--- title: "Zuckerberg-Hating Lunatic Sets Off Bomb at Northeastern University" description: "Last night, a bomb was detonated at Boston's Northeastern University — and a note left with the device named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg." date: "2022-09-14" modified: "2022-09-14" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/zuckerberg-vr-northeastern-bomb" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "mark zuckerberg" - "the digest" - "virtual reality" - "vr" --- # Zuckerberg-Hating Lunatic Sets Off Bomb at Northeastern University ![Last night, a bomb was detonated at Boston's Northeastern University — and a note left with the device named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Harrowing Last night, a bomb detonated at the virtual reality center of Boston's Northeastern University — and a note left with the device offers clues as to the perpetrator's unhinged motives. As [*CNN* reports](), a man who worked at Northeastern's virtual reality center was injured and is in the hospital after opening a case that housed the explosive, though university officials have stressed that his injuries are relatively minor. Along with the explosive, the case also contained a note that law enforcement officials told *CNN* contained a "rambling" manifesto which, among other things, criticized the relationship between VR and academia and named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose [abiding interest in VR]() led him to restructure the social media giant and [change its name]() to "Meta." Futurism has reached out to Facebook for comment regarding this mention. ## History of Violence Many details about the incident remain fuzzy. Zuckerberg has often been a target of [conspiratorial ]()[attacks](), but the company's actual VR tech remains so clunky and banal — even by the [admission of one of its own executives]() — that any tinfoil hat ideas about its potential for nefariousness are dismissible at this stage. And that's not even getting into why the unbalanced attacker would strike an academic institution rather than Facebook itself. Indeed, online radicalization isn't a joke. Just this weekend**,** a [QAnon-addled man killed his wife and himself]() and shot one of his daughters. It's unclear whether the unknown and still-at-large Northeastern bombing suspect was responding to established conspiracy theories or had concocted their own. Regardless, violence is never the answer. **READ MORE:** [1 person injured at Northeastern University after package detonated on Boston campus, officials say]() \[*CNN*\] **More stochastic violence:** *[Company Suggests Hiding Students in Fortified Boxes So School Shooters Can't Get Them]()* ## 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]()