Oc Thu, Jun 09, 2016 at 05:58:38PM -0600, Mirimir wrote:
> http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sop8ps

Liberate the content from the inappropriate surveilled hosting!

+++


Statement by Jill Bähring regarding Jacob Appelbaum

On June 7, 2016, Gizmodo published a story in which “eyewitnesses” - Emerson 
Tan, Meredith Paterson, and Andrea Shepard - supposedly “recount” Jacob 
Applebaum’s “unwanted sexual advances”. The article was quickly picked up and 
developed further, for example by the dailydot. I am the girl in that story. 


I recall that night clearly, and my story is entirely different. This is how it 
happened. 

I have been romantically involved with Jacob Appelbaum, but I also consider him 
a close friend. That night in Hamburg, it was the 26th of December, we had 
dinner with several friends in the Raddison Blu Restaurant. After visiting the 
32C3 venue, we, together with a large group of people, went to the Raddison Blu 
Hotel Bar. We sat down at the bar and had drinks. I was sitting on Jacob’s lap, 
next to him was a close friend and his partner, and on our other side another 
friend. Jake and I were flirting with each other all night.

Tan and Patterson recall the situation as follows:

“Jake has his hands all over this girl, and she is very obviously not very 
happy. You know, she’s looking for her bag, they’re having a conversation and 
she’s looking for her bag she can’t find her bag and she appears to be really 
quite distressed and Appelbaum forcibly attempts to try and kiss her, grabs her 
arm and her backside and makes a move for her breasts.” 

I did indeed look not very happy. I was emotionally distressed at that time and 
told Jake, one of my close confidants, about my situation. He did have his 
hands all over me, just as I had my hands all over him. At no point did Jake 
forcibly attempt to try and kiss me, nor did he grab me in any inappropriate 
manner.

While we were talking, I realized that I didn’t have my bag with me, and 
started looking for it. Anyone who has ever lost sight of their wallet and 
phone will look “quite distressed” as a consequence. 

According to Tan and Patterson, none of our friends seemed to see anything 
wrong with that situation:

“And the other males who we were with were basically just kind of joking 
amongst themselves and don’t really seem to see anything wrong with it, which 
is really quite distressing” 

This is true. There was nothing wrong with it. I was among several friends with 
whom I felt absolutely safe.

Around 2 am, three of us – me, Jake, and another friend – decided to go to 
sleep. Each of us was heading “home”: Jake had a room in the Raddison Blu 
Hotel, while I had a different accommodation. My other friend was staying at 
another hotel, close to the Raddison Blu. That friend and I thus decided to 
leave the Raddison together.

The next day, I wasn’t going to be at the conference, so I didn’t expect to see 
Jake for a couple of weeks. Jake and I said goodbye to each other in the hotel 
lobby, and we kissed. But since my friend was waiting for me to leave, I 
playfully pushed Jake away.

At that time, I noticed Emerson Tan for the first time – since he was 
intervening at that point. He states:

“So I watched this for about two to three minutes and then I decide to go and 
do something and just mount a very very subtle intervention. Which is, I go 
over, I shake Jake’s hand I tell him what a great job he’s doing with the Tor 
project and the rest of it and that gives the girl roughly the 30 seconds she 
needs to find her bag without being in an undistracted fashion.”

I recall Tan approaching me, asking me if Jacob was harassing me. I said he 
wasn't. Nevertheless, Tan dragged me away and immediately started talking 
intensely to Jake. At that point I decided to leave, since my friend was 
waiting for me. I walked him to his hotel, which was only a couple of blocks 
away.
 
Tan obviously interpreted the situation differently:

“She left, and I found her hiding out in the hotel bar later, after Jake had 
left. She was pretty composed but obviously upset.”

I want to make clear that I was not “hiding” in the hotel bar. I had come back 
because I regretted not having properly said goodbye to Jake, so I hoped to 
catch him in the lobby. I waited for a couple of minutes at the bar, looking 
for him. After approximately ten minutes, I left again.

Reading this highly distorted version of my experience, which is being used as 
one of the “bulletproof examples” of Jacob’s alleged misbehavior, I can’t help 
but wonder.

Wonder about all the stories that have been published the last days.
Wonder not only about mob justice on twitter, caused by rumors and speculation, 
but also about the accounts repeated by those who call themselves journalists.
Wonder about how many other stories have been willingly misinterpreted.
Wonder about the witnesses in all these stories, who coincidentally always seem 
to consist of the same set of people.
Wonder about their motive to speak on my behalf without my consent.


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