Rocky Mountain Fur Con backs neo-nazis, sex offender to intimidate critic for reporting threat.
by Dogpatch Press Staff
A Dogpatch Press exclusive report for community interest.
BACKGROUND: A neo-nazi cult-like group (the “Furry Raiders”) is agitating the Colorado Furries. They recruit members with gifts, grooming, and manipulation. It makes a classic appeal to people who are desperate to belong to a group. The Furry Raiders self-create an “us vs. them” situation by provoking others so they can pretend to be treated unfairly. Their trolling includes assault, spreading hate speech, display of nazi-style apparel, refusing to honor meet rules, posting photos of people against their wishes, doxxing enemies to harrass them on the phone, and persistent straw-man attacks at “SJW’s”. In 2016, they provoked wider attention when they tried to gain power at Rocky Mountain Fur Con by interfering with the hotel room block. In early 2017, they gained more mainstream news headlines.
There is a spotlight on furries and the subculture they love. This report, with participation of many concerned Colorado furries, is not to sensationalize the fringe so media can mischaracterize the rest. Their message is that they care enough to oppose malicious behavior, so protecting a superficial image is less important than making a good community.
Deo, a steelworker in the midwest, was upset about the trolls. They were ruining what the furry community represents to her.
It made her connect current events to the problem. She tweeted about punching Nazis. It was a rhetorical comment in line with the patriotic spirit of entire generations of Americans since WWII.
A troll answered to threaten her. It involved Rocky Mountain Fur Con. Deo had never gone and wasn’t planning to go, but cared enough about other furs to notify police and hotel security.* Deo says: “It started when a Furry Raider member @Oliviameles threatened to bring a gun to RMFC – I contacted RMFC con security to warn them. I never received a reply to my email.”
(*Update: on 7/16/17, clarification was requested. Deo gave an accurate quote of emailing the con only. It was lumped with “hotel” the con was in, an editing error referencing the quote and email I saw. Deo didn’t contact the hotel or police in Colorado. I was told of consulting local jurisdiction about her safety but they wouldn’t pursue net activity.
In the below screenshot: 1) Deo’s 1/26/17 tweet is a meme joke about that week’s much hyped news of Richard Spencer being punched. 2) The chair and staff of RMFC confirmed that there were many threats before and after Deo’s tweet and the hotel did not act until March.)
To understand what Deo experienced next, you should know:
- After the “Furry Raiders” interfered with RMFC 2016, the con is under fire for continuing to accept them, having staff defend them, and even having “Raiders” on the inside as staff.
- The founder of RMFC, Kahuki, is reputed to take pride in his con never banning anyone, including those banned by other cons. Colorado Fur Boiler saw it happen in a Facebook group: “Kahuki came in, told us his title – and bragged that he ignored warnings from other cons and people about potentially problematic or dangerous congoers – and that he has never had to ban anyone from RMFC – and nor could he see doing so in the forseeable future. That was posted on the Colorado Furries FB before a mod deleted it.” Colorado fur Timber saw it too: “He was bragging about how no one had been banned, and they didn’t listen to other conventions.”
When Deo reported the threat, Twitter banned the troll account. But RMFC didn’t answer. Or so it seemed until two months later. That’s when things turned upside down. Following her report, she seems to be the first person to ever get banned from the con. The delivery method is eye-popping. When your eyes recover, get ready for an article series. Dogpatch Press will expose:
- The individuals behind a scandal.
- The way it came out.
- Why it won’t just go away.
- How concerned people are working for real solutions.
Remember what happened to ConFurence, Rainfurrest and Oklacon? There’s an opening for a new entry to that list. And that’s just a start.
Here’s the response letter Deo got after she reported the threat:
Deo says: “When I got the letter I was worried, scared. I knew the claims were false, but how much money would I lose paying a lawyer to defend me from frivolous litigation and lies? Was my house in jeopardy? I have two roommates, both furry artists, I was worried about how this would affect them. The letter is intimidating, threatening, and before I talked to lawyers and found out about Sovereign Citizens I wasn’t sure what to make of it.”
If you have even a mild level of sophistication with this stuff, you can tell that no real licensed lawyer would use this kind of garbled pretend-legalese. It includes the bogus numbered accusations, a made up “law” that’s just misspelled latin, and the threats against Deo’s home. You may be able to pick out “dog-whistle” language that spells out “Sovereign Citizen” (notice the “fingerprint seal”.)
Sovereign Citizens are an extremist anti-government movement whose members believe that US law doesn’t apply to them. They think they can just make up their own law and enforce it with guns. Filing false liens against property is one of their tactics to cause a nuisance. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, they believe they “get to decide which laws to obey and which to ignore”, are “rooted in racism and anti-Semitism,” and do “acts of deadly violence”.
