Statement Re: COS DSA Supports Restorative Justice & Survivors of Abuse
We are issuing this statement as a chapter to address recent events and the misinformation that have permeated the local community leading to rifts among various organizations. WARNING: This statement concerns past incidents of sexual assault and abuse.
For years, rumors have circulated accusing both Colorado Springs DSA and the Chinook Center of being apologists and defenders of people who have committed sexual assault. Not only is this blatantly untrue, but it is a misrepresentation of the core situation that led to these rumors. That being said, we empathize with those who have encountered these rumors and we understand why people have reacted strongly to the false allegations. We wish to acknowledge that this spread of misinformation has itself been a source of great harm. It has caused unnecessary pain to our members, other Chinook member organizations, and the community at large. This pain has especially been felt by the many survivors of abuse within these circles who have to encounter this false information. We are coming forward with this statement to put a stop to this harmful cycle of misrepresentation and manipulation of public perception.
In order to be thorough, transparent, and direct, we will recount the situation as it was observed by people directly involved and who were also directly impacted/victimized by the core situation.
WARNING: Non-detailed mentions of sexual assault and abuse. During the summer of 2020, Chinook Center leadership was made aware of allegations of sexual assault and abuse of Chinook community members by an individual named Patrick. This individual had been involved in various movement spaces, but upon these allegations of assault and abuse, he was kicked out of the Chinook community and clearly told he was not welcome at Chinook. SW, who is a member of the Chinook executive team, made an inappropriate comment on Facebook questioning why the victims didn’t go to the cops. He meant to ask, as he later explained, whether he and others should pursue some sort of vigilante justice against Patrick, seeing as the police hadn't been involved. While these comments were not questioning the validity of the allegations, they still had a harmful impact on survivors within the Chinook community and concerns about SW’s comments were raised to Chinook leadership. SW made additional comments in numerous places that were similarly upsetting and these comments were also brought forth to be addressed.
In response to these concerns, Chinook leadership held a community trial where SW was confronted by the concerned community members. The result of the community trial was a restorative justice process with SW, including a meeting with survivors from within the Chinook community. He has taken full accountability for his comments and understands the ways they could be misinterpreted and hurtful. The survivors of Patrick’s abuse and other survivors impacted by SW’s comments were satisfied with the outcome of SW’s restorative justice process and atonement.
A former Chinook community member who was not a victim of Patrick’s felt unsatisfied by the community’s response and left, saying that Chinook (and its member organizations, including Colorado Springs DSA) is full of rape apologists. The rumors since then have led to the serious misunderstanding that this community member was a victim of SW, when the reality is that SW was held accountable for writing upsetting Facebook comments, and not any form of abuse. It is not the position of Colorado Springs DSA to defend or attack the actions or reputation of any individual within this situation, but it is our position to stand by the community process of accountability, restorative justice, and the outcome of that process.
Most of our members were neither involved in nor aware of these events, since they occurred in the early days of the Chinook Center when our chapter was still in its early stages and very small. While most of us cannot speak directly on the described events, we have been debriefed by those COS DSA members who were present throughout this process, including some who were directly impacted and harmed. Those harmed were satisfied with the resolution of this situation and we have followed their lead in standing by community-led justice and accountability work.
As an abolitionist feminist organization, Colorado Springs DSA firmly roots our values in supporting survivors and following their lead in matters of community justice. We therefore stand by the results of the restorative justice process. Like the Chinook Center, Colorado Springs DSA is committed to building community spaces that move away from carceral systems. Being abolitionists means that we reject the logic of punishment and disposability and commit ourselves to the challenging work of repairing relationships when harm has been done. There is no established framework for transformative justice and many in the community are not familiar with the principles of abolition. When punishment and incarceration are the accepted norm for dealing with situations of harm, it can be difficult for people to understand what justice and accountability look like within abolitionist communities.
In adherence with the principles of abolition, Colorado Springs DSA has honored the wishes of the survivors who experienced harm by accepting the outcome of the Chinook Center’s accountability process. Furthermore, we will always believe survivors who come forward with allegations of abuse or violence and are committed to investigating any new allegations. Should situations ever arise where accountability is needed, Colorado Springs DSA will be an active partner in helping to build and refine the community’s process.
