Lauren Kanarek, who survived a near-fatal shooting by her former equestrian trainer, is speaking out against a new Netflix documentary that she claims distorts the truth of the traumatic event.
In an open letter titled "The Systems Failed Me, But I Will Not Let Them Silence Me," Kanarek details her threefold suffering: first from the shooting itself, then from her attacker's acquittal, and now from what she describes as a misleading portrayal in the upcoming documentary "Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill."
"On August 7, 2019, a man I knew and once respected drew a gun and shot me twice in the chest at point-blank range," Kanarek writes. "That man was Michael Barisone, my former trainer in the equestrian sport of dressage."
Kanarek describes the aftermath as harrowing—flatlining twice in the ambulance, weeks in a medically induced coma, and a long recovery. She alleges that the documentary's production company, Propagate, has "distorted the truth in the interest of ratings" by suggesting she instigated the violence.
Barisone was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting. Kanarek claims that "judicial charades" influenced the jury and that her prior warnings about fearing Barisone were ignored.
"I was the victim. I am the survivor," she asserts. "Lies will not erase the truth."
In response, Barisone's attorney, Edward J. Bilinkas, told media outlets: "We dispute all of Ms. Kanarek’s claims... Netflix was provided with pages of documentation that was not allowed to be shown during the trial which proves what the truth really is."
The documentary is set to premiere on Netflix on April 21. Propagate Content and Netflix have not yet responded to requests for comment.