So who is Kendal Emery, the guy signing this? Why is he upset enough about a critic to attack them supposedly on behalf of RMFC?
Search Kendal Emery on the Colorado Sex Offender list. Compare Facebook profile pics. They confirm he’s a member of Colorado Furries using the handles “Kahuki Otter/Kahuki Lairu“.
Wow… this is embarrassing! Kendal/Kahuki founded RMFC. He’s the founder who is proud of the con for never banning anyone. That’s ironic because in 2008 he was forced to step down as con chair when people discovered his sex offending. It appeared that they were parting ways when he stepped down and current chair Sorin took his place.
Surely those named in the letter for suffering damage (including RMFC and BLFC) couldn’t be genuinely connected to Kendal/Kahuki’s threat! Could they? Deo asked BLFC and they said they had nothing to do with it, but the letter was official. She contacted Sorin, chair of RMFC:
Sorin is fully aware of this (it’s confirmed from other sources too.) This isn’t just a felon pretending to have legal authority to intimidate critics with fake “Sovereign Citizen” language. Sorin is supporting Kahuki to represent a con that supposedly dumped him, and use the RMFC name for threats. Kahuki still owns RMFC and that 2008 scandal was just brushed under the rug.
For confirmation, the address on the threat letter and Sorin’s reply does match RMFC’s organizing corp under Kahuki’s name:
There’s more entries on Kahuki’s legal record. They’re not necessarily worth mentioning about a random person, but this is a CEO for a nonprofit.
The rabbit hole goes deeper. It appears that the “Sovereign Citizen” gibberish in Kahuki’s letter has another source: his friend Scorch, AKA Rodney Brian Graff. Scorch is on RMFC’s board. Compare his archived comments from the Colorado Furries FA group, where he defends the Furry Raiders and Kahuki’s sex offense. Or the legal gibberish on his FA profile where he claims to be a “self taught law student.” Or his “official” ID which is something special to behold.
Scorch has other interesting stuff on his website. Poke around in the public directory to find stuff concerned with 9/11 trutherism, the “flat earth”, so-called alternative physics, or this collection of photos of dolphin genitalia. But never mind all that… being weird is one thing; this story is another.
TL;DR:
- A neo-nazi style group is invading furry fandom.
- RMFC and some of its staff and board defends them by threatening critics.
- Threats are coming from a sex offender who supposedly stepped down from operating RMFC but still owns and represents it.
You couldn’t write a Troma movie this bad. The con was operating with pride in welcoming the worst of the fandom, until a critical tweet and safety report angered them enough to threaten a regular fur (who wasn’t even attending).
Deo says: “This situation is a mess. I have a convicted felon who found my name and address and is sending me threatening letters in which he pretends to be a lawyer. Obviously things within RMFC, and it’s parent corporation MAAAC are seriously wrong if the Board of Directors chose to intimidate me into silence rather than make a public statement about the security of the con and the safety of RMFC attendees.”
Why does Deo care? “The furry fandom is this amazing place full of wonderful creative people. I’ve been so blessed to be a part of it, I love this fandom. Most of my friends are furries, and without those friends I’d be lost.”
Stay tuned for the next parts, when Dogpatch Press covers even more news tied to fascist furries. We are committed to supporting the community and power of the press. Notices to us are subject to publication. Threats will be defended with maximum power to expose the truth.
Update: the founder of the Furry Raiders was arrested in April 2019 for sex offending on a date that lines up with RMFC 2015.
Someone threatened violence. That person was banned from the con. This seems reasonable to me.
Is violence bad? Yes. Is threatening to hurt other people bad? Yes. Should we allow it at our conventions? Absolutely not. End of story.
You can try to dress it up as “rhetoric,” sure. But then it just becomes “violent rhetoric.” By trying to excuse away violence in our community you become part of the problem.
She wasn’t going to the con, and I think it’s arguably a “warn” type deal. Then, escalating from idle tweeting about punches, to a local con goer speaking of killing seals the deal of what’s the bigger wrong, IMO. Very bad double standard if the con didn’t take action on the other threat (assume they didn’t, based on their allegiances.) Lastly, the con flipping a report back on her with not just a ban, but an illegitimate and possibly illegal threat to her house? Damn son.
Having had some fur friends recently gunned down in their home I admit I cringe at the whole vague gun threats on twitter. I used to blow that shit off as hyperbole but now I tend to think twice.
But it does sound like the convention was about to fly apart at the slightest bit of drama.
Still, watching all the bullshit around this story and on twitter I have to say our fandom does have a serious problem of too many edgelords.
