social media to aggressively reinforce this image. Additionally, Rich has social capital and a prominent/respected position. Finally, Rich has been shielded from the consequences of his actions by his friends, in particular [redacted]. When people who Rich has hurt have attempted to seek support from Rich’s friends, or just inform them of Rich’s actions, those friends have discredited the survivors’ experiences and intimidated them into silence.

WHO ARE WE? WHAT DO WE WANT?

This page was written collaboratively by a number of people, then passed along to others for review. We just are sharing this info at the specific request of survivors. This is not an “accountability process.” Over the years people Rich has hurt have made requests of him, and asked his friends to hold him accountable. These efforts have been futile, and only resulted in the further emotional abuse and ostracization of the survivors. We are presenting this information in the hopes of interrupting Rich’s pattern of abuse.

CONTACT

If you have questions, you can get in touch with us. If you have been hurt by Rich and want to connect with other survivors, at least one of them is actively interested in that. Please feel free to get in touch.

[email protected]

UPDATES

6/16/17 - We have been getting a lot of e-mails in response to this call out. At this point there are at least 7 women/nb people who have come forward with experiences of Rich’s abuse, coercion, assault, and intense manipulation. Additionally, many people have been e-mailing to share stories about how Rich’s pattern of behavior has been an open secret, particularly in San Jose. People describe trying to discuss Rich’s behavior and being dismissed, disbelieved, shut down. Being laughed at and made fun of by Rich’s friends is also a common theme emerging from these stories.

It’s important to note that NOBODY FEELS SAFE BEING OPEN ABOUT THIS.

Since this was initially posted, despite being publicly contrite, Rich and his friends still continue to attempt to discredit this call-out talking shit on survivors and people they suspect to be directly advocating for and supporting survivors. This has manifested as acting like survivors just have petty beef or using ableist slurs against survivors who are living with mental illnesses. Rich and his friends have also been suggesting that the potential role of white people in this process - as support or as survivors - discredits the call out itself. This is misdirection, and minimizes that Rich assaulted and preys on POC.

We read Rich’s response to this call-out. It was posted on his Facebook. We found it deeply, viscerally upsetting. It is riddled with the same manipulative maneuvers and styles that he used to abuse people. It minimized his acts of abuse. It completely erased the reality that many many people have tried to bring this to his (and his friends) attention for a long time. In his response he even uses almost direct quotes from a woman who he hurt when she confronted him about it. We are disgusted by the amount of space his response takes up, we are disgusted by the accolades and credibility he is garnering from a few people for ~courageously~ apologizing. His flamboyant remorse seems artificial and disingenuous. Rich is integrated within the restorative justice and activist communities in Chicago and The Bay Area. Because of this, he is well versed in the rhetoric of accountability. This is one of the reasons he has been able to dodge accountability for so long.

To all the people who have written in bravely entrusting us with their stories, thank you. Please be patient with us in terms of response time, we are trying to respond to these messages with the care and attention they deserve, and it’s a slow process.

6/6/17 - Since this was posted, so far 2 additional women have come forward with stories of abuse by Rich that involve the behaviors listed above. Also, women/nb people have also come forward with accounts of harassment from him, involving him harassing them about their experiences of abuse at the hands of his friends.