Arrested for making TikToks? Yup. It happened to Coco Briscoe

People talk a lot about threat to free speech without mentioning the reality that the people who are most likely to face consequences, but the things they say online are people who are already marginalized. And Cocoa brisco a former comedian living in Arlington, Virginia, who was arrested last year for making TikTok's, is a great example of what I mean him. I'm Coco Briscoe Man, I'm a TikToker. The story of Coco's arrest starts out in a pretty unlikely place,

the search for love. Coco was new to the city and was going on a lot of dates, so she started chronicling them, and a TikTok series called Dating in DC I live in d C. I live in Columbia Heights. I'm not single now, but when I was single, I remember what a I don't know, uh particular place dating in DC is. And so I really appreciated your content because I was like, oh, yeah, dating in DC can be kind of a healthscape. And so watching your content,

I really felt for you. I mean that not all of your dates were bad, but I really felt like what it was like to be dating and be like, oh God, am I ever going to find the one? So I always appreciated your content. Thank you so much. So I was watching your saga, and I know that you've probably gotten quite good at describing what happened in

sixty seconds. But you were, you know, someone who just made these lighthearted TikTok's about your your dating life finding love in d C. And you were and that actually resulted in you being arrested for making TikTok's. Can you tell us what happened? Yes, So you're right. My series was just about dating. It was very lighthearted. It was about um online dating and going on my dates and just about my dating adventures. UM. I used to be a stand up comedian and so when I talked about

my dates. I do have a sense of humor behind it. I don't take dating super seriously. Although I am truly looking for a relationship. I'm looking for love. So I started doing it with no expectation that anyone was even gonna watch it. I thought it was just gonna be my friends and family and maybe some random people in

the internet, and it it grew pretty quickly. But it was really fun in the beginning because I felt like I had kind of like a cult following, like it was like a very specific type of person and I felt that my audience really related to me. I felt like they were close in my age range. I felt like they understood the struggle, and so it felt like just talking to my friends. I was just coming on talking to my friends about my dating life. And so, as you know, you said, you did quite a bit

of dating before you got into your relationships. The hell on Earth, it can be um and it gets expensive, you know. I mean a lot of times men are gentlemen and offer to pay um. But also there's a lot involved in you know, buying new outfits or ubering to and from a different neighborhood d C and the surrounding areas. It's a big area, so I was spending a lot of money on cab fare and stuff. So

I decided to start going to local places. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to support local businesses in my neighborhood as well as keep me safe because dating can be sketchy. Luckily, I hadn't had any super sketchy dating experiences, but it could happen, and so I thought, if I go to local places, then they'll recognize me and they'll know what I'm doing, that I'm on a date, they'll see me going on dates, and so if anything weird ever happened, this is just a

familiar place to me. And it was all great. That was working out really great because I was going to places, walking to and from my house, and all of a sudden things started getting very weird in my neighborhood. I am new to this area. Um, I didn't know many people. I hadn't really no one had really befriended me locally, but all of a sudden, kind of slowly, people started to know who I was, like knowing my name, and I was I was feeling like I was getting stared

at a lot. I was feeling like a lot of people were showing up. The same groups of people were showing up everywhere that I was, and I just thought it was a coincidence. It was weird, Um, but I thought, you know, this is kind of I'm on Columbia Pike in Arlington. There's four bars the neighborhood. People go to the same four bars. Not that weird. Now, People like me loved following the ups and downs of Cocoho's dating journeys on TikTok, but some people that she encountered in

real life didn't have that same response. Some of them are actually really hostile. Basically, the response was who does she think she is? Slowly people started saying things to me. Um. If someone introduced to me to someone, they're like, I know who you are, Coco, I've seen your TikTok and I was like oh. But it was never in a friendly way. It was always in a like yeah, I've seen your TikTok and like, why are these people watching my TikTok. My TikTok wasn't that popular at the time.

It's not like everyone watches my TikTok. I, Like I said, I had kind of a cult falling, and so it just kind of got slowly got weirder and weirder and weirder, and then finally, uh, someone told me about this group chat that was going on that has about fifty people in my neighborhood who all were kind of local yogl like this is their territory, I think, was their feeling, and who's this girl coming from California doing this TikTok

going on all these day dates? Like it was a very much the energy was who the hell does she think she is? Like that's the kind of energy I was getting from these people. And when I was told about the group chat, I originally thought it was just a bunch of people watching my TikTok's and making fun of it, like look at this stupid girl, she goes on a lot of dates, like what a loser, And I didn't really care. I thought it was really lame