So the proper response is to send an illegal C&D claiming to be a lawyer? I think you missed the story here…
The law quoted in the “cease and desist” “”Order””
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/500
Actually he has the legal authority to send a C&D as he is representing the organization in charge of the con.
Chief Executive Contract Law Officer is merely the fancy title used by the organization.
In any event this isn’t so much a threat as it is explaining the what actions they will work toward taking if the party involved does not cease and desist the libel/defamation the organization.
They’d be well within their rights to litigate that person into oblivion and a lien on one’s home and property seizure is standard practice if there is a money judgement awarded in the case.
I mean shit they do this in even just small claims court alone. Don’t pay your fine? Your bank account can be levied by the prevailing party. All they need to do is get permission from the court which is pfff nothing more than filing out a form really. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/small-claims-book/chapter24-6.html
I mean this is basic stuff. I’m amazed the author of this article missed that. But yeah before you claim something is illegal, do a bit of research. We already have too may laymen thinking that because they FEEL something is illegal means it is when it is often quite the opposite.
The only accurate part of this comment:
“We already have too may laymen thinking that because they FEEL something is illegal means it is when it is often quite the opposite”
100% incorrect. Unless you are a member of the bar you cannot sign your name to a legal instrument.
So the person who said they were bringing a gun to shoot people was banned?
No, the person who reported the person who threatened to bring the gun was banned.
This is the dumbest comment ever.
We should start a gofundme to raise money for legal fees to put an end to this nonsense. Part of why these people do this sort of this is because they feel invincible.
so it turns out the podcast feral attraction also follows the furry raiders on twitter. i have a screen shot of it that I will gladly share, especially because they deny it.
well, they did follow it until they had a public ‘boo-hoo-hoo’ with me.
Always scrape that info before a confrontation!
I wonder if they’ll summarily ban the entire staff at Dogpatch Press from RMFC because of this report. I’m glad these crazy miscreants are finally being exposed and counterattacked now.
They won’t have to. The con is cancelled.
I’m not from the USA but I’m pretty sure faking C&D notes and posing as a legal studio is a felony in my country. Besides of that it sounds like the convention hotel’s higher-ups would be interested in knowing that their hotel is getting involved in this sort of stuff.
Yeah, unfortunately the Sovereign Citizen idiots abuse the legal system. They have this idea that if they speak the right Magic Words, they will be granted great power over the legal system.
People have told them how to file spurious lawsuits on their own, how to make themselves some sort of untouchable legal entity, how to get away with not paying taxes, etc…
Instead, they usually wind up getting jailed for tax evasion, driving with a suspended license, or other idiotic failures. After lengthy, ridiculous trials.
They’re predominantly American, but other countries are getting their own flavor.
Also, just clicked your website link. Oooh. Kitty. Very nice.
Heh, yeah, there are nutjobs like that in every country. 😛 And glad you like the kitties!
It is a felony in the US to sign your name to a legal instrument unless you are a member of the bar., but the law rarely stops a child rapist.
Dogpatch Press, you’re getting better and more awesome all the time. Keep up the good work!!
Trying, wish there was more teamwork for this stuff… the important part is if you get something useful out of it 🙂
Good job.
Make ’em cry, Patch. Expose these creatures for what they truly are.
If I may ask, what role does Deo play for Dogpatch Press, and if she’s a writer, did she write this article?
On a less tongue-in-cheek note, here’s what I don’t get: why is it okay for Deo to say “can’t wait to punch some Nazis”, yet it’s not okay for someone else to bring up self-defense? Your excuse for the tweet is “It was a rhetorical comment in line with the patriotic spirit of entire generations of Americans since WWII”. In that case, how isn’t the concept of self-defense with a legally-owned, legally-carried firearm equally in line with that same patriotic spirit? If you want to play the Antifa joke, maybe you shouldn’t get offended when someone else responds in kind.
While I’m not impressed with how the RMFC staff handled the whole Furry Raiders situation, I’m equally (if not even more) unimpressed with this article. I may not be a fan of the FR or their leader, but I had zero issue with any of the Raiders at RMFC last year, and the only people who had any issues that I’m aware of created those issues out of their own paranoia. So the whole group is a neo-Nazi organization just because the leader of the group has made stupid remarks in the past (and unlike everybody else who wants in on the drama, I’m not going to claim to know whether those remarks were meant seriously or as a joke, because while I have my own opinions, my opinion doesn’t factor in here)? Because one of them shoved someone else at a meet, they all condone assault? Considering that we’re members of a subculture that constantly has to defend itself from people who’ve seen some of our worst representatives and assume that we’re all that way, I’d think that you’d know better than to assume that an entire group is represented by the words or actions of a couple people.
