Bennito L. Kelty
Audio By Carbonatix
A local protester worries that her business will be impacted, or worse, after Instagram users shared her personal information in response to an interview she gave Westword on January 9.
“To be doxxed while you’re wearing an inflatable costume…how much more non-threatening can I be?” says Caryn West, who dressed in an inflatable bear outfit for demonstrations in support of Renee Good, the Colorado native and activist fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on January 7.
“The costume wasn’t that deep,” she says. “I honestly believed I’d be safer by looking silly.”
West showed up for the protest at least three hours before it was supposed to start. Her image in the cold, snow-covered Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park across from the Capitol was the first photo that Westword shared as our protest coverage began that day. Following the demonstration, the Westword article featured West in a march passing in front of Union Station, and she was included in a Westword Instagram post, too.
“I debated wearing the costume, because there isn’t anything funny about why we’re here,” West told Westword on January 9. “I’m getting so frustrated. I can’t stay at home with all this stuff going on. …I’m mad. I’m really, really mad.”
West says she got the idea to wear a costume after seeing images of the Portland frog, a protester in a frog costume who was pepper-sprayed and arrested by ICE agents in October. Since the Portland frog, costumes have become more common at anti-ICE protests, including in Denver. Members of the Colorado Bridge Trolls often dress up like Darth Vader, giraffes or Trump as they wave anti-ICE signs at busy intersections. The January 9 Renee Good protest saw frogs, bears and even berries.
West is an artist from a northern Front Range community that she prefers to keep private. She bought her plastic, inflatable bear costume to channel her “mama bear” energy and protective instincts at the protest, the says; the bear costume had a white sign on its belly with the words “Fuck ICE.”
Comments responding to the Instagram interview weren’t violent, but they were “nasty,” West says, with some social media users targeting her age and looks. But she was most concerned by messages identifying her as an artist who sells at festivals.
“We really need to protect the community and children from her,” wrote Instagram user nick_e_sinclair. “Is this the same Caryn West that sells her art at festivals? Decent families would not feel safe at any festival where she is vending.”
While West does have a personal website that’s easy to find using her name, Westword‘s Instagram post didn’t mention her occupation or that she sells at festivals, although it did include her name. West believes that someone dug through her Instagram posts or recognized her.
“It made me feel very, very vulnerable to being attacked,” West says. “I guess when I gave my name, the furthest thing from my mind was that it would bother anybody…I basically just said I’m sick of what’s going on.”
Thinking back about her interview, West considers her statements “the most harmless things I could have said,” but the responses led her to request the video be taken down from Instagram, as she was afraid she would continue to be doxxed. Westword did take it down, but West still worries about the impact on her business or even a violent attack.
Last year, Denver saw a series of protests where thousands of people came to the Capitol, angry at ICE and President Donald Trump; on several occasions, violence followed. Two people were arrested for throwing a bottle and taunting anti-ICE protesters last February. Three seniors were attacked by protesters in August. A video of a skater stealing a pro-Trumper’s sunglasses in front of Union Station went viral in October.
Although West worries about how exposed she’ll be selling art at future festivals, she says she won’t stop protesting. She hopes to see large turnouts at more protests, because that’s the only way she believes change can happen.
“No, I won’t stop fighting if this is the world we’re going to accept,” West says. “I’ll be at more protests now.”
She isn’t sure if she’ll come dressed as a bear again, but “I don’t feel as vulnerable in that costume,” she admits.
“It wasn’t for me. It was to say, ‘We need to wake up.’ If I need to wear a silly bear costume to get people to notice what I’m saying, that’s what I’m going to do.”
