Emily Gorcenski | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1982 (age 40–41) |
| Alma mater | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Occupation | Data scientist, activist |
| Website | https://emilygorcenski.com/ |
Emily Gorcenski (born 1982) [1] is an American data scientist and activist who now resides in Germany. Gorcenski was a counter-protester at the Unite the Right rally in 2017, and subsequently created the site 'First Vigil' to track the trial information of white nationalists.
Emily Gorcenski grew up in Columbia, Connecticut. She attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where she studied aeronautical and mechanical engineering before graduating with a degree in mathematics. [2] [3] Gorcenski is a transgender woman. [4]
In August 2017, Gorcenski was a counter-protester at the Unite the Right rally in her city of residence of Charlottesville, Virginia. At the August 11 "torch" rally, she was sprayed in the face with pepper spray by white supremacist Christopher Cantwell, who pleaded guilty to charges of assault and was barred from Virginia for 5 years, [5] and was also attacked by Atomwaffen Division member Vasillios Pistolis. [6]
In the wake of her assault at the rally, Gorcenski and one other counter-protester pressed charges against Cantwell, who in turn filed a federal lawsuit against them. [7] In response, Gorcenski and her co-defendant counter-sued Cantwell. [8] In the lawsuit, Gorcenski was repeatedly misgendered by both Cantwell and his attorney, Elmer Woodard. Woodard's motions to have the court refer to Gorcenski by her pre-transition name (and for the court to use male pronouns) were both denied. [9] Both lawsuits were settled in 2018 with a mutual release of claims. [10]
Due to her public opposition to the rally, Gorcenski was harassed online and doxed. She told The Intercept that she had been victim to transphobic harassment from before the rally in Charlottesville. [11] Gorcenski was swatted in October 2017 after the rally's organizer Jason Kessler reportedly doxed her. Kessler was subsequently arrested, [12] though charges were dismissed when new evidence showed Kessler did not control the account that posted Gorcenski's address. [13] In 2018, due to safety concerns, Gorcenski left Charlottesville for Berlin, Germany, where she now resides. [14] [15]
Gorcenski's experiences at Unite the Right led her to use her skills as a data scientist to help identify and dox [16] [17] white nationalists and members of the alt-right engaged in criminal activity. Gorcenski created the website 'First Vigil' to track the trial information of white nationalists and associated individuals. The site uses court documents and other public records. [18] [17] Gorcenski was named one of the fifty most influential feminists in 2018 by Bitch magazine for her work in creating First Vigil. [19] In 2016, Gorcenski criticized the ethics of a study by an independent researcher who released the private information on approximately 70,000 users of the dating website OkCupid. [20] The study in question was widely panned for being unethical, racist, and a breach of user privacy. [21] [22] [23] Gorcenski covered the issue in a discussion with Sarah Jeong at Mozfest in 2017. [24] Gorcenski sometimes speaks about the ethics of emerging technology, such as consumer internet of things devices. [25] In 2016, Gorcenski explored software quality controls for electronic voting machines, expressing concern for the apparent lack of mandatory standards. [26]
During the George Floyd protests in 2020, Gorcenski launched whentheycamedown, a people's history project to document the removal of statues of historical figures aligned with white supremacy and colonialism. [27]
Gorcenski is a sporadic political opinion writer. After president Donald Trump controversially stated that there were "very fine people on both sides" at the Charlottesville rally, Gorcenski wrote an op-ed for The Guardian where she argued that his speech demonstrated his unwillingness to criticize neo-Nazis, which emboldened white supremacy. [28] Her criticism extends at times to the Democratic Party, where she takes issue with what she perceives as the exploitation of the terror attack at Unite the Right for political gains. [29] As a transgender rights activist, she has written about healthcare concerns for transgender Americans. [30]
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is a far-right, Neo-Nazi, white supremacist organization based in the United States. It is a part of the Nationalist Front. The party claimed to be the "largest and most active" National Socialist organization in the United States. It is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Matthew Warren Heimbach is an American white supremacist who advocated a neo-Nazi ideology. He tried to form alliances between several far-right extremist groups. In 2018, Heimbach briefly served as community outreach director for the National Socialist Movement (NSM). He founded the Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP), which ceased operation in March 2018 until early 2020 when Heimbach and Matthew Parrott once again began collaborating on projects such as the "prisoner aid organization", which was known as the Global Minority Initiative while they were also publicly discussing a relaunching of the Traditionalist Worker Party.