It’s a shame that sensationalism and drama-mongering like this are allowed to pass as a legitimate article on what claims to be a “furry news” site.
Deo only provided the quotes with her names on them.
Please see comment here, http://dogpatch.press/2017/04/10/rocky-mountain-fur-con-threat/#comment-38183
The con doesn’t allow guns, a hotel isn’t public space so legal isn’t part of the topic in that case.
Suggesting the Raiders are harmless or put-upon by others, and not creating intensely toxic provocation, not aiming to split fandom and creating a cult-like “us vs them” role for themselves… that’s just a sign of needing to pay better attention.
My first two comments were mainly tongue-in-cheek. I assumed Deo wasn’t directly involved in the creation of this article, but frankly, the way it’s written reeks of bias. As for the second point, threats of violence in general aren’t exactly legal. I’m not trying to defend Olivia for responding the way she did, but how could you threaten to punch people then not expect someone to respond with a threat of retaliatory violence? Deo should’ve never made that tweet in the first place.
With regard to the Raiders. I paid plenty of attention at RMFC 2016, and I saw no issues with them occur. Maybe there were issues, but I don’t have any knowledge of them, and generally, when bad things happen at a con, the news spreads like wildfire. If I haven’t been paying enough attention, then it’s your job to prove to me that they’re what you say they are, and singling out Foxler and another Furry Raider who shoved someone at a meet doesn’t pass muster for me. If it’s indisputable fact, surely you have more proof, and since you made the claim, that burden is on you.
Nazis are just about the most common cartoon villain in modern fiction. A tweet about punching them isn’t equivalent to a threat about shooting up a hotel. It’s common sense even for sniping on twitter.
I think the tremendous response to this post showed the burden is met for pointing out a messed up group dynamic, which the Furry Raiders thrive on. It’s no coincidence that they’re on the staff who handled Deo’s report, and the con failed to take strong enough action about them back when they did that absurd stunt with the room block. Monday morning quarterback and all, but that’s a pretty widely shared opinion.
I think this short thread is getting a little too close to willful obtuseness. I’m going to close it since this isn’t the place to shrug off something that’s been clearly festering from inattention for quite a while. There’s more info on deck to chew over later.
Can you answer the question please? Why is it ok to threaten violence on someone who you might disagree with at an ideological level?
Deo threaten to punch people he doesn’t know simply for wearing an article of clothing he doesn’t like. Why is what he said ok?
Where did you read that it says it’s “OK”? Not on this article. I mentioned deserving perhaps a warning up there.
On an “ideological level” – how’s the view up there in that ivory tower? And that “article of clothing” has context when we know how iconography works.
I’m reserving judgement on a remark that 1) is half cartoonish hyperbole. Nazi villains are literally the most common kind in the pop culture. 2) references current events of Richard Spencer, a vile twat who tried to organize a march against jews in his home town… hate speech is a real thing and calling for genocide isn’t nonviolent. Change subject now plz.
My feeling is that ***especially** in this current sociopolitical climate, it’s risky and foolish to make jokes or remarks about shooting, punching, or otherwise physically attacking people on public social media. That almost never ends well. Even if somebody else “started it,” you still shouldn’t continue it.
From where I sit, everybody in that comment chain was being hysterical and obnoxious.
Nazis are a threat by their very existence. They would never be allowed at any con I ever attended. Their presence is a threat to the safety of others. I did suggest that the con should have banned them outright, but it seems that the Raiders and RMFC are tight, so, that wasn’t gonna happen.
Wanna know why I don’t agree with them on an ideological level. Because they killed my brothers in the 30’s/40’s.
So you’re “not a fan of the raiders”, but you seem pretty concerned about their image. What makes you not a fan? Why jump in here to defend them?
He’s just trying to make sense of what’s right. Just because he isn’t vehemently against something doesn’t mean he supports it.
I’m not concerned with their image, it’s simply the fact that they, as a group, haven’t done anything that would necessitate them being banned from the convention. It’s mainly Foxler that I’m not a fan of, because he has made comments that, even if meant as a joke, should not have been made. I don’t know anybody from the rest of the group, and while I’ve heard enough bad things about them to be wary of them, that doesn’t mean that I think they’re harmful enough as a group to be a security threat. At least, RMFC 2016, the first con where the attendees at large were aware of the group, seemed to be evidence of that. This isn’t a matter of defending the Furry Raiders or the con staff, it’s a matter of my belief that what happened shouldn’t have meant damnation for the con, and as sensationalist as this article was, it seems like that’s exactly what the writer wanted. I’m not okay with that.
Hey I’m getting a little tired of windy comments only put here to quibble and contribute little… please take a break and come back for later stories.
