Texas environmental leader Louis Moncivias Gutierrez claims he has never trespassed during his activism, despite posting videos appearing to contradict his claim. After law enforcement documents concerning Gutierrez’s conduct were leaked – including targeting individuals and families in local communities – Gutierrez denied one of the allegations reported:
“[Gutierrez] denies trespassing and says he was never arrested at pipelines or people’s homes.”
While Gutierrez denied trespassing, a video posted to his Facebook in 2017 shows him instructing his followers how to enter onto oil and gas property covertly:
“And let me tell you when you do this type of thing, when you hear the equipment, those guys can’t hear. The majority of guys are focused in on their job and that equipment and what’s going on. So out here in the perimeter around certain areas, you’re safe. You just got to be quiet. I don’t have the right colors on. I don’t have any camouflage. I didn’t expect this, but I should’ve. I’m going to get you guys a little bit closer. Oh, that’s them right there, that’s all of them. That’s all of them right there. Give me one second guys. I’m going to turn the camera around. Oh, they’re all right there, hang on. Oh, there’s a lot of guys there. There’s a lot of guys there. Yeah, that’s them right there. I’m just going to stick the phone out. That’s them right there. That’s 150 feet–that’s 150 feet away from me.”
Gutierrez went on to explain how he handled being questioned by workers while on oil and gas property:
“One of the big guys–one of the head guys came up to me and he said–and that’s where I kind of put my finger on the camera. And I was acting like I was on the phone. That’s what I was doing. So the jibber-jabber, it’s just me pretending like I’m talking to somebody on the telephone, trying to do the live feed as I’m going, and that’s one of the things that I learned to do. They don’t know that you’re filming, so that’s one of the key things that I try to do. And he stopped me and he said – right away, right in front of me, he stopped dead in my tracks right in front of me, boom, ‘Who are you? Who are you with?’ I said–I lied, simple. Got to get yourself out of trouble. Got to make sure you stay safe. I said, ‘I’m looking for a lost calf. I can’t find the calf. The mother is at the barn crying and the calf has been missing a couple of hours.’ And what did he say? ‘Yeah, I saw one right over towards that direction about an hour ago.’ I said, ‘I appreciate it.’ That’s when I started walking away. Now, I did not run. You stay calm, walk away as far as you could, get into the woods, and that’s when you bail.”
Gutierrez’s sordid past includes an arrest for criminal trespassing and incarceration for smuggling an illegal immigrant across the border.
