A Voice for the Silenced: Support Author Speak Out

Luis Vazquez is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

I’m Luis G. Vazquez. In 2020, I was a regular dad, husband, and 9 to 5 safety supervisor who picked up extra weekend work reselling Amazon Firesticks at a local flea market to help make ends meet.

What happened next drastically changed my life.

What took place

I, along with three other market vendors ages were targeted by our local law enforcement after a multi month undercover “investigation” that ended with a raid, arrest, and felony charges. Fast forward a few months, the felony against me was dismissed, all of the confiscated items were returned to me, but the damage done was devastating.

Online Firestorm

Before we even had a chance to be arraigned, a press conference was held by our county’s top official, who used his large social media following to, in my opinion, publicly attack us and ruin any chance we would have at a fair trial.

The press conference video was shared across various social media and news platforms and now sits at over 390,000 views.

The humiliation, fear, and trauma of that event were devastating, mentally, emotionally, and professionally. Despite the charges being dismissed, I was shunned by “friends,” coworkers, and my employer.

Notable Insight from Industry Heavy Hitters

Shortly after my arrest on 2/9/2021, Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief at The Verge, spoke about my case on the understood podcast, noting how outrages this event was and how he’d “never seen anything like this regarding the Internet.” Link to podcast here

Reclaiming the narrative

Since then, I wrote Jailbroken: A Story of Corporate Overreach, Police Abuse of Power, and Modern Technology to share my truth about what happened. The book dives into how this was far more than a typical law enforcement sting; it was designed to make an example of people like me, struggling to support a family with no chance to defend ourselves against the powerful forces behind this event.

I shared elements of this story on a popular podcast (linked below), which has over 1.8 million views and an overwhelming amount of verbal support online; though sadly, that has not yet translated into the funds needed to continue this journey.

Why I need your help

I’m a one person publisher and author with no team or agent, and I’m completely out of resources to properly move forward.

Funds

Will go towards the professional production a proper audiobook (compliant with audibles standards), translation of the story, marketing of the story, continuing podcast appearances and covering related costs to give me breathing room to make this a reality.

I’m fully committed to fighting for digital freedom, the right to own and repair, and teaching people about their constitutional rights and protections; rights I was unaware of at the time. I need your help to move forward in sharing my story and continuing the fight.

Supporters can access the AI-narrated audiobook for free by creating a free account at ElevenLabs Reader. eBook free download link below. Your help sharing this story and spreading the word means everything.

Free Audiobook

Free eBook

Free PDF copy