Emily Gorcenski

{{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL|onlysourced=yes|noicon=yes|dateformat=mdy

|alma_mater=Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

|birth_date={{birth year and age|1982}}}}

Emily F. Gorcenski (born 1982){{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Extremily Gorcenski|url=https://twitter.com/emilygorcenski|access-date=2020-09-06|website=Twitter|language=en|type=verified account}} 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.

Early life and education

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.{{Cite news |date=13 October 2020 |title=Emily Gorcenski: Using Data Against the Right |url=https://taz.de/!171782/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104213127/https://taz.de/!171782/ |archive-date=November 4, 2021 |work=Die Tageszeitung |location=Berlin |page=2 |language=de |id={{ProQuest|2449966980}} }} Gorcenski is a transgender woman.{{cite web |last1=O'Neil |first1=Luke |title='A Lot of Broken Bones, Blood, All of the Above': 3 Charlottesville Witnesses Share Their Stories |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a56976/charlottesville-virginia-protests-violence/ |website=Esquire |accessdate=10 August 2019|date=2017-08-13 }}

Activism

= Unite the Right =

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,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/us/christopher-cantwell-crying-nazi-virginia.html|title=Christopher Cantwell, White Nationalist in Vice Video, Is Barred From Virginia|last=Zaveri|first=Mihir|date=2018-07-21|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-02-18|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} and was also attacked by Atomwaffen Division member Vasillios Pistolis.{{Cite news|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/vasilios-pistolis-imprisoned-marine-hate-groups|title=U.S. Marine to Be Imprisoned Over Involvement With Hate…|first1=A. C.|last1=Thompson|first2=Ali|last2=Winston|date=2018-06-20|work=ProPublica|language=en|access-date=2019-02-18}}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbc29.com/story/37185152/cantwell-fed-lawsuit-01-03-2018|title=Cantwell Claims Counterprotesters Attempting to Frame Him|website=nbc29.com|language=en|date=2018-01-17|access-date=2019-02-18|archive-date=2019-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015354/http://www.nbc29.com/story/37185152/cantwell-fed-lawsuit-01-03-2018|url-status=dead}} In response, Gorcenski and her co-defendant counter-sued Cantwell.{{cite web |title=Activists File Counter Lawsuit Against Christopher Cantwell |url=https://www.nbc29.com/story/37497525/gorcenski-goad-countersuit-02-13-2018 |website=NBC29 |accessdate=June 2, 2019 |language=en |date=February 27, 2018 |archive-date=June 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602180953/https://www.nbc29.com/story/37497525/gorcenski-goad-countersuit-02-13-2018 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{Cite news|last=Shapira|first=Ian|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/he-once-defended-the-poor-in-court-now-he-defends-white-supremacists/2018/07/01/0c7bfa6a-6901-11e8-9e38-24e693b38637_story.html|title=He once defended the poor in court. Now he defends white supremacists.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 2, 2018|access-date=2019-02-18}} Both lawsuits were settled in 2018 with a mutual release of claims.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbc29.com/story/39494642/gorcenski-goad-cantwell-lawsuits-11-16-2018|title=2 Lawsuits Tied to Torch-Lit Rally at UVA Dismissed|website=nbc29.com|language=en|date=2018-11-16 |archive-date=2019-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226120722/http://www.nbc29.com/story/39494642/gorcenski-goad-cantwell-lawsuits-11-16-2018|url-status=dead}}