So, to be clear, we will directly address the false accusations that have arisen from this hurtful situation:
SW is not the alleged perpetrator of sexual assault in this situation.
The Chinook Center did not skirt accountability for the actions that SW did engage in.
Justice and accountability were pursued to the satisfaction of those who were victimized by Patrick and who were hurt by the comments of SW, and they considered the situation resolved via community accountability and restorative justice. As an abolitionist organization, we stand by these non-carceral forms of community justice.
The person who was unsatisfied by the outcome of this process was not a victim of the situation, but was a bystander who has been misrepresenting the facts and perpetuating false allegations against Chinook and SW in spite of the survivors’ objections. Instead of following the lead of the survivors and respecting their wishes for the situation to be laid to rest, the rumors have continued to be spread throughout the leftist community in Colorado Springs. The resulting rumor mill has made the abuse survivors targets of community shame and blame, which has perpetuated their revictimization.
Although the members of the broader community have understandably reacted to the false information with anger and outrage, they have not been given the true facts. Instead, their good intentions have been manipulated and weaponized in ways that have created a rift in the leftist community. To be clear, we are not assuming the intent behind these rumors, but we must address the impacts of this situation regardless of intent. These rifts and the misinformation that fuels them make all of us on the left vulnerable to state attacks. We cannot and will not make accusations, but we will note that the weaponization of misinformation and the deepening of division have been a known tactic of state oppression. The state has repeatedly utilized covert interference and infiltration of leftist communities to sow mistrust and hostility between individuals and organizations. As an organization that has been targeted by CSPD and the FBI with surveillance and infiltration, we feel we must sound the alarm on circumstances that make all of us on the left vulnerable to manipulation and security breaches. This statement is not only a rebuttal of individual actions, but a warning against allowing the state to tear our community apart and thus dilute our organizing power. Our greatest defense is the trust we can build amongst one another, and we are taking this step towards building and repairing trust by being fully transparent about our observations and our positions on the circumstances of our community’s past. However, more repair work is needed within the community to build upon our initial step forward and to heal the harmful impacts of this misinformation and the backlash that has followed.
Every time these rumors recirculate, it is extremely distressing to the survivors of the original situation and is revictimizing them through retraumatization. This in itself is a huge injustice. Colorado Springs DSA and other Chinook organizations have also been regarded as guilty by association, and the backlash, as seen most recently, has been retraumatizing and harmful to abuse survivors within our orgs – including those who were never involved in the initial situation. They continue to be impacted by the hostility directed towards us and the defamation of our organizations. To limit future retraumatization, sources including this statement will be compiled into a physical binder at the Chinook Center. The binder will include resources addressing this situation, the Chinook Center’s policies surrounding restorative justice and community support, and other resources to continue building upon the work our organizations have already been doing.
We prefer to presume innocence of intent by those in the leftist community in COS who have been involved in perpetuating this false information, but which has fueled the hostility against our orgs and individual members. However, if these allegations continue and if our orgs and members continue to be targets of character assassination, we will regard these actions as willful malintent moving forward. These actions would go beyond defamation and would constitute the perpetuation of harm and injustice towards those who were victimized by the original situation, and the many survivors in our community who want peace and restoration.
Colorado Springs DSA also wants to reaffirm our commitment to standing by survivors of violence and abuse. Our leadership committee is predominantly composed of female and nonbinary persons who hold queer, BIPOC, and survivor identities. We will always start by believing survivors who come forward with allegations of abuse or violence and are fully committed to investigating any new allegations that should ever arise. We know that we keep us safe and we are fully committed to making sure that our members and the broader community have a safe and affirming environment to organize for our collective liberation. We believe that the only way to achieve liberation and build a successful revolutionary movement is to center intersectionality and the dismantling of heteropatriarchy and white supremacy within our anti-oppressive work. We recognize that abusive power dynamics and misogyny have a long legacy within leftist communities, and we are vigilant in addressing these cultures and helping our people to do better.
We hope that by coming forward, we can begin to bring about healing in the community and repair the damage that has been done. Our chapter and individual members have suffered enormous reputational damage through this latest resurgence of the old rumors, and we are taking this first step towards laying the foundation for repair, but we cannot do it on our own. We know that we are stronger together, and we hope that those who have received the false information in the community can approach us in dialogue and restoration.
Colorado Springs DSA
