[sudo-discuss] [omni-consensus] El or Ellis set fires in the building

[Yardena Cohen]

Thanks Jake, I agree that Ellis should not be allowed at Omni anytime
soon. The status quo is that he will stay unwelcome at omni until the
delegates make a decision one way or the other. I think that's fine in
this case, and I think others would agree.

I also agree that our process is fundamentally flawed. I am personally
doing a lot of thinking about how we might improve it, and I hope that
others are as well. This definitely will touch on things that may get
philosophical. But hopefully we can all try to be succinct and respect
each others' capacity when that time comes.

On Tue, Nov 2, 2021 at 1:50 PM Jake <jake at spaz.org> wrote:
>
> 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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