and uncool. Um. But then it got scary because I realized that some of the employees of these bars that I was going to, we're letting this group chat know every time that I was in the bar. Coco's in here, guys, um. And it was a variation of things that were being set what a stupid wore. Um, let's banquish her from Columbia Pike. I'm gonna end her who chooses violence tonight, Let's let's And they just they kept mentioning the word a violence. And I get that that's a figure of speech,

right like I choose violence. But the way they were speaking about me, the way they were speaking about my body, the way that the language behind it, and there was so much I didn't share on TikTok. I have multiple screenshots lots of conversations between these people, which, in a way I wish I hadn't ever found out about it, but I'm glad I did because I think if this

behavior had continued, it could have gotten very dangerous. I think that kind of group uh gang mentality of we all have this common enemy bond can really lead to dangerous situations, especially for women. Finding out that there was a group of people from her neighborhood in a group chat saying these kinds of things about her understandably made Coco feel unsafe. But then the conversation turned to tracking

her specific whereabouts. One day, a bartender at one of the bars she frequented for dates took a video of Coco riding her bike down the street and posted it in the group chat. Coco had had enough. I was shocked when I saw that one of the bartenders had taken a video of me riding my bike down the street. I had walked into the bar. I was looking for a friend of mine. I just glanced in. I was like, Oh, my friend's not in here. I got on my bicycle and I was on my way. I was riding home.

It was late at night, and she had taken this video and said a bunch of really disgusting things to these people that call me, discussing names and which, by the way, I do not know these people. I have no personal relationship with any of these people. Um. And I was horrified, and so I went to the bar owner. I felt like I had a decent relationship with him. He had always been pretty nice to me, and I had never had any type of There was never a situation with any of these people or any of these

places where there was any type of friction. I was just a paying customer going on my dates, having a drink and some food and leaving. That was the entire thing. And when I went to the bar owner, I was like, Oh, he's going to be horrified that his employee did this, because I would. I would be like, this person is fired. This is unacceptable. And instead of saying I'm so sorry that happened to you, Coco, UM, we do not condone

this kind of behavior. You've been a great customer. I will handle this, he screamed in my face and said, if you don't feel safe in my bar, then you never have to come back. Um. And I was shocked that that was his reaction. After being made aware of the kinds of conversations happening about her, Coco failed a police report, and she was actually the first person in the situation to contact law enforcement, but she says it

didn't really go anywhere. The police basically blew her off, and after getting such a hostile reaction from the bar manager, she felt like she didn't have a ton of options. So she took to TikTok and used her platform, which had once been about a lighthearted chronicling of her dates, to talk about what she was experiencing. So I took to social media and I said, this really crazy stuff is going on in my neighborhood and I don't know what to do. About it. I didn't know what to

do about it. I didn't say the name of the bars. I didn't say the name of any of these people other than a first name, because it was in the screen shop from the chat. Well after I made the very first video saying this, bartender took a video of me leaving on my way home at night and send it to a bunch of people that talked about violence against me and call me names and our bullies and stalkers in my opinion, because they followed me around. Um, I was like, this is what's happening, and I don't

know what to do. This woman filed a protective order against me, okay, preventing me from making TikTok's talking about the situation. Even though I didn't even know the woman's last name. I didn't know anything about her, and I didn't say the name of the bar. Four police officers show up at my house with a protective order at four a m. I'm a single woman, I live alone. You need four caps with a protective order and four

I am four am. And this is an e p O. This isn't just like, oh, I've been harassing someone for a long period time. This is an emergency protective order meant to protect people from immediate danger. So and I was on there making a TikTok, going this is creepy, this creepy thing happy and this woman felt the need to do what she did. And and I truly don't believe it's because she was afraid. Um, I truly believe it's because And I have screenshots from her saying ha

ha ha, Coco is gonna get it. I have a police officer boyfriend. I love this for her bragging about it, begging about how they were gonna end me and they were gonna do so I was like, wow, this is this is really messed up, Like really the Arlington police are going to show up at my house and do this like this is ludicrous. And I was like, wait

till TikTok, here's about this. And and I'd like to say I had already filed a police report about these people, and I didn't think anything was gonna come of it. And it wasn't necessarily to even get anyone in trouble. It was just like, hey, Arlington police, this group of weirdos is doing this to me. So in case someone decides to un alive me, here's what's going on, and here's the people involved in this, and they didn't take it seriously. They didn't investigate the in fact, never returned

my phone calls. So the Arlington p D not only didn't care that fifty people had been harassing me and talking about violence against me, didn't give a ship, didn't call me back, but they feel the need to issue a protective order and show up at my house to prevent me from speaking out about people that are doing something really disgusting to me. I was like wow, and