Richard Bertrand Spencer is an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and white supremacist. A former magazine editor, he is a public speaker and activist on behalf of the alt-right movement. He advocates for the reconstitution of the European Union into a white racial empire, which he believes will replace the diverse European ethnic identities with one homogeneous "White identity".
The Robert E. Lee Monument was an outdoor bronze equestrian statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his horse Traveller located in Charlottesville, Virginia's Market Street Park in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District. The statue was commissioned in 1917 and dedicated in 1924, and in 1997 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was removed on July 10, 2021.
The Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) was a far-right neo-Nazi political party active in the United States between 2013 and 2018, affiliated with the broader "alt-right" movement that became active within the U.S. during the 2010s. It was considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center's list.
Faith Julia Goldy, also known as Faith Goldy-Bazos, is a Canadian far-right, white nationalist political commentator, associated with the alt-right and white supremacy. She was a contributor to The Rebel Media and covered the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her contract was terminated in 2017 after she participated in a podcast on The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website.
Michael Enoch Isaac Peinovich more commonly known as Mike Enoch, is an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, Holocaust denier, blogger, and podcast host. He founded the alt-right media network The Right Stuff and podcast The Daily Shoah. Through his work, Enoch ridicules African Americans, Jews, and other minorities, advocates racial discrimination, and promotes conspiracy theories such as Holocaust denial and white genocide.
Redneck Revolt is an American far-left socialist political group that organizes predominantly among white working-class people. The group supports gun rights and members often openly carry firearms. Its political positions are anti-capitalist, anti-racist and anti-fascist. Founded in Kansas in 2009, members were present at several protests against Donald Trump and against the far-right in 2017.
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11–12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and far-right militias. Some groups chanted racist and antisemitic slogans and carried weapons, Nazi and neo-Nazi symbols, the Valknut, Confederate battle flags, Deus vult crosses, flags, and other symbols of various past and present antisemitic and anti-Islamic groups. The organizers' stated goals included the unification of the American white nationalist movement and opposing the proposed removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville's former Lee Park. The rally sparked a national debate over Confederate iconography, racial violence, and white supremacy.
Jason Eric Kessler is an American neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Kessler organized the Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11–12, 2017, and the Unite the Right 2 rally held on August 12, 2018.
Christopher Charles Cantwell, also known as the Crying Nazi, is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist.
On August 12, 2017, DeAndre Harris, a Black man, was assaulted by six White men in an attack in a parking garage next to the police headquarters during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. Images and video of the assault captured by photojournalist Zach Roberts went viral and became a symbol of the enmity underlying the protest.
The Nationalist Front is a loose coalition of radical right and white supremacists. The coalition was formed in 2016 by leaders of the neo-Nazi groups National Socialist Movement (NSM) and Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP). Its aim was to unite white supremacist and white nationalist groups under a common umbrella. Originally the group was named the Aryan Nationalist Alliance and was composed of neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan and White power skinhead organizations.
The "Unite the Right 2" rally was a white supremacist rally that occurred on August 12, 2018, at Lafayette Square near the White House in Washington, D.C., United States. It was organized by Jason Kessler to mark the first anniversary of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which ended in deadly violence and attracted both national and international attention.
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Andrew Barret Anglin is an American neo-Nazi and conspiracy theorist, and editor of the website The Daily Stormer. Through this website, Anglin uses elements of Nazism combined with Internet memes originating from 4chan to promote white supremacy, fascism, and antisemitic conspiracy theories such as Holocaust denial to a young audience.
Sines v. Kessler was a civil lawsuit against various organizers, promoters, and participants in the Unite the Right rally, a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. The trial began in October 2021, and on November 23, the jury reached a mixed verdict in which they found various defendants liable on claims of civil conspiracy and race-based harassment or violence. They also found James A. Fields, Jr., the perpetrator of the car attack against counterprotesters at the rally, liable for assault and battery and intentional infliction of harm. Altogether, the jury awarded the plaintiffs more than $25 million in punitive and compensatory damages, though this was later reduced by the judge to $2.35 million.
Peter Cvjetanovic is an American former white supremacist known for being photographed at the Unite the Right rally in 2017.
On August 17, NSJW posted a link to Gorcenski's page on a website dedicated to discussing how best to troll victims...