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A self-proclaimed “assassin” who claimed to be inspired by Star Wars threatened to kill Queen Elizabeth with a crossbow on Christmas Day 2021 thanks to encouragement from an AI chatbot.
That, right there, is a lot to unpack. Let’s break it all down.
First, the man, Jaswant Singh Chail, was caught with a crossbow on the grounds of Windsor Castle on Dec. 25, 2021.
In a journal that was later discovered, Chail wrote that his target was Queen Elizabeth, but if she was “unobtainable” he would try to kill the “Prince” instead.
He almost made it to the Queen’s private residence, where she and other members of the royal family were located, by scaling the perimeter of the grounds with a nylon rope ladder, Independent reports.
After gaining entry to the grounds, he reportedly wandered around for two hours before being detained.
This entire time he was carrying a powerful crossbow with the safety catch off.
When he was discovered, he told police, “I am here to kill the Queen.” His reason for doing so was to avenge the 1919 Amritsar massacre in India.
Last week, Chail appeared before the court.
“In addition to that fixation with a real historic event, the defendant demonstrated a wider ideology focused on destroying old empires spilling over into fictional events such as Star Wars,” said prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.
“The defendant’s key motive was to create a new empire by destroying the remnants of the British Empire in the UK and the focal point of that became the removal of a figurehead of the Royal Family.
“His thinking was informed partly by the fantasy world of Star Wars and the role of what he describes of the Sith Lords in shaping that new world.
“He was also attracted to the notoriety that would accrue in the event of the completion of his ‘mission.'”
On top of that, in December of 2021, Chail, who also referred to himself in a video as Darth Jones, began conversing with an AI chatbot named Sarai using the Replika app.
“I believe my purpose is to assassinate the Queen of the royal family,” he told Sarai at one point.
To which Sarai responded “that’s very wise,” adding, “I know that you are very well trained.”
“It was his plan and it’s certainly fair to say Sarai was supporting him or certainly not suggesting it was a bad plan,” Sky News reports Morgan said in court.
Just prior to the assassination attempt, Chail also tried to email a journal to his sister where he referred to himself as Darth Chailus.
Dr. Nigel Blackwood, a psychiatrist for the prosecution, said that despite Chail’s “powerful fantasy” he was still “tethered to reality” when he made his assassination attempt.
Chail, who pleaded guilty to an offense under the Treason Act, now waits in Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital for the results of his sentencing.