Change the Ref

Founder Manuel Oliver has been in the news frequently due to his disruptive actions, including shouting out at congressional hearings to the point of being arrested, ¹ duping individuals who support the Second Amendment into being a part of videos, ² and being arrested because he climbed a 150-foot crane in front of the White House in a protest. ³

Background

Manuel and Patricia Oliver moved to Parkland, Florida in 2003 from Venezuela with a daughter and a son. In 2017, the family became American citizens. In 2018, their son Joaquin was killed in a spree shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. After that, they became gun control activists and founded Change the Ref (CTR) to push for changes in gun control policies. ⁴

CTR encourages people to vote out politicians who support the Second Amendment right to bear arms and vote in politicians with gun control agendas. ⁵

CTR supports left-of-center gun control policies including comprehensive background checks, a ban on the sale of so-called “assault weapons,” regulations on existing assault weapons, regulations on safe storage for all firearms, mandated safety training, and required renewals on gun licenses. ⁶

Projects

Change the Ref uses urban art, disruption, and activism to highlight the impacts of mass shootings and fight for stronger gun control. The Olivers travel across the country, often with the student movement March For Our Lives, producing graphic wall murals, speaking, and performing. ⁷

CTR partnered with Guns Down America on the Business Must Act campaign that offers businesses a Gun Safety Certification Emblem, designed in collaboration with gun control lobbying group Stop Handgun Violence. ⁸ Business Must Act is asking companies to ban open carry in their stores, invest in gun violence intervention programs in their communities, and stop political donations to politicians who accept donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA). Other members of Business Must Act include left-of-center activist organizations Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Community Justice Action Fund, Color of Change, March For Our Lives, and People for the American Way (PFAW). ⁹

Founder Manuel Oliver travels the country giving a solo performance entitled Guac: My Son, My Hero, a one-man social justice theater piece with the help of left-wing activists Michael Skolnik and Emily Tisch Sussman. ¹⁰

Oliver’s art project, “Walls of Demand,” features graphic art murals that Oliver creates in locations across the country depicting mass shootings and demands for gun reform. ¹¹

Controversies

Oliver has made the news several times for his actions. He has been accused of “using misrepresentations, appeals to emotion, exaggerated statistics, fearmongering, and lies” to attack the Second Amendment. ¹²

In February 2019, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) asked that Oliver be removed from a congressional hearing on gun violence due to his continued interruptions. ¹³ In February 2022, Oliver was arrested for climbing to the top of a 150-foot construction crane near the White House and hanging a banner featuring a picture his son as part of a protest against gun violence. ³ In July 2022, Oliver interrupted President Joe Biden at a gun violence event in Washington D.C. ¹⁴ In March 2023, Oliver was arrested for shouting at lawmakers and disrupting a House hearing on gun laws. ¹

In June 2021, Change the Ref pretended to represent a fake school and invited a gun rights advocate and a former NRA president to give graduation speeches in Las Vegas, Nevada. CTR video-taped their rehearsal speeches that were given in the venue in front of empty chairs, then told the speakers later that the actual event was canceled. The results were used to create anti-gun videos that show proponents of the Second Amendment addressing empty chairs that were supposed to represent students that were killed in shootings. One of the speakers reported that his “remarks in the video were taken out of context and called the clips deceptive and selectively edited.” He spoke for about 15 minutes but only one minute was included in the video. ²

Funding

Change the Ref’s 2020 revenues totaled $471,342 and expenses totaled $379,672. ¹⁵ Its 2020 donors included Schwab Charitable Fund and Vitalogy Foundation, ¹⁶ a donor and advocacy organization founded by Pearl Jam that focuses on left-of-center causes on the environment and homelessness. ¹⁷

Leadership

Manuel Oliver is co-founder and vice president. Previously he was a vice president and creative director for J & R Adventures ¹⁸ which is an independent record label for modern blues-rock music. ¹⁹

Patricia Oliver is co-founder and president. Previously she was a project manager at Magna Group, Inc. in Doral, Florida. ²⁰ Previously she worked for  Sanders 2016 Presidential Campaign in a number of roles. She has partnered with organizations such as Our Revolution, March For Our Lives, March for Science, and the Sunrise Movement as a board member or advisor. ²¹