“I’d think that you’d know better than to assume that an entire group is represented by the words or actions of a couple people.”
As far as any of us know, the Furry Raiders openly accept the Neo-Nazi/fascist furries who are in the group, rather than denouncing them. The same ostensibly goes for RMFC. What makes matters worse for RMFC is how a registered sex offender is still able to speak on behalf of the con and its organisers.
You believe the words and actions of the worst members of the Furry Raiders or RMFC’s organisers should not be considered representative of either (or both) groups. Perhaps those two groups could do a better job of proving why. From where I sit, their worst members are the people openly representing them without fear of backlash or denouncement, without any form of consequence from within those groups.
“As far as any of us know” isn’t good enough to make the claim that it’s an absolutely true statement. I simply don’t know if they do or not, and that’s not “willful obtuseness” as Patch put it, it’s me not passing judgment on people I don’t know. I’ve been clear in stating that I don’t necessarily see the Furry Raiders in a good light, but I also am not aware of them knowingly doing anything that would constitute a threat to public safety to the magnitude that people found it necessary to go to the hotel staff and demand more security to account for them.
You make a fair point that the people within both groups should’ve done more to address those words and actions, and I don’t disagree. I’m saddened that the RMFC staff didn’t do more to address the situation, but I’m also saddened that this turned into the PR nightmare that it did when those of us who actually attended RMFC on a yearly basis never saw anything that would’ve even hinted that there was a security threat at the con.
There’s no reason not to judge the Raiders. Copying from my twitter –
If you refuse to see nazis unless they drive tanks –
If they wear those symbols but just switch a swastika with a paw… they can’t have it both ways and say all that stuff surrounding it is meaningless.
If they post “I stand with hitler” and claim to be “hitler of furry fandom”… they can’t have it both ways to get people worked up but then pretend it didn’t happen.
If they want to beg approval from Richard Spencer and attack straw-man SJW enemies… they can’t have it both ways and pretend they’re a peaceful club just avoiding politics and being lied about.
If that’s who they choose to run their groups, they can’t pretend most of them don’t approve it.
If they want to provoke like neo-nazis, take them at face value and don’t let them play mind games. Even if it’s superficial, they can wear that uniform they made. The burden’s on them to do whatever it takes to get it off. Or just don’t put it on in the first place.
A++, both this comment and your reporting/documenting – great work, don’t let the ne’er do wells get ya down!
Background Checks for EVERY furcon attendee!! that way the staff can pick and choose who gets to attend their convention!
The CEO of the con went 8 years without scrutiny after his past got noticed, and was proud about no standards at all for attendance. He had to cause a PR disaster with legal threats to make this discussion happen.
You DO understand that shooting someone with a gun after they punch you IS NOT “self defense,” right? It’s “aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”
“Self defense” entails the use of REASONABLE FORCE to defend oneself. “Reasonable force” is defined as the amount of force NECESSARY to defend oneself from aggression – i.e. shoving or punching back if struck. Use of a deadly weapon elevates it to “excessive force,” which NEGATES the “defense” aspect.
If you had HALF the brains you’re pretending to have, you’d know that. But you apparently don’t even have two whole brain cells to rub together.
Take your pretentiously IGNORANT, hot-air-filled Nazi-defending NONSENSE somewhere else.
I wonder if this clown knows that claiming to be a lawyer when you’re not is illegal in most states?
But then, I’m guessing he’s on pretty loose terms with the law.
He’s a SovCit. They’re like thst.
>Accept = Tolerate
Now we are just making up defenitions of words to appeal to emotion. It would figure you couldnt even get passed the first sentence with any sort of journalistic unbias. I get the big deal but this article just attacks people and misleads about non issues like safe space culture.
Congradulations, someones 25 year old sex offenses arent relevant anymore. And a Nazi dressed fursuiter isnt trting to gas people or supress rights, why fucking care….
*definitions
*get past
*congratulations
*trying
*suppress
If only proper spelling could fix empty words.
If you want an “objective” journalist — if you want “view from nowhere” journalism — that means you want a journalist who will never challenge what someone says to them. You want a journalist who will show “both sides of the story” and not “take a side”, even if that means treating liars as truthtellers and bigots as honorable people.
A journalist should be focusing on getting to the truth, and that means calling bullshit when warranted. Seeking the truth and referring to a false statement as such is not “showing bias”. Those things are the job of a journalist.
That’s a false dichotomy. It’s entirely possible to be a truthful, unbiased journalist without an unwillingness to challenge facts. As I see it, Patch only sought one side of the story here. The job of a journalist is to seek both sides.
