--- title: "Alleged Leader of Roko’s Basilisk Murder Cult Says She Did Nothing Wrong, and Would Appreciate Some Vegan Food in Jail" description: "The alleged leader of a \"Roko's Basilisk\" cult is insisting she hasn't done anything wrong — and that she should given vegan food in jail." date: "2025-02-24" modified: "2025-02-24" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/rokos-basilisk-zizian-cult-jail" categories: - "Food" - "Future Society" tags: - "cults" - "roko's basilisk" - "veganism" - "zizians" --- # Alleged Leader of Roko’s Basilisk Murder Cult Says She Did Nothing Wrong, and Would Appreciate Some Vegan Food in Jail ![The alleged leader of a "Roko's Basilisk" cult is insisting she hasn't done anything wrong — and that she should given vegan food in jail.]() *\Image: Sonoma County Sheriff's Office / Getty / Futurism\* After being arrested in connection with a years-long, country-spanning [string of murders](), the alleged leader of a "Roko's Basilisk" cult is insisting she hasn't done anything wrong — and that she should be [granted access to a vegan diet](). As the [*San Fransisco Chronicle* reports](), Jack "Ziz" LaSota spoke ramblingly during her Maryland bail hearing last week that occurred after two young alleged "Zizians" were [apprehended for a pair of slayings]() that took place in California and Vermont. "I haven’t done anything wrong," LaSota told a judge during the February 18 hearing. "I shouldn’t be here." A militant vegan whose animal rights beliefs are at the center of her writings — as does the concept of "[Roko's Basilisk]()," a hypothetical artificial superintelligence that would retroactively torture anyone who didn't help it come into existence — the 33-year-old former tech worker also begged Judge Erich Bean, the jurist presiding over her hearing, to give her food she could eat. "I must... I might starve to death," Ziz told the judge. "I need... I need the jail to have a vegan diet. It’s more important than this hearing is." LaSota went on to claim that she was being starved and suggested that a jail chaplain had denied her request for a vegan diet as some form of religious persecution. As a result, LaSota contended, she was delirious from malnutrition, which was part of her argument for being granted bail. "I think the idea that I \[may\] be mentally impaired for a month at proceedings because I’m in a state of starvation or that somebody with a particular majority religion would be deciding whether my religious beliefs are real... it’s not right," she said. After LaSota's imploring, the judge told her that her mother had managed to find a way to get her some vegan food while she awaits trial. "I hope so," she replied. "I meant what I said about mental impairment. I’m in, maybe, a mild state of delirium." LaSota is allegedly quite familiar with inducing delirium. On her blog, [per *Vox*]() and [other outlets](), Ziz promoted what's known as "unihemispheric sleep" or UHS, a dangerous practice where one attempts to sleep with only one half of their brain, the other half remaining awake and alert. A lengthy [explainer on the Zizians]() claims, per insider accounts, that the group's alleged leader uses UHS to manipulate people and induce in them a "vulnerable psychological state" — a useful tool for any aspiring cult leader. Ultimately, LaSota's bail request was denied because, as Bean put it, the "circumstances are odd at best, concerning" — perhaps the biggest understatement of 2025 so far. **More on cults of personality:** [*Tesla Owners Receiving Threats That If They Don't Sell Their Cars, They'll Be Vandalized*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()