Due to her public opposition to the rally, Gorcenski was harassed online and doxed.{{Cite news |last=Baghernejad |first=Aida |date=2 March 2021 |title=Using data against right-wing extremists: Antifa activist and trans woman Emily Gorcenski was beaten by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville in 2017 and has been massively threatened since then. But she refuses to be intimidated - and exposes neo-Nazis on her website while in exile in Berlin |work=Die Tageszeitung |location=Berlin |page=13 |language=de |id={{ProQuest|2494316688}}}} She told The Intercept that she had been victim to transphobic harassment from before the rally in Charlottesville.{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Micah |title=How Right-Wing Extremists Stalk, Dox, and Harass Their Enemies |url=https://theintercept.com/2017/09/06/how-right-wing-extremists-stalk-dox-and-harass-their-enemies/ |website=The Intercept |accessdate=June 2, 2019 |date=September 6, 2017| quote=On August 17, NSJW posted a link to Gorcenski’s page on a website dedicated to discussing how best to troll victims...}} Gorcenski was swatted in October 2017 after the rally's organizer Jason Kessler reportedly doxed her. Kessler was subsequently arrested,{{cite news |last1=Moyer |first1=Justin |title=Organizer of Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville arrested again |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/organizer-of-unite-the-right-rally-in-charlottesville-arrested-again/2017/10/17/ae98ee24-b372-11e7-add3-da4b781e34b1_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=June 2, 2019 |language=en |date=October 17, 2017}} though charges were dismissed when new evidence showed Kessler did not control the account that posted Gorcenski's address.{{cite web |last1=Berg |first1=Lauren |title=Charges dropped against Kessler in light of new evidence |url=https://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/charges-dropped-against-kessler-in-light-of-new-evidence/article_3037ace0-fc75-11e7-a601-bbbc73b1df7d.html |website=The Daily Progress |date=18 January 2018 |accessdate=10 August 2019}} In 2018, due to safety concerns, Gorcenski left Charlottesville for Berlin, Germany, where she now resides.{{cite web |title=A critic of Unite the Right, Emily Gorcenski, is leaving town |url=https://z951.com/news/064460-critic-of-unite-the-right-emily-gorcenski-is-leaving-town/ |date=2018 |work=WQMZ/WINA |accessdate=10 August 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Tashea |first1=Jason |title=New database tracks the prosecution of right-wing extremists |url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/new_database_tracks_the_prosecution_of_right_wing_extremists |website=ABA Journal |accessdate=10 August 2019 |date=16 November 2018}}