He’s describing a well known concept that’s not false at all. If that’s hard to get I suspect you aren’t in journalism and aren’t offering much useful here. Blogging isn’t the NY Times nor does it have to be, it would be kind of dishonest to pretend like it. I avoid the word journalism, there is no “journal” to host me – there’s no departments or buffer levels or “professionalism” called for. Remember everyone doing this is both an insider and supposedly “objective” at the same time. Objective doesn’t exist. Either you’re a member or you aren’t and then you aren’t inside. Only 2 sites do much of what we’re doing and they have so much overlap that there isn’t any competition. Implying that every story has equal sides would be a fallacy though.
“The job of a journalist is to seek both sides.”
No, the job of a journalist is to seek the truth. If one side makes an accusation and the other side either deflects or refuses to directly address the accusation, a journalist has every right to say “the other side refused to directly answer questions about the accusation” — because that would be the truth.
Moreover, your version of objectivity would put “Flat Earthers” on the same level as learned scientists. After all, the scientists will claim the world is round, and presenting the Flat Earthers side is just due diligence. In “the view from nowhere” journalism, the arguments from both the scientists and the Flat Earthers would receive equal weight, and the Flat Earthers would never once have their views challenged or called exactly what they are (“bullshit”).
Your view of objectivity would require that we treat ridiculous, heinous, and otherwise dangerous opinions as anything but — that we view such opinions in a vacuum where they must be proven to be ridiculous, heinous, or otherwise dangerous each time they are raised. The kind of objectivity you want does not exist. It never has and it never will.
You said it.
It’s true I could have done more to get comment from the con. There are good people volunteering, attending and making it happen. But I saw that the C&D letter was being treated as a real official thing. It’s their “side” to Deo’s issue. That’s where they hit bankrupt.
You should check RMFC’s web site. They just cancelled the con.
Also: https://www.flayrah.com/6903/rocky-mountain-fur-con-canceled-following-neo-nazi-associations-tax-irregularities
So, here’s some interesting additional data:
https://www.guidestar.org/profile/20-2837689
According to this, RMFC’s parent organization hasn’t filed the proper taxes in at least 3 years.
Embezzlement and fraud, anyone?
Small clarification, Patch:
When Deo showed me that letter to ask if we were involved, I said that we had no knowledge of this letter. I also said that letter is official legal correspondence (it fooled me, I’m not a lawyer) and she should obey it. I should have said it “seems to be legal correspondence” which would have been more accurate.
Thanks Tyco, I saw your comments before but I’m glad you’re clarifying. I didn’t mean to imply it was official because just you said so. I saw multiple confirmations, not just as Kendal sent it but from other RMFC leadership. One was the response to Deo when she raised the topic and it was clearly understood what she referred to but I saw more specific than that too.
Well, now I have a better idea how to spot fake legal correspondence! Probably useful in my line of work at this point. :/
The whole “sovereign citizen” movement just seems to be an endless parade of cringe and lulz from what I’ve learned about it.
I hope that dude knows that scaring someone by sending a fake legal document is illegal as fuck.
RMFC 2017 is canceled.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sppdt3
Con cancelled
http://rockymountainfurcon.com/
And now the punchline: people (including myself) have been saying for years that the far-right and sex offenders weren’t welcome in furry fandom, but no-one listened because they were too busy calling us judgmental haters.
PS: “Sovereign citizen” is a meaningless, self-aggrandizing phrase with no legal backing. If you’re born in a country and have lived in that country all your life, then you’re subject to its laws, end of — and no court anywhere will ever rule any differently.
Amen to that. Not that the SovCit goobers won’t keep trying. For some reason, failure to them just means they didn’t use enough legal mumbo-jumbo.
“Okay, what if I put postage stamps on all four corners, and invoke the Magna Carta? What you gonna do now, huh?”
Even as someone who has followed the “Sovereign citizen” folks for a long time, reading some of their stuff hurt my brain.
And yes, it is meaningless and internally inconsistent. One is either a sovereign or a citizen. One can’t be both.
My name is Rippy van Winkle and truthfully, my mate, Leerrii Narsith who was once part of the convention staff was chased off by these people. He was not what you would call a gay fur, but he was one of the few who wanted to be considered a founder because he loved this convention and hated what it turned into. We were forced out due to an ex and exfriend, our fandom experience shows when we have been otherwise ignored or left in corners of meets when we opted to show up. The truth is, the fandom has its up and down, but we must and i will state this, that I am no fan of the Furry Raiders, nor do I consider their existence in the fandom how do I put it nicely very keen. RMFC is gone, but not forgotten, these lessons will have to be learned and the fandom will have to unite somehow
Sorry to hear that Rippy. I think when the smoke starts to clear, there will be some nice attention on building up new cons for all the regular furs and ones like dealers who miss income.