I truly thought it was a joke. I was like, oh my god, once I post this on TikTok, these people are going to leave me the hell alone, because the whole world is gonna go what you can't do that? And of course TikTok did have the reaction, They're like what And then there's a whole slew of women saying I couldn't get a protective order against a man that was physically abusing me for months years, and it's it was just breaking my heart and I was like, this

is such a complete abuse of the system. It's disgusting. Let's take a quick break at her back. Now opened all this point, Coco had not publicly said the names of any of the bars involved. But after being served with the protective order filed by the bartender who took the video of her riding her bike down the street, barring her from talking about situation on social media, Coco said fuck it and made a TikTok naming the bars

open up Police. That's when the police showed up at our door again, this time to put her in handcuffs and take her to jail for violating the protective order. So after that, I was like, so, these people are not only going to uh continue to harass me, but the owners of the bars are gonna do nothing. The police are gonna do nothing. The police are gonna harass me. Well, I'm telling where these bars are because if this is what they do to women, people need to avoid these places.

So I said the name of the bars. Then I got another protective order again. Police show up at my house. I think it was like five in the morning this time, but it was only two cops, but they come banging on my door and I got cop dock. Yeah, just banging on the police. Oh really, And I'm just sitting in my freaking bathrobe like, what are you kidding? And I have video of the entire thing. I opened the door.

First of all, I couldn't see through the Like when I look through the people, police don't stand where you can see them. These were standing on opposite sides of the door. I was like, I cannot see you. How do I know this is the police? How do I know this could be one of these creepy people from the group check coming to you know and alive me. So I put on my camera and I video the entire thing, and I was like, what did I do? Like, you're gonna have to tell me what I did to

deserve a protective order. They were like, we don't know, we don't know what. We're just here to serve it um, which is a lie because that officer actually was the one who was monitoring my TikTok's She was with the woman to get her the second restraining order. Who by the way, this woman's boyfriend is an Arlington police officer, so these are his buddies doing his dirty work for him. And I was just like, this is ridiculous. I was like this, you can't do this to me. This is

against my First Amendment rights. I can talk about whatever I want. I have done nothing wrong, And I was like, I don't know weight a rounds because I'm about to TikTok this. I was like, you know, are they gonna arrest me like that? I had this like fifty fifty like, I mean they could because technically I'm violating this thing. Um, but I was like, really, are they gonna are the Arlington police is gonna sit there and watch everything I do?

And they sure did, and they came back and arrested me, and uh, they sent five police to arrest a TikToker. Five cops, so in a number of eleven total police that had to deal with me for just making TikTok's. And I'm like, we have too many cops in Arlington. So I'm like, you feel the need to harass me this much, then we gotta we gotta do something about this. Y'all need to be defunded. I don't know, but I'm like, do not make me the criminal when you are not

doing anything about the real people who are harassing women. Um. Anyway, that's a very long waited direction. I don't know if you're expecting all of that, but that's basically the gist and there's so many little nuances like so there were so many like little side stories of people in this group who um did approach me in person and screaming my face and threaten me. Their friends have sent me tons of d m s and created fig accounts to harass me. I mean it has it's NonStop around the

clock and uh. And these people were pushing really hard to have me prosecuted for violating these protective orders, which in my first court hearing, uh, the judge said he was just like so confused. He's like, how did these even get issued? You cannot get an emergency protective order unless you're in danger. I knew this, which is why in my moment of you know, about to go to sleep, had wine all night, go and can arrest me, Like I don't get I know, I look like a maniac.

And I know half a million people saw that and we're like, this girl isn't saying I was insane. In that moment, I was like I cannot do this with these people, Like how many times are you going to send cops in my house in the middle of the night, early in the morning two to do this? Like No, I felt like I was losing my mind, and I probably was. Coco was arrested for violating a protective order barring her from speaking about her experiences with the staff

at two Virginia Bars. But is an order saying that you can't talk about someone on social media constitutional? In an article about Coco's case, The Washington Post spoke to Eugene Voloc, a legal scholar at U c l A, who said an order that says stop talking about this person is unconstitutional no matter who you are. Yet, Voloc, who has been tracking these kinds of orders, says he

has identified more than two hundred of them. The Post also spoke to Vera Idleham, a staff attorney with the a c l U, who said, while speech to someone might, in certain circumstances properly be deemed as harassment if it is unwanted, the same does not hold true for speech about someone, even if it's unwanted, because think about it, anyone, from racist police to corrupt elected officials, could use that

