Inner Circle Member Details Arrest of NXIVM’s Leader in Mexico
NEW YORK—In dramatic testimony on May 21, a former member of NXIVM—part of leader Keith Raniere’s inner circle—detailed how federal police surrounded Raniere’s Mexico hideout to arrest him in 2018—and how the “grand master” tried to hide in a walk-in closet. Lauren Salzman told jurors in a Brooklyn Federal court how she was in the same room as Raniere when authorities suddenly showed up. She recounted how her first instinct was to protect Raniere in the Puerto Vallarta house where other female inner-circle members were also present. Lauren is the daughter of the group’s president Nancy Salzman—they both have pleaded guilty, as have the other three co-defendants.
Raniere, 58, sat at the top of the pyramid scheme group that presented itself as a self-help organization. He is accused of having sexual “slaves” as part of an internal secret society called DOS, an acronym for the Latin phrase “dominus obsequious sororium,” which loosely translates as “master over the slave women.” He is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy among other crimes. Donning a white top and black pants, Salzman, who had a melancholy look on her face, broke down in tears at times as she also described being in DOS, her long-term relationship with Raniere aided by his promise of having a baby with her, her role in keeping a member locked up in a room for two years, and her lies to the public as a spokeswoman for the group. Raniere stared at Salzman intently during her testimony, often with his right hand resting on his chin. Salzman said that after searching the property, police in bulletproof vests approached the room she and Raniere were in. She said after they started knocking on the door asking if anyone was inside, Raniere told her to ask the authorities if they had a warrant as he attempted to hide. Earlier, she had tried to get Raniere to climb out the window to flee—he refused.
In her testimony, Salzman describing going back and forth across the room as she answered the officers’ questions while she tried to distance herself from the door. “The whole time I was thinking they could shoot in this door. I might get shot right now,” she testified. “My highest priority was making sure Keith was okay.” Officers eventually kicked down the bedroom door and held her down as she called out Raniere’s name. Raniere was arrested and extradited back to the United States. Salzman testified that looking back at the incident now, Raniere failed to act on what he had taught throughout his years as part of NXIVM’s self-improvement curriculum.
Such classes, she said, often talked about how men were noble and should act like real men in tough situations. Much of the curriculum, former members testified, was aimed at minimizing morality and tearing apart traditional male and female relationships. She told jurors she was surprised to see Raniere not act as he had preached, instead, she was the one protecting him. “Everything he taught us was this … what men do, what women do,” Salzman said. “He didn’t do it—and then I did it.” “It never occurred to me that I would choose Keith—and Keith would choose Keith,” Salzman said.
Before testifying about the arrest, Salzman detailed how she was forced to act as a spokesperson of sorts after reports came out that the group had branded women. The brand was a symbol incorporating Raniere’s initials and burned onto the skin of DOS members with a cauterizing pen, during a process that took “20 to 30 minutes,” according to court documents. Salzman said she had to do interviews with the media and release statements that all the group’s activities were consensual. She herself was directly under Raniere with six other women who were so-called “first-line masters,” who were slaves only to him.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/inner-circle-member-details-arrest-of-nxivms-leader-in-mexico_2931249.html