[…] before they were made available to the rest of the convention attendees. As furry news outlet Dogpatch Press wrote about the […]
My understanding is now that the Mile High Fur Con aka DenFer Con is now being invaded by the Raiders too.
And Scorch when he speaks of “our fellow furs” and i couldn’t figure out where i heard it before, then it hit me.
Only those who are our fellow countrymen can become citizens. Only those who have German blood, regardless of creed, can be our countrymen. Hence no Jew can be a countryman.
or to use the original 1920s NSDAP language
“Only those who are our fellow Germans (volksgenosse) shall be citizens of our state.”
A common thread among Nazi, Neo Nazi, and Fascist groups, they attempt to appeal to nationality. Hence why Nationalism is dangerous, it inherently creates an us vs them environment. They dress up with pretty words and welcoming slogans but those same slogans are just iterations of the same slogans made in Nazi Germany before and during Adolf Hitlers rise to power.
There are two things I’ve been thinking about here. The first is that, when the RMFC staff was given the chance to explain their side of the story, they claimed that when the Denver Marriott Tech Center saw the scary scary words that Deo was posting about them on Twitter (I reiterate, they’re still saying this was all incited by a fucking Twitter post from someone who wasn’t even going to be at the con either way,) the convention center demanded that they pay $22,000 to hire people from the Denver Police Department to provide additional security, and that was what the statement from the chairman was really talking about when it referred to a “sudden and drastic increase in security costs amounting to more than a third of our entire existing operating budget”.
Of course, even if Deo coming and punching people in the face was something that was literally going to happen, it would be an insult to anyone’s intelligence to expect us to believe that someone showing up at a con to punch someone in the face was a worse situation, that necessitated hiring more security people, than anything that had ever happened in any previous year, even at a con with a founder that *wasn’t* a convicted sex offender. But that’s not even the story they’re trying to feed us. They’re expecting us to believe that someone *not* showing up at the con to punch people in the face would have been a worse and more dangerous situation than they had ever encountered in any previous year.
Given this, in combination with the pseudo-legal hokum they’ve been sending out with one of their board members’ signature on it and the fact that their non-profit status was revoked 6 years ago for failure to file their tax returns, I’d say at this point, they have marginally less credibility than the Time Cube guy when it comes to any statement related to their convention’s finances or management.
I can’t help wondering, then, whether the story they’ve told the convention center is the same as the story they’ve told us workaday furries. Admittedly, now that there are actually major news organizations picking this up, which are likely to ask the convention center for comment sooner or later, this may be redundant, but I wonder, if some friendly local reporter should contact the Denver Marriott Tech Center, would they back up the narrative that they demanded $22,000 to bring in police officers for increased security, and they canceled their contract with RMFC because of their failure to meet that demand? Because at this point, I very seriously suspect the real reason the convention center canceled their contract is because the RMFC staff started backing out on financial obligations to them, in addition to financial obligations to the government. Like, a previously agreed obligation to pay about $22,000, perhaps. I could easily imagine some bad actor embezzling that much from a mid-size convention, especially if, just hypothetically, there happened to be someone on the board of directors who was part of a millenarian political movement that believed laws just weren’t real….
The second thing I’ve been thinking is that it would be great if we could obtain a list of all the artists who were going to be at the dealer’s den or the artists’ alley at RMFC 2017, and encourage people to commission one or two of them. I think that would be a great way to both help mitigate them being screwed over by the closure of the convention, and underscore the fact that there’s a community that’s willing to support them, rather than just using them like the Furry Raiders. Unfortunately, everything besides that statement from the chairman seems to have already been purged from the official RMFC site, I couldn’t find anything from that site saved on archive.org or archive.is either, and I’ve never been to RMFC, nor do I know anyone who’s ever been on staff, so I don’t have anyone I could ask directly if they still have that list of artists. I realize this is a total shot in the dark, and by now everyone who was on staff for this year has probably just convinced themselves that you’re the devil, but is there anyone you might be able to contact that would be able to get that information?
I think some developments are making the $22,000 thing understood. It’s quasi-rumor still but just wait. It seems there was such a cost, but it was related to gun threats (not punching threats) and more likely than not caused by “Furry Raiders” and other righty types getting huffy about their god-given ‘murican right to carry weapons to a furry con of all places. And with encouragement by high-level staff working to undermine other staff who opposed them. So that whole thing about blaming the “SJW’s” or whatever is a big fat lie and the nazi-like people in this story are the ones who provoked and undermined until it fell apart.
A charity effort for the artists would be super nice but maybe not all that productive. Annual charity doesn’t sustain income ya know? Best to put the effort into building a new con – which it seems is coming along fabulously. From all the messages I’ve gotten there’s a refreshing lack of hate, if anything I suspect some staff are happy this happened to wipe the slate clean.