to stifle legitimate criticism about them. One of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you was exactly that part of the story. Right, I'm I should say, I'm no lawyer, I'm no legal expert, but from all the legal experts that I've heard from, including the one in the Washington Post article about your situation, unless somebody is threatening violence or knowingly spreading false information, you cannot tell them that they can't make social media content about a

specific person. Right. So, like the fact that you were arrested for making TikTok's that did not include violent threats or you know knowingly, you know, knowingly false information seems to be unconstitutional. And that that that Washington Post piece sites an a c l U attorney and a U c l A legal scholar that say that, And it seems like the courts agreed. First of all, a how are you not the poster child for the First Amendment

and free speech online? And second, how do you think it came that you were arrested for something that seems so patently incongruous with our constitutional rights to free speech? Well, i'll tell you corrupt police. Uh, corrupt police trying to protect one of their buddy's girlfriends. And I think that they thought it would just scare me. I think that they thought, oh, well, if we show up with this protective order, that'll shut her up. Four cops at four am.

That'll scare the ship out of her. And it didn't. Because I was like, this is ludicrous. It did shut me up for three days. I didn't go online, and I was like, Okay, I guess I should obey this because these people are gonna do anything they can to have me arrested. But I think the reason I'm not the poster child is because the police really messed up. And I think that the press isn't talking about it because it's a big deal, and I think that there's so much to it that, um, I think there's a

little scared. I really do. I mean Arlington Now, our local paper here in Arlington three articles about my arrest. The third one was about the restaurant saying, oh, Celtic House wants to move past the controversy. Well, good for them. I don't because I didn't get an apology. These people humiliated me in the press. They wrote press releases saying I'm a liar. The only thing that I couldn't back up is I said that she got my address from my idea and credit card, and when the restraining order

was filed, it said she didn't know the address. I did not. I did not know that because they had my address. Um, but that that's the only thing I could figure she knew my full name. She kept writing about my full name in the group chat. She kept saying, call her this, call her this, this is her legal name. And her friends who were approaching me were saying, we know your full legal name, and we've googled you and we're going to like we're gonna find out everything about you.

We're going to destroy you. Like it was just so high school mean girls. But the reason I'm not the poster child for this was everybody wants me to shut the hell up because this is and you know, and me talking about it as openly as I am, Um, probably isn't what they want either, But they're not gonna shut me up. Uh you know. They have said, well, they can bring the case back at any time. Okay, Um,

what did I do wrong? I made it TikTok saying somebody filed a restraining order illegally against me, Like, I'm sorry, but that doesn't feel like breaking the law to me. And the argument that people have made in my comments was well, it was in effect when you broke it. Yeah, but how many we're gonna get filed how many times? She filed one in Fairfax County. She filed one in Arlington County because I'm sure Fairfax was like, why are you getting all these epos against someone who's done nothing

to you. I'm sure they wouldn't grant a second one. I mean, the judge has already said, now again no basis for this. But if I hadn't spoken out about it, how many times? And I keep saying that over and over, I'm just like that will make up person crazy when you know you're not breaking the law and they're using this my you know, police resources on you me Like I'm like literally the least dangerous person on planet Earth.

Like I couldn't fight myself up my way out of a wet paper bag, you know, Like I'm not out here in the streets throwing hands like this is. But these people, like it was so interesting about all of it to me is that instead of apologizing to me, instead of taking responsibility, because like, look, it's not every single employee of the bars, right, So if they just said, wow, um, so these claims have been made, the girl has the woman has the evidence. We're sorry that happened. We're dealing

with it. We're investigating, we're gonna make sure it doesn't happen again. That would have been the end of it, but these people are they're relentless, and so they took to the media originally saying that, uh, the only reason they did it was to warn people that I was coming. Where is you, Like, I have witnesses and everyone in my neighborhood, well everybody that like has been around me a good amount. They're like, we didn't believe one word

of what was written in there. Not one word. They're like, we know you. We all were like, that's not Coco, Like, there's no way this is true. So people who know me know it's not true. But um, yeah, I mean so yeah. Originally they're saying, oh, we just did it to warn people. Bartenders do that, Yeah, bartenders do that if there's like a drunk person coming into a bar that shouldn't be served, that that is to keep people safe. But that's not the conversation. And I have the conversation.

