Thread by @AylaFerrone

#NXIVM: Due to limited access to phones in federal court, here's a #THREAD of everything that happened following the lunch break today.

The judge first addressed the fact that Agnifilo said Keith Raniere was "fighting for his life" in his opening statements. The judge made clear to the jury this was not literally the case, and that the death penalty is NOT on the table.

We then continued hearing from the first witness in the #NXIVM case against Keith Raniere. She says her first in person interaction with Raniere was during a volleyball game. Says he was very "touchy feel-y" kissing many women on the mouth.

At that time she was in the United States for 3 months on a tourist visa. She had connected with Clare Bronfman through horse jumping and horseback riding. Eventually the witness got a different type of visa to stay in the U.S. longer.

This was circa 2006. Bronfman helped fly the witness' horse to the U.S. from the UK where she is from. But eventually Bronfman rode horses less and less. Witness describes it as "fizzling."

The witness says her understanding was that Raniere was Bronfman's mentor and trainer for her horses. Says she had heard that Raniere had the highest IQ, had been an athlete and a musician, and was basically talented in everything.

The witness was more involved in NXIVM at this point, becoming a coach and taking more intensive classes. She did this so Bronfman could move up in the programs as well. Eventually all aspects of horse jumping stopped.

At this point the witness had a lot of difficulty with details. She said this was "a really dark time in my life." She described she did not have another career path in mind other than horse jumping.

She says she didn't leave the U.S. at this point because there was nothing left for her back home and she had become completely dependent on Bronfman.

The witness says this is when she became anorexic and dangerously underweight. At her lowest she says she weighed about 90 lbs. She says at a healthy weight she is about 120.

She says many women within NXIVM had some sort of extreme relationship with food. She says all the women were very thin, so it was normal and easy for her to slip into the eating disorder.

At this point, she was living with Bronfman and was required to check in her weight every day to Bronfman and Raniere. When she quit horseback riding she started to run every day.

Next, the witness described V-Week. This is a 10 day celebration of Raniere's birthday held at the Silver Bay YMCA every year.

During V-Week there was a triathlon, and this is how the witness became involved in running. Says she ran frequently on the treadmill at ABC Fitness. Says she was fast and quickly this was picked up on.

During the triathlon during V-Week, the witness says she had a panic attack in the water and did not finish. Then, there were interventions for her to eat more food. During this time she slept at Bronfman's home on the floor in her room.

The witness says she lied about gaining weight which then required her to take ESP training referred to as "breach of ethics." She admitted the lies to Lauren Salzman at this point.

After this, the witness says she was called to Nancy Salzman's office and was told if she did not gain enough weight to be back at 100 lbs in the next 2 weeks she would be asked to leave NXIVM. During this testimony the witness often referred to NXIVM as "the community."

She was scared she didn't have anywhere else to go, says no one ever suggested she seek professional help. She then had to do daily check-ins on her weight with Nancy Salzman, Bronfman, and Raniere.

She says these daily check-ins happened for years. She wanted to go home for Christmas in 2006 and members of NXIVM did not want her to go. She says she did anything and it was clear her family was worried about her.

In the Fall of 2007 the current visa she was in the U.S. on expired. She returned to England and there was discussion of getting her another visa.

The witness then described something called "Indoctrination." She says this was a NXIVM term that referred to how your parents raised you and "programed" you to believe in certain things like marriage.

She says the inner circle had a mean nickname for her "Silvi-bot." Saying this was what they would call her when she was acting on her indoctrinations.

She says Raniere also once referred to her as the Spanish term for "piggy" at volleyball.

At this point, Bronfman tried to get the witness an investor visa by faking an investment into a NXIVM shell company. This failed.

The witness had since gotten a job in Bristol and was living with her sister. She says she had no interest in moving back to Albany but Bronfman started talking about using a student visa for her to come back.