They do have the right to carry dependent on the state laws. If the con has nothing saying they can’t then legally why wouldn’t you? After what happened at MFF and the repeated threats against furcons, only an idiot wouldn’t, and now there’s people going around attacking people for their beliefs.
I’m approving this comment so people can see, but do not continue the thread for the sake of willfully-obtuse bickering.
People of hard core right-wing bias are incredibly stubborn about conflating “legal” with “appropriate,” or in tune with group standards. Let’s break this down and remove that protective dodge.
It’s also “legal” to refuse to take showers and walk around smelling like shit. But that’s rude, obnoxious and unwanted. That’s why people pass around the “6-2-1 rule” as common courtesy. 6 hours sleep, 2 meals and a shower, so you aren’t being That Guy.
It’s not a law or a formal rule, it’s just what grown ups do because it’s civil. You could call it your “belief” to be dirty but everyone will know you are being an asshole on purpose.
That is the case with insisting it’s somehow called for to bring guns to a furry con. Fucking arming up for a convention full of queer and nerdy people who love cartoons and costuming. A group so lacking in aggression that I bet you can’t point out a single fight that’s ever happened in public between them. I run a blog to cover all the news and know of nothing like that. It’s reasonable to characterize the entire fandom population as more or less the size of a city which is that peaceful. That makes it egregiously provocative to act like your feelings about internet memes calls for deadly weapons. In hotels that are already secure places.
This is happening because people are upset about trolls. Trolls who insist on displaying nazi-like apparel at cons. Don’t pretend that isn’t the intention of the cute little arm bands. So people are provoked by trolls, and whether the internet responses are right or wrong, nobody has actually gotten punched or can reasonably expect danger beyond what hotel security handles. But you think it calls for guns.
Only an idiot would pretend this is about “beliefs” and not about aggressive escalation against the purpose of the group. Cut it out. Play with your toys on a firing range where it’s appropriate, or if you really feel like it make a furry gun hobby meet. Otherwise leave it home and be a grown up and member of a fandom.
That’s why it’s called a concealed carry. No one’s supposed to know you have it, unless you tell people or go waving it around, which is stupid and inappropriate. But no, I can do both because it may be the geeks and queers that I like, but it’s not the geeks and queers that worry me. Also I don’t ‘play with my toys’ at the range, I train to better myself. But I sure as hell am not going to let some hack, clearly biased, and with no knowledge in the subject he speaks, ‘journalist’.
I’m sorry you’re so biased by paranoia that you feel like a furry convention is a place for your toy. As if anyone besides geeks and queers are there.
Here’s news you can use. Getting butthurt about internet comments doesn’t justify escalating to weapons, no matter how insecure you are. This is all about ego posturing. Even in that most ridiculously sensationalist edge case about MFF, shooting people couldn’t stop whoever from buying pool chlorine and tossing it down the stairs. ISIS isn’t coming to cons and the cops don’t need your help. This is just insulting to everyone’s intelligence. Please better yourself by getting real.
Because preventing the other user from replying, when they make a valid point, is totally mature.
You haven’t been prevented, you big baby. I even said 4 comments up, “do not continue the thread for the sake of willfully-obtuse bickering” but let you go on. You’ve had your say, have no valid points and are just bickering now, and were told not to do that. So don’t.
Really, I think a lot of the reason we’re in this current mess as a fandom is because people keep fixating on “beliefs” when they should be keeping their eye on behavior.
At a certain point, you just need to tell people that their intentions and beliefs don’t matter, and that they just need to CUT IT OUT if they want to be welcome at the party.
[…] according to the Rolling Stone article and one posted by Dogpatch Press, the “Furry Raiders” were being characterized by various online forums as a […]
Good work for exposing the truth. But I have what I think is a really good question. Didn’t anyone at RMFC even checked? I thought checking for sex offender was commonplace these days.
[…] "neo-nazi cult-like group" recruiting members with "gifts, grooming and manipulation," according to Dogpatch Press, a blog covering the furry community. But Miller does not agree with such descriptions. "We have a […]
[…] Lost its non-profit status several years earlier, […]
Well I’m late for these news, but I’m glad you covered them. It’s a good piece of journalism. This is quite shocking.
[…] along with Foxopopoulous’). An example of this pseudo-legal Sov Cit drool, pointed out by a Shavepatch Press article, is (it’s a long one, so hold on to your […]
[…] Fur Con. This doesn’t always sit well with the rest of the community needless to say. As the Dog Patch reports, one furry who wasn’t too fond of them goes by the name Deo. Deo made a joke on […]