This conversation is about humiliating me, calling me names, bullying me. There is not one thing concerned about my safety. In fact, it's all about putting my safety in Jeopardy. I even have a screenshot from one of the other bartenders from another bar not related to these two places, saying, hey, guys, f y I cocos in here. Do not come in here and be dicks. So he knew that these people were after me, right, and so I'm like, I have all of this evidence. So they just kept like raising

the like just raising mistakes. They were like, yo, it's just we were trying to keep her safe. And then it was she's violent and she attacks people, and I'm like okay, and then they were like, the only way she found out about the group chat is because she drugged someone and took their phone. And I'm like, my god, they have ten witnesses to the guy who gave me

the screenshots of the group chat. There were ten people there who were my friends because we had been out um together, and they pressured him to give me the screenshots. We didn't bully him. We were like, you need to like give her these so she has the evidence because she can't back up her story without it. So I'm like, but it was just on and on and on, and

I'm like, just leave me alone, good lord. Anyway, after Coco started speaking up, about her experiences at the bars, experiences that she says made her feel unsafe in her own neighborhood. Someone created a TikTok account dedicated to calling her a liar. I've seen the way these people are like almost obsessed, Like there's TikTok accounts, Like somebody has made a TikTok account solely dedicated to you too. So like when we say things like, oh, like they seem

like they're obsessed with me. That's that's how I would describe if somebody had if somebody spent their time making lots and lots of content just about me and how much they didn't like me, I would use the word I would feel like they were obsessed with me. And I've actually given this a lot of thought, and it's not a fully fleshed out idea, but I think there is.

I think there's something to this idea that you were not willing to shut up, that you are like assertive and confident and like are able to be like no, I am going to advocate for my own safety. And I don't really care if you like it or not. I don't really care if you wanted to be to shut up. I don't really care if it makes me look If you're gonna make me look crazy, I'm going to advocate for my safety. I think there is something about that that makes them even that that makes them

even more were like relentless, right. I think that like they really expected you to be scared off or to like not say anything, like I know in my in my life when I've had times where somebody was mistreating me, when I when I stood up and said no, it made it like they were not expecting that. And I think there's something about you that like it just gets under their skin that you're confident and assertive and that you're not willing to just like lay that and take

it and be humiliated. You're like not willing to let them do this to you. And I think it makes them that much more angry and that much more like obsessed with you and obsessed with like I don't know, there's something about the way they talk about you online where it feels like they're obsessed with like taking you down a peg or like you know, putting you into your place. It feels it feels very like um, I

don't even know the word for it. They seem like they're very interested in like humbling you in this very specific way that I think is very much rooted in like misogyny or like sexism. It just seems very I can't quite describe it, but do you know what I'm saying? Yes, I do, And that that was actually the word I was always using. That these people are completely misogynistic, you know the things that they have said to my face, Like the way that they insult me. It's always about

my age. I'm thirty nine, crawl into a grain and die dating and single and not be home taking care of ten kids and like washing my husband's laundry. Like it's like that's the way they talk to me. Um, And several of them have been like, we know you're on TikTok and your thirty nine, Like grow up, you're so disgusting, like they it's just always about my age. Um, that's like the main thing. And but yeah, the energy is very much like who do you think you are?

Why do you think you can do this? And I think my series has always been authentic, like I'm not on there being like oh look at me, I'm hot ship and I get all these hot guys cause I'm so perfect. No, I go on there and I am talking about guys ghost me and things happen and my love life is not perfect. My life is not perfect. I am not perfect. I make mistakes on dates. I embarrass myself accidentally, Like so there's no need to knock me down a peg like I'm I feel like I'm

already pretty humble. I'm putting embarrassing stories online, like I tell my audience when I like almost ship my pants in a target parking buck. I'm not on here just acting like I'm a little miss perfect because I'm not. And so this commitment that these people have to just they're trying to cancel me, and I'm like, why just stop watching me Like I'm not. It's not like I'm making a ton of money and they have something to completely be jealous about. Like I live in a studio

apartment in bunk Buck, Arlington, Virginia. I'm dating a bunch of weirdos like Dason so Loek on someone else like I'm not the one, But yeah, I mean the dedication to just shutting me up, to silencing me, to humiliating me. Um, it's just like never ending. And they think, you know they called their well, actually I don't even want to say with their pages, God, because I don't want ever promote it at all. But there, you know, their whole platform is trying to say that I'm endangering people I

speaking out about how they treated me. They're like, well, we're getting prink phone calls that our business. Well good, I'm I'm fucking glad that people are calling and telling you exactly what they think of you, because you're disgusting and you shouldn't be treating your customers this way. You shouldn't be treating women this way. So I don't care.

