Back in 2019, Rashad Jamal was choreographing what he hoped would become a breakthrough career as the next hip-hop star. His music blended street rap with spiritual messaging as he spoke about growing up in contemporary America and the legal paranoia he experienced as an aspiring Atlanta rapper. Then the pandemic happened. Jamal subsequently transformed his fan base into what authorities now believe was a cult. He has since received an 18-year prison sentence for child molestation, and six of his followers have disappeared. He took advantage of the political climate Jamal’s new identity as a “spiritual leader” began taking shape in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. According to People, Jamal was living in Atlanta at the time, where he used the political climate of the moment to speak directly to Black and Latino audiences online. Reportedly, his message initially focused on social consciousness. However, as his audience grew, he increasingly leaned into pseudoscience, linking American minority communities to Sumerian mythology, extraterrestrials, and spiritual teachings. For those unfamiliar with his teachings, Jamal created an online community called the University of Cosmic Intelligence. He described it as a platform “geared toward enlightening and illuminating minds.” Authorities, however, have described it as a decentralized cult. Beginning in 2023, Jamal’s online controversies began spilling into his legal troubles. According to People, in August of that year, Jamal was convicted in Barrow County, Georgia. The court found sufficient evidence to convict him on multiple counts of child molestation. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison followed by an additional 22 years of strict probation. However, despite a unanimous jury verdict, physical evidence, and victim testimony, Jamal continues to maintain his innocence. The conviction only appeared to intensify the loyalty of his followers, as Jamal reportedly convinced many of them that the allegations against him had been entirely “manufactured.” His followers went on to circulate jail recordings in which Jamal claimed that his only “crime” was speaking out against oppression within Black and Latino communities. From that point forward, the movement became even more unusual. By late 2023, followers were organizing donations, circulating petitions, and even referring to him as a “political prisoner.” Then came allegations of violence. According to Fox 5, some of Jamal’s alleged disciples became connected to violent incidents around the country, including a highly publicized double homicide in Alabama. Furthermore, six of Jamal’s followers — Naaman Williams, 29, Gerielle German, 26, her 3-year-old son Ashton Mitchell, Mikayla Thompson, 23, Ma’Kayla Wickerson, 25, and her 3-year-old daughter Malaiyah — all disappeared in 2023. To this day, investigators have found no trace of them and no definitive explanation for what happened. There’s a documentary coming out Alyza Berman, founder and clinical director of The Berman Center, explained the appeal of figures like Jamal, saying, “When you finally get the opportunity even to meet that [cult] leader in person, they become this godlike figure to you and you do things that you never thought you would do because you want that acceptance and that approval, and you don’t want to disappoint the leader.” Investigation Discovery is scheduled to release a documentary about Jamal on July 14 on HBO Max, where filmmakers will attempt to dig as deeply as possible into his story and the movement that formed around him.