Niagara Falls
THE
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER
LOCAL NEWS  •  LOCAL VOICES  •  LOCAL MATTERS

Raniere told followers ‘death threat’ [not law enforcement] made him leave for Mexico

N
Niagara Falls Reporter Staff  ·  December 28, 2017
Raniere told followers ‘death threat’ [not law enforcement] made him leave for Mexico
SharefXin

By Frank Parlato;

Mystery explained:

He would be among them playing volleyball but his followers whisked him away.

What did Keith Raniere tell his followers in Albany that would explain him running away to Mexico that would not seem like an act of cowardice?

The answer: He told his followers there was a death threat against him. From whom, or where, or when is not clear.

Keith added: He did not want to leave Albany. He was prepared to face the bullet, but supporters urged him – for the sake of the mission – to protect his body.

Keith said he would not run. It might not be ethical to leave at this critical time. Keith wanted to stay, he said, but his supporters begged and were forlorn and paralyzed with grief.

He knew they would blame themselves if anything happened and he realized the most ethical thing to do was to leave Albany. He reluctantly bid farewell to the place he intended never to leave – and went reluctantly – much like the Dalai Lama when he left his beloved Tibet to exile in India.

He did not leave because he was afraid of arrest.

It is not about his body or his safety that he was concerned about. Sometimes, a leader must heed followers to keep them from having broken hearts and destroying the very mission – by martyring. He personally desired to be a martyr. But leaders must sacrifice their cherished desires [in his case to be a martyr] for the sake of a higher mission.

The higher mission is to allow his followers to do their duty in protecting their leader.

If Gandhi’s followers had known he was to be assassinated and did nothing, it would have wreaked havoc on them forever. Gandhi’s assassination came by surprise. But in Keith’s case, it is known there was a death threat. He did not care to name where it came from – but he is known as a truthful man.  He did not even care to alert the authorities for they are corrupt and may even be complicit in the plan, as all his followers believe.

Keith’s followers knew about the death threat and they must act to save him and he must acquiesce.

It took more courage, Keith Raniere said, to leave for Mexico than to stay. He took Mariana and baby Kemar so that the enemies of truth would not be able to hold them hostage. He is a devoted father and could not bear to be away from his beloved child.

He is still among them in Clifton Park in spirit, he reminded them before he hastily departed on a private plane with Clare Bronfman for Mexico.

SharefXin

Comments (0)

Leave a comment

More From Niagara Falls Reporter

Craig Bucki Stands Out in Race for Supreme Court, Has All the Tools to Be Strong Judge
Featured

Craig Bucki Stands Out in Race for Supreme Court, Has All the Tools to Be Strong Judge

By tony Farina · September 16, 2026

By Tony Farina I’ve covered many court proceedings and trials in my more than 35 years as a newspaper and television reporter and I want to make the point at the beginning of this story that whether elected or appointed, some judges are fair and honest and many others fall short of the mark. In other words, the word jurist does not convey skill and knowledge of the law; it is just a role that some serve with distinction, and others do not. By definition, a jurist is a person who has expert or thorough knowledge of the law but

Is Niagara Falls Crisis Self-Inflicted? Lots of Questions, Few Answers
Featured

Is Niagara Falls Crisis Self-Inflicted? Lots of Questions, Few Answers

By tony Farina · September 15, 2026

By Tony Farina There are certainly many questions swirling around the mayor’s declaration of a state of emergency in Niagara Falls over trash, blight, and deteriorating streets that was declared back on July 20 and has been extended several times since because, according to Mayor Robert Restaino, the City Council refused to approve contractor agreements. But some observers point to depleted staff at City Hall, like in Public Works and Code Enforcement and other departments, as really self-inflicted wounds that are the underlying reasons work is not getting done in the city. Or is there even more to the story,

NIAGARA FALLS BUILT THE MODERN WORLD ON ITS POWER. IT CAN DO IT AGAIN.
Featured

NIAGARA FALLS BUILT THE MODERN WORLD ON ITS POWER. IT CAN DO IT AGAIN.

By Niagara Reporter- · September 11, 2026

The  Data Center That Answers Hochul’s Objections There was a time when Niagara Falls did not ask Albany whether it was permitted to prosper. The river was here. That was enough. The town had something Albany couldn’t give it. It used what was here. Water. Power. Work. Jobs. Industry. A future. In 1895, the Adams plant took the river and put it into wire. The current went to Buffalo. It changed the industrial world. Tesla supplied the designs. Westinghouse built the machines. Niagara supplied the falling water. Then industries came. Electrochemical. Electrometallurgical. They came because Niagara offered abundant, inexpensive electricity.

Niagara Falls Has Millions of Tourists But Needs to Find a Way to Capture That Wealth
Featured

Niagara Falls Has Millions of Tourists But Needs to Find a Way to Capture That Wealth

By tony Farina · September 8, 2026

By Tony Farina The City of Niagara Falls, N.Y., boasts one of the world’s greatest natural wonders that people from around the world come to see, but despite incredible tourism numbers of more than nine million visitors a year, the city of now less than 50,000 people is still pretty darn poor. Niagara Falls does not have a tourism problem; it has a tourism-capture problem, and the distinction should be a starting point for a serious new discussion about the city’s future. And ladies and gentlemen, that discussion needs to start now. The question is no longer whether Niagara Falls