But you know, the woman that has raised the biggest buss, the one that you know filed the protective orders against me, admitted in the court of law that not only have I never threatened her, that none of my followers have ever threatened her, and that she's never had any contact with me at all whatsoever. Ever, other than other than once she was taking a video of me and Georgetown. She walked past my t able and took a video

of me, and I approached her. She was with her police officer boyfriend, and I said, I just saw you take a video of me. Please do not share my location with your creepy friends. I know what you guys are doing. I do not appreciate it. And I was like, what you're doing is illegal, and she looked at her police officer boyfriend really freaked out, was like, is it is it illegal? And he was like, I don't know,

Like he just didn't know what to say. And my friend who was with me, was like, well, if it's not illegal, you should at least lose your job for doing that to your customer. And that's always said. So that's the only time that I have ever spoken to that woman in my entire life. I do not know

anything about her. The bottom line is that, you know, for me now, I feel like my mission is to raise awareness about other women who are going through similar things, Like that's been kind of a mission I've been on a little bit. And then also like you know, shedding some light on this police situation more after a quick break. So if you've ever wondered, I wonder what Bridget is up to when she's not making the podcast that, I

have great news for you. We just launched our brand new newsletter where I'm gonna be writing about things I'm paying attention to online, interesting stories that didn't make it to the podcast, and a whole lot more. I promise you will never spam you. You can subscribe to our newsletter at Tangdi dot com slash newsletter and it's gonna be like a useful newsletter. I promise you can also support the show by checking out our merch store at tanti dot com slash store. Let's get right back into it.

This entire situation has made Coco ask tough questions about policing, how police serve or fail to serve the communities that are meant to be protecting, you know. And this is something I have an addressed because I feel like it's a delicate subject and it's a hard thing to talk about, you know. But um acknowledging the privilege in being able to get arrested and not having like a fear, you know.

And I think that's something that did upset some people, like look, she's laughing and being like, ha, come arrest me. And in the moment, I didn't have to think about what this would mean to other people. When I have I have friends of color who were like Coco, you know,

one person said, we'll welcome to being black. This is something that people feel happens to them a lot that they're made to be criminals and they're being harassed by the police, and so, you know, it's it's it's such a touchy subject that I haven't figured out how to really address. But I've just been trying to listen and

be open more with my friends. Um, one of my friends, who is from Pakistan originally or his parents were, has said he lives in a predominantly white town, a small town in Virginia, and you know, he has said, when I leave the bar at night, I have to be extra careful, you know, where my white friends could just be like, oh, I'm leaving a bar, I'm drunk and

that's fine, and please don't harss. He's like, I've been harassed multiple times by please just leaving a bar, not even drunk, just leaving walking out of a bar and being stopped just walking down the street and things like this. And so you know, there's especially the last couple of years, like there's just been so many issues with cops and then and I'm just thinking to myself, like, we have got to speak out about this because it can't just

keep happening. We can't keep using these resources to harass and bully people, and whether it's because of the color of your skin or because you piste off some cops boyfriend, or whatever the case may be, it just can't happen. Like it's got to stop because it's ludicrous. And I think, you know, that's the most upsetting part for me overall. And the second most upsetting part is how the how the media has handled it, especially the local media with m A r L Now and all of their stuff.

It's funny, I didn't notice that A r L Now, you know, they had those, um three different articles about the bars and this and that when you're case was dismissed and you were vindicated, just a tiny little blurb, no article, just like a tiny little of you know, that story that we put We had, we had so many articles on well update you know. No, No, it's so interesting to me that they didn't feel the need to write an entire story about the fact that, uh,

your proct protective order was deemed to be invalid. Um. Yeah, it's I just found that interesting to me. That seems like such a better story. Some TikTok or had a spat with restaurants. Who gives a ship no one, No one cares if some TikTok or had a spat with restaurants. Like, that's not a story to me. This story is hey, uh, illegal protective orders are being issued in multiple counties here to her to further bully and harass a woman who

has made a police report about this. The police did not help her, but they helped this woman who was in fact harassing her. Like, how come we can't get a story and we can't get a story saying, well, Cocu Riscoe was telling the truth all along. It turns out, and it turns out the charges have been this missed, the case has been dismissed. It's all over. Yeah, she can go back to doing dating TikTok and talk about how you know this harassment of women needs to stop.

Maybe some good will come out of this. No no, no, no, no no no article. In fact, all they do is praise these bars plass the controversy. Well I'm not I'm not moving past it, and I'm not moving past this with Errol Now either, because um, they owe me an apology.

