Supporting Lita after Zionist doxxing attack

Hey y’all,

We are a group of grad students and friends at NYU - Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), and together, we are raising funds to support our friend, Lita Vineuza, who has been subject to life threatening harassment after getting doxxed by Zionists.

For those who don’t know Lita, Lita is a First-Gen Ecuadorian musician and audio-visual artist and has been a meaningful community member of Brooklyn’s QTBIPOC nightlife scene. As a second year grad student at NYU-ITP, she has developed a passion for building new music tech instruments, and as seen in her proactive participation of the NYU ITP Equity Working Group, she has advocated for meaningful representation and accessibility for Black, Indigenous, and disabled students in the program.

It all began when Lita stepped in when someone was getting harassed. On her way to class on November 11th 2023, she observed a petite young brown trans womxn being verbally harassed and misgendered for taking down Israeli propaganda posters. Noticing the escalating exchanges between her and the larger white man who was weaponizing his camera and larger body stature, she conducted bystander intervention by checking in on the person, accompanying them, and never once engaging the aggressor. By joining the trans femme in taking down the posters, Lita stepped in in the name of safety and solidarity. The actions however were recorded on video and became viral overnight.

Since the video got circulated, Lita has become subject to life-threatening harassment which has compromised her physical, financial, academic, as well as family safety. As seen on websites like Canary Mission, the video became enmeshed with larger campaigns of harassment targeting BIPOC students who are sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle. Grounded on calls to “name and shame,” these campaigns have enabled dangerous breaches of digital security through doxxing practices. With her contact information, home address, and social media platforms exposed, Lita has been subject to a massive onslaught of death threats and verbal assault to her and her family. On a daily basis, she has been subject to over 350 messages across social media platforms, phone calls, and text messages threatening to rape and kill her. These messages not only target her but they have reached her family, including her extended family in Ecuador. To add insult to injury, NYU institutionally became a site of hostility toward Lita and fellow organizers. Since the circulation of the video chose to threaten Lita with suspension on grounds of 1) damaging “private property” and 2) discriminatory harassment. When fellow students began publicly pressing the administration against these claims, they too were harassed and the NYPD made their first appearance in our department at an anti-doxxing event hosted by organizers. While Lita’s case has waived their threat of suspension after public pressure, NYU issued her a university-style of house arrest in her last semester--whereby she is not allowed to attend her own graduation nor is she allowed to enter nyu libraries or any other building when she is not attending class.

Let’s ensure her financial safety for her last semester. In the face of NYU’s harsh sanctions and online harassment, Lita has lost a number of contracts as a freelance musician impacting not only her livelihood but also her financially standing as a full-time student paying for her education without financial support from her family. We want to see Lita not only survive but thrive in her last semester in the program. But we need your support.

FUNDRAISING GOAL: $15,000

As friends, we not only witnessed the toll on Lita’s overall physical and financial safety, but we also witnessed the appalling punitive actions taken on by NYU against her. In times of horrific violence and injustice, we need our cultural workers and organizers to stay protected for the long haul solidarity work of all oppressed peoples of the world. Please consider donating today.