2 Nov
2021
2 Nov
'21
1:50 p.m.
I wanted to follow up on this and formalize our position on this person coming
back to the building. I think it's obvious that Ellis should be banned from
The Omni but I don't know what process is appropriate for documenting this.
I understand we have a "safe space ban" policy where a single person can
require another person to be banned, in which case I would personally take
responsibility for keeping this person away, as if it were a personal conflict
between us or something. I feel that the Safe Space Ban process is
fundamentally flawed (or maybe it's just that we as a community are flawed) and
I don't feel like it's the appropriate venue for this situation.
So I want some clarity on this situation. This is not a request for devil's
advocacy or the beginning of a long philosophical discussion, but I wonder if
that's where we're headed.
thanks
-jake
On Wed, 27 Oct 2021, Jake wrote:
Tuesday night around 10PM, two people came into
Sudoroom while we were having
"Hardware Hacking Tuesdays" and one of them said he had been there before,
and
he said his name was "El" or "Ellis". He was about 5'10"
and had short black
dreadlocks and no glasses. I don't remember his friend's name, but he left
after not too long.
El asked for help with setting up speakers, asked if he could use the
computer
for something, asked for various tools and seemed to be working on something
like hacking a piece of network gear that had been in the e-waste pile, which
seemed normal enough for someone coming to hardware hack night. We helped
with
various requests but mostly he worked on it by himself.
He had his phone connected to the speakers near the laser cutter, and a few
times I had to ask him to turn down the music because it was making it harder
for us to talk to each other, but it wasn't a big deal.
He asked if he could smoke inside, which was one of several times the topic
of
fire came up. Apparently at some point he said "I like to set things on
fire"
but I didn't hear that. We told him that people don't smoke indoors and
someone took him outside and showed him the side doors so he could smoke out
there, and then he came back in. He went out and came back in a couple of
times.
Around 12:45 AM, I got up to go to the bathroom and when I got to the door to
the hallway next to CCL's entrance, it was closed, so I opened it and he was
standing there and said "there's a fire" and I turned and looked and there
was
a paper shopping bag on the floor that was on fire. I yelled and stomped out
the fire and the others came to help. He said "You locked me out. You stole
my phone". I told him to gather his shit and we escorted him to get his
phone
and other items, and I escorted him to the door and made sure he had all his
stuff with him and he left. I was unable to get a picture of him.
After he left I looked at the area where he was standing, and there had been
a
sign or paper on the door that had been entirely burned, as well as the paper
bag set on fire. I poured water on everything and made sure there was no
fire
left. Myself and the others present then went around the whole building to
see
if there was anyone else inside the building.
The side doors (on 48th street) were not latched, although they were mostly
closed. We should probably try to make those doors close automatically.
If anyone else has information on "El" aka "Ellis" please speak up.
One
person
said "Well that's horrible. That guy has been to sudo many times before"
good night
-jake
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