Yeah the article really are the Arlington Now coverage really just it seems so obviously based on really misogynistic stereotypes, like oh, she she's railing against this bar, and I was like, well, someone who was speaking up and that's something they experience, even using like the words they would use basically seemed like the long form version of bitches be crazy? Am I right? Like it just it just seemed to like really rely on a lot of sexist

tropes about women, right absolutely. And the whole situation started making me feel like I was going bananas because I'm like, I'm the only person in this scenario that hadn't told a lot, and I had a platform to demolish these people. I could have gone on and just started making up

stories about these people, and but I didn't. I was like, this is what they did, this is how they reacted, here's my proof the end, and everyone else involved, I mean, the woman who filed the protectibar is completely made up ludicrous stories to tell in court. I'm like, she's lying on the stand, like, I wish you could have been in that courtroom seeing my reaction to these ludicrous things this woman was saying. I was laughing out loud, like I'm like, oh my god, am I getting the giggles

in court? Like this woman is insane? And my lawyer at one point just like reached over and kind of like squeeze. I was like, like, what is this what it's saying? And I'm like, oh my god. The writers for air L now right there, just gonna write everything down that she says. And the woman is acting like I have attacked her. She's like I am terrified of her.

I can't even look at her in the courtroom because I made a TikTok telling people what you did to me that makes you terrified, And she does this whole elaborate story, and then my lawyer is like, but has whoever threatened you at all or had any contact with you? Don't know? Why are you so scared of people knowing the truth about you? That's the fear. That was the fear.

And she's just not a nice person, and that's fine, you don't want to be a nice person who cares, but do not send cops to my house and do not publicly humiliate me and some lies. And I'm just so angry at how nobody bothered to do research. Nobody just bothered to see that I had been talking about being afraid of these people for weeks, like I don't know, it's I'm getting very heated when I talk about it, because I just I don't know what to do about Errol now. I just I want to, I don't know,

sue the pants off of them. After the courts dismissed the protective order against her and prosecutors declined to pursue the charges that she faced for violating it, Coco started using her platform to become an advocate for other women who have spoken of about facing unsafe situations at bars.

So there is some like I don't want to say good coming out of it, but I know that recently you've taken to using your platform to really help other women who have had dangerous experiences at bars, trying to get them, like, use your platform to get them some accountability. You know. Can you tell me how that came to be and how that's going. You know, that was never my intention, although I you know, if I can be of service and of help to these women, I absolutely

will use my platform too. That it wasn't even something that I planned or thought of. Um, But after my whole court situation, people got very interested in the story and then people tag me in these videos. So these are videos I haven't come up on my own. People tag me and they're like, hey, Coco, this is either similar to your story or look what's happening to this person. And I was just kind of reacting to it, like, oh my god, this is like this is a trend,

this is happening. Um. There was the one bar in Fuller Tin that is threatening to sue a woman who got drugged and sexually assaulted in their bar. She took to social media and was like, this bar is not safe for people. She actually had UM, you did have a medical exam and so she was in fact assaulted

UM a lot of times. And I heard this from a nurse who specializes in doing the testing for women who have been drugged and assaulted, who said, most of the time, by the time they get to the testing, the drugs are out of their system and they're not traceable. So that you know, that's not always the thing people can prove. They say, oh I got drugged, and then you know, the toxicology or whatever report comes back saying

that there isn't something in their system. I'm not a doctor and I don't know, but this is just something that was told to me, um from someone on to talk. But anyway, yes, this bar is threatening. To sue this woman for posting about it online. And I'm just like, wow, like to me that it's just so disgusting. And that's what the bars did to me. They took to the media calling me a liar and then threatened to sue me, and they had told the Washington Post that they were

thinking about filing a lawsuit. I'm like, for what, first, saying your bar makes me feel unsafe? I can say whatever I want. I mean, I can. We can take to the internet be like their food sucks and the place is disgusting and the service is awful. Like why can't I say it's unsafe. That's not illegal. You cannot sue me for saying that your bar makes me feel unsafe and then showing proof of what you did to me, Like come on, and yeah, there were things that I

initially when I talked to Washington Post couldn't fully back up. Um, but I can now being tied in these videos. It upsets me because I'm like, this is just incredibly common. It's easy when you're going through something personally to feel the weight of it all, to feel isolated, to feel like it's only happening to you, and knowing that these similar situations. Similar situations are happening in women everywhere across

the country. Um, I want to do everything I can to help them, and I want to help them avoid my experience because it's bad enough, like each step of the way for me was very humiliating and scary. But then knowing that, you know, the newspapers are printing lies about you, the police aren't willing to protect you, it's

like it's terrifying. And I consider myself to be a pretty competent person and a pretty tough cookie, and this whole situation was so mentally and emotionally damaging for me that there were days that I couldn't get out of bed.

