Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 18 February 2025

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

Upcoming Event: FB-ISAO 101 

Grab your virtual seat and become acquainted with FB-ISAO. During this short session, you’ll learn about how we work together to improve the overall security posture of the community, and what it means to be a part of an all-faiths and all-hazards information sharing community. Finally, you’ll learn about FB-ISAO’s capabilities and member benefits.  

Date: 19 February 2025  

Time: 2:00 pm ET 

To register: please visit our events page. 

For information on these and other events, go to Events – FB-ISAO. 

Miami Beach man arrested after shooting 2 Israelis he thought were Palestinians 

Mordechai Brafman, a 27-year-old man from Miami Beach, was arrested for shooting two men he mistakenly believed were Palestinians. The victims, who were later identified as Israelis, survived the attack. Brafman, who fired 17 shots at their vehicle, faces charges of attempted second-degree murder. He reportedly told police he thought the men were Palestinians. The incident has sparked controversy due to the racist motivations behind the attacks, with calls for hate crime charges. Critics highlight the irony of both the shooter and victims holding anti-Palestinian views, pointing to broader issues of hate targeting Palestinians.  

Analyst Comments:

This event highlights the intense tensions stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It shows how ethnic and national identities can be mistakenly attributed and underscores the risks of judging individuals based on their identity. The FBI has produced a Hate Crime Threat Response Guide to help navigate these dangerous situations. The guide includes recommendations for the following situations: 

• Written or Visual Threat 
• Phoned Threat 
• Electronic Threat 
• Verbal Threat 
• Physical Threat 

A ‘death cult’ on the run: The Bay Area fringe group terrorizing America; Strange new details have emerged about the Bay Area Zizian cult. 

This article discusses a violent and deadly spree across the U.S. tied to a fringe group known as the Zizians, consisting of radical Berkeley pseudo-intellectuals. The Zizans’ network includes individuals with backgrounds in major tech companies like NASA and Google, with some being advocates for veganism and identifying as transgender. The group has connections to the Machine Intelligence Research institute (MIRI), and nonprofit in Berkeley funded by influential figures like Peter Thiel and Sam Bankman-Fried. MIRI is focused on studying artificial intelligence and the risks associated with it. The group’s actions and ideologies reflect the dangerous potential of fringe movements blending intellectual pursuits with extreme violence. 

Related Articles: 

Police say they’ve arrested apparent leader of cultlike ‘Zizian’ group linked to multiple killings in the US 

Analyst Comments:  

The Zizians seem to represent a situation where abstract concepts related to technology, identity, and societal transformation have been distorted to rationalize violent actions. Their connections to influential organizations like the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) and notable tech figures point to a complicated link between advanced intellectual endeavors and the risk of radicalization.  

Fringe groups that operate within our communities can be difficult to identify, but there are typically signs that suggest something may be wrong. The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) has published a document titled “Enhancing Bystander Reporting to Prevent Terrorism” which provides recommendations for how bystanders can help recognize, intervene, and report concerning behaviors to authorities.