= Digital activism =

Gorcenski's experiences at Unite the Right led her to use her skills as a data scientist to help identify and dox{{cite web |last1=Abowd |first1=Paul |title=Neo-Nazi 'Tyrone' exposed as US marine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/neo-nazi-tyrone-exposed-marine-180413104204554.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |accessdate=June 2, 2019 |date=April 17, 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Gault |first1=Matthew |title=The Data Scientist Tracking America's White Supremacists |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-data-scientist-tracking-americas-white-supremacists-emily-gorcenski-first-vigil/ |website=Vice News |access-date=June 2, 2019 |date=November 14, 2018}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Levin |first1=Sam |title=The data scientist exposing US white supremacists: 'This is how you fight Nazis' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/white-supremacist-protest-activism-emily-gorcenski |work=The Guardian |date=2 October 2020}} Gorcenski was named one of the fifty most influential feminists in 2018 by Bitch magazine for her work in creating First Vigil.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/2018-bitch-50|title=Presenting the 2018 Bitch 50|website=Bitch Media|language=en|date=2018-12-06|access-date=2019-02-18|archive-date=2018-12-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207121451/https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/2018-bitch-50|url-status=dead}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Beyeler |first1=Michael |title=Open science gone awry: How 70,000 OKCupid users just had their private data exposed |url=http://www.askaswiss.com/2016/05/open-science-done-wrong-okcupid-data-breach.html |website=Ask A Swiss |access-date=2019-08-10 |archive-date=2019-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810094523/http://www.askaswiss.com/2016/05/open-science-done-wrong-okcupid-data-breach.html |url-status=dead }} The study in question was widely panned for being unethical, racist, and a breach of user privacy.{{cite web |last1=Hackett |first1=Robert |title=Researchers Caused an Uproar By Publishing Data From 70,000 OkCupid Users |url=https://fortune.com/2016/05/18/okcupid-data-research/ |date=May 18, 2016 |website=Fortune.com}}{{cite magazine |last1=Zimmer |first1=Michael |title=OkCupid Study Reveals the Perils of Big-Data Science |url=https://www.wired.com/2016/05/okcupid-study-reveals-perils-big-data-science/ |date=May 14, 2016 |magazine=Wired}}{{cite news |last1=Duportail |first1=Judith |title=Dans le laboratoire de la "fake science" |url=https://www.letemps.ch/sciences/laboratoire-fake-science |website=Le Temps |date=7 April 2017 |accessdate=16 August 2019}} Gorcenski covered the issue in a discussion with Sarah Jeong at Mozfest in 2017.{{cite web |title=Debunking Fake News and Fake Science |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXL4SfXH5zM |publisher=Mozilla |date=Feb 27, 2018 |accessdate=10 August 2019 |via=YouTube }} Gorcenski sometimes speaks about the ethics of emerging technology, such as consumer internet of things devices.{{cite web |title=The Ethics of the Internet of Things | date=14 May 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLL7Fo_em2E |publisher=JSConf |accessdate=10 August 2019 |via=YouTube }} In 2016, Gorcenski explored software quality controls for electronic voting machines, expressing concern for the apparent lack of mandatory standards.{{cite web |last1=Bond |first1=John-Michael |title=Electronic voting machines are broken—and here's the code to prove it |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/electronic-voting-machines-source-code-no-regulation/ |website=Daily Dot |date=December 2016 |accessdate=10 August 2019}} Gorcenski is active on Twitter, and Business Insider{{Cite news |last=Duffy |first=Kate |date=19 December 2022 |title=A data scientist says Jack Dorsey told her Twitter was defenseless against a takeover by Elon Musk and the company should never have gone public |work=Business Insider, US edition; New York |id={{ProQuest|2755614285}}}} and the Daily Star{{Cite news |date=4 November 2022 |title=Elon Musk hints he has already built an AI-powered afterlife – and we're in it |work=Daily Star (Online); London (UK) |id={{ProQuest|2731913129}}}} have published stories about her 2022 posts on Elon Musk.

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.{{cite web |last1=Shoot |first1=Britta |title=Keeping Track of Monument Removals Could Be a Full-Time Job |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/tracking-monument-removals |website=Atlas Obscura |date=22 July 2020 |accessdate=1 August 2020}}

Writing

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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/15/mr-trump-were-not-same-neo-nazis-charlottesville|title=No, Mr Trump, we're not the same as the neo-Nazis|last=Gorcenski|first=Emily|date=2017-08-16|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-02-18|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Gorcenski |first1=Emily |title=Terry McAuliffe Still Doesn't Understand What Happened in Charlottesville |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/terry-mcauliffe-charlottesville-unite-right-racist-rally-anti-fascist-anniversary.html |website=Slate |date=8 August 2019 |accessdate=10 August 2019}} As a transgender rights activist, she has written about healthcare concerns for transgender Americans.{{cite web |last1=Gorcenski |first1=Emily |title=President Trump Complicates Healthcare for Transgender Americans |url=https://www.out.com/news-opinion/2017/5/05/president-trump-complicates-healthcare-transgenders-americans |website=Out |date=5 May 2017 |accessdate=10 August 2019}}

References

External links

{{official website|1=https://emilygorcenski.com|2=Personal website}}
[https://first-vigil.com/ First Vigil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117070224/https://first-vigil.com/ |date=2019-01-17 }}
[https://whentheycamedown.com/ whentheycamedown]

Category:1982 births

Category:Activists from Virginia

Category:American data scientists

Category:Date of birth missing (living people)

Category:LGBTQ people from Virginia

Category:American LGBTQ scientists

Category:Living people

Category:People from Charlottesville, Virginia

Category:People from Tolland County, Connecticut

Category:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni

Category:Transgender women writers

Category:American transgender writers