There were days I couldn't handle it. And you know, these situations are happening to women much younger than me, with not a following on TikTok that can stand behind them like an army, you know, and not awesome people saying please be on my podcast and tell your story, right, so you know, we have to be voices for those people. I don't feel like I actually have a choice at this point, because I can't ignore it now. I can't just when people tag me in this, I can't just

be like, Oh, that's sad. Let me just go back to talking about what I can't do it. I have to address it. Um. So you know, the big question now is will this become what my content is about? And maybe I feel like as long as I'm being tagged in these videos, as long as I'm aware of a situation and I feel like I have something to add or something to say that I will say it and I'll speak out. Um. But yeah, I feel like this, this whole situation has really turned my life into a

different direction than I was not expecting. And I do feel the weight of that. And I have kind of taken a break from social media a little bit recently because it gets very overwhelming. UM. And I love I love getting private messages from people. I love that they share their stories with me, and I love UM, I love reading the stuff. It's just a lot sometimes, so I have I'm still a person and TikTok isn't my job.

I mean, it is my job. I guess that I get paid for it, and you know, it's a little bit um, But I'm also a person and I have to cultivate my own personal relationships in my life, and I don't want to spend all day talking to strangers on the internet. You know, I want to be with the people in my life and love them. It's been I don't want to be the girl that's always on her phone that's so insulting to people that I love.

When I'm out with my friends, out with my friends, Um, when I'm on a date, on a date, I'm not going to sit there and and TikTok, and you know I do sometimes I make little videos of restaurants and stuff. But you know, I'm not going to be replying to all these comments all day long because I can't. And so I try to read as many as I can and reply to as many as I can without overwhelming myself because I feel like, you know, when you're on

a platform like that, you grow so quickly. You're not prepared. No one prepares you for what it feels like to be bombarded with so much information and so many people wanting to talk to you. And uh, it's a gift, really, but it also kind of sometimes feels overwhelming. I can only imagine. And I guess that's there's I mean talking about like a happy ending, you know, following your content.

I know that you have a lot of like positive, exciting things in your life and your real offline life developing. And so it's kind of like a nice bookends to the journey of you starting this this channel to chronicle your your journey in d C looking for love, you know, UM, having it, having it be in this point where you like, are you seem like you're in a good place in

your real life? I am. I have been really blessed with meeting so many wonderful people and actually most of the people in my life currently I've met on TikTok, which is so weird, but they have become real life friends. And my friends have been incredible supportive. I mean, this, all of this stuff that has happened to me was so much. UM. It was very emotional. UM and I lost people in my life over it. There are people

that kind of distanced themselves. They were kind of scared of this group of people, as I was scared of them, because these people were harassing some of my friends as well. UM, And people took a step back for me, and that was one of the hardest things. But I understand, and I can't ask anyone to fight my battles for me. For me or even be here through that if it makes them uncomfortable. But the friends of mine who have stuck around are lovely and supportive women, and they're strong

and they're kind and they have my back. Um, I have been doing well in my dating life. I have met someone finally that who maybe looks at Carrie Styles here. Um, he is wonderful. He's just such a kind man and he has been really supportive about all of this. And this is all of this was very scary to tell people about, like, hey, I got arrested for making TikTok's in the news makes me sound like a psycho, Like it's a hard thing to bring into an already complicated

situation because dating is already difficult enough. But he was very receptive and open to hearing my side, and he has just been really wonderful. And it's still knew, so who knows what's going to happen. But I feel like I have a new friend in my life and somebody who does care about me that I care about, and I you know, I hope the best for us in

this journey going forward. It's so far, so good. Um. I have started a new job that I like and my My coworkers are lovely, and my boss seems to be great, and so you know, it's now moving forward. I'm just trying to look for the good things and

that's trying. That's what I'm trying to focus on. It just feels sometimes like the negative voices are louder to us, and uh, you know, I'm trying to find peace with if I am choosing to move forward with being a content creator putting so much of myself out there publicly. This is just going to be part of it. The hate and the trolling and all of that. Um, but speaking out about women's safety is something that I will always do and it's become such a huge deal for me,

um and hopefully I can help protect other women. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech, or just want to say hi? You can be us at Hello at tangodi dot com. You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangodi dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was created by me Bridget Pad. It's a production of iHeart Radio and Unboss creative Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer. Ary Harrison is our producer and

sound engineer. Michael Amato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. If you want to help us, pro rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from I heeart Radio, check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. And I Have to War would