Keith Raniere gets moved
Acolytes continue to defend street dancing outside federal lockup
The jailed leader of NXIVM has a new jail cell, his acolytes revealed in a news release Thursday.
If Keith Raniere’s supporters began their series of dance rallies outside the Brooklyn federal lockup in hopes of providing him with nightly entertainment, they are out of luck: The jailed leader of NXIVM has been moved to another cell, his acolytes revealed in a news release in which they admitted the link between the street performances and the shadowy organization.
The release said the dancing effort, organized by a group billing itself as We Are As You, began July 3 when “three friends visited the parking lot of Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to wave to their friend Keith Raniere,” but that he was subsequently moved.
“Because of the prejudice in the media against Keith Raniere and his friends, individuals armed with hate and lies are trying to hijack this peaceful movement and make it into something it’s not,” the release stated.
The group performed alongside placards offering warm words for “Kay Rose,” a reference to Raniere’s initials.
In a posting Wednesday evening, they acknowledged their NXIVM roots in a statement that included a link to a podcast featuring Eduardo Asunsolo, a member of the Colonie-based organization who suggested that news coverage is the reason for the mass incarceration of Black people in America — and said
that social scourge was “no different” from what is happening to NXIVM members.
Speaking with “Good Morning Bushwick,” Asunsolo opined about the evils of slavery and solitary confinement, glossing over the 59-year-old Raniere’s conviction for — among other crimes — commanding female “slaves” and confining a woman to a room in Halfmoon for nearly two years.
Asunsolo and other Raniere loyalists in We Are As You had previously declined questions from the Times Union about their connection to NXIVM and Raniere, who was known within the group as “Vanguard.”
The release claimed that Raniere had been “punished for writing an email about how wonderful it was to see his friends connecting with and recognizing the men inside. Keenly aware of the dire need for humanity inside, Keith encouraged the movement to expand, with the hope that anyone with friends or family who are incarcerated could gather and dance like this at facilities across the country. Although Keith was moved so he could no longer witness the dancing, his friends and others continue to show up because this is about restoring humanity to the people inside and bringing joy to the forgotten ones.”
The Times Union reported Sunday that former NXIVM members believed the dancing routines were a “cover movement” for the now-shattered organization. We Are As You, the former members said, appears to have derived its name from an old NXIVM project.
In the podcast, Asunsolo noted the Times Union’s coverage and said such media attention is scaring away people from joining their dancing efforts. He referenced a comment by Neil Glazer, an attorney representing litigants in a federal civil lawsuit against Raniere and 14 of his associates, who told the
Times Union it was a “cause for concern” to have so many Raniere supporters gathering.
“This has happened through history. This is what has allowed for whole groups of people to be hated and persecuted,” Asunsolo said. “You read the Times Union and it says, you know, it’s a concern that such a big number of NXIANS are gathering. This is like seven people there that knew each other from those programs . ... That’s like what they said about the Jewish people in the 1930s in Europe. You are seeing, in front of your eyes, character assassinations on whole groups.”
Raniere was convicted last year of all counts — including sex trafficking, forced labor and racketeering — and faces the possibility of life in prison at his sentencing, which has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He was convicted of criminal acts that included possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child. Evidence showed he had sex with a
15-year-old girl when he was 45. The trial exhibits included video of Raniere saying that some small children are “perfectly happy” having sexual experiences with adults even though “society” calls it abuse.
That did not deter Asunsolo, who repeatedly mentioned he was a father but continued to support Raniere.
“I was a teacher in NXIVM and Keith Raniere is my friend. He’s been my friend for 10 years,” Asunsolo
said in the interview.
“It’s interesting that if you go and you read the news and you judge the people that appear in the news just by what you read in the news, that’s why there’s millions of Black people in jail because prejudice rendered them defenseless,” Asunsolo said. “If we do that again with another group because you call it a sex cult, because you call it a this, because youcallitathat—it’sno different.”
Raniere operated a secret “master/slave” club within NXIVM called Dominus Obsequious Sororium. Women in the group were branded in their pelvic area by a person using a cauterizing pen — with a symbol that, like “Kay Rose,” incorporated Raniere’s initials — as well as being forced to adhere to all wishes of their “masters,” who were in turn under his control, or risk the release of embarrassing information.