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Independent journalists Nick Sortor and Karlyn Borysenko were in serious danger on Saturday night after being confronted, threatened with death, and having their vehicle attacked with vomit by Black Lives Matter rioters in a self-declared “autonomous zone” that has taken over several blocks of downtown Madison, Wisconsin.
The zone, known as the “Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone” or “CRAZ,” was formed in the days following the July 22 police shooting of Corey Ruiz, an armed serial felon who was killed while allegedly attacking an officer with a knife.
Protesters have built barricades of pallets, furniture, and spike strips, blocked streets, set up tents, and effectively seized control of the area around Williamson and Baldwin streets, using the playbook from Seattle’s 2020 CHOP/CHAZ.
Sortor, who was driving with Borysenko in the passenger seat, stopped near the encampment and stepped out of the vehicle in an attempt to make jokes and lighten the mood.
Instead, activists surrounded him, blocked him from returning to his car, swung a pole at him, sprayed vomit on him and his vehicle, damaged the left front quarter panel, and repeatedly threatened to kill him.
WATCH:
They also sprayed vomit on me and my vehicle before damaging the left front quarter panel.
Doctors and engineers, im sure. pic.twitter.com/RFJR1mS8BN
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 2, 2026
Video footage captured one individual warning, “hurry up and leave before your life ends out here” and saying “there’s a whole team of us.”
Borysenko, filming from the passenger seat with a hood over her head, captured the escalating confrontation.
WATCH:
Here’s my footage that I filmed from the passenger seat of @nicksortor’s car last night when we drove by the autonomous zone in Madison Wisconsin when he was attacked by them.
Nick got out and made jokes to them to try to get them to laugh.
It did not go well and then started… https://t.co/T2t8I7Kksh pic.twitter.com/R2vOQrgkDW
— Karlyn Borysenko, anti-communist cult leader (@DrKarlynB) August 2, 2026
She noted that the woman swinging the pole had previously appeared hostile toward her during an earlier visit to the zone and that the attackers did not appear to recognize either journalist, making the incident even more alarming because “this could happen to anyone.”
Sortor immediately called 911 after escaping.
Both journalists praised the responding Madison police officers as professional and helpful.
WATCH:
Nick Sorter (@nicksortor) and I almost got killed last night at the autonomous zone in Madison.
We were hanging out and decided to drive by. Nick got out of the car and made jokes. They started coming at him. I was screaming in the passenger seat.
Nick called 911 directly after… https://t.co/ZxPzHcQKJ0 pic.twitter.com/BDYKsa9LJT
— Karlyn Borysenko, anti-communist cult leader (@DrKarlynB) August 2, 2026
In follow-up posts, Borysenko suggested many of the individuals involved appeared to be connected to drug activity, with homeless people in the encampment allegedly being used as enforcers.
BTW all of those people are likely drug dealers who are selling drugs out of that car, or the people they are selling the drugs too.
The leftists are giving the homeless people in that encampment drugs to use them as their security attack dogs.
— Karlyn Borysenko, anti-communist cult leader (@DrKarlynB) August 2, 2026
“BTW all of those people are likely drug dealers who are selling drugs out of that car, or the people they are selling the drugs too,” the journalist, known for extensively studying the far-left and going undercover at their protests and events, wrote.
“The leftists are giving the homeless people in that encampment drugs to use them as their security attack dogs.”
Speaking to The Gateway Pundit, Borysenko said, “Last night, we drove by the autonomous zone in Madison. Nick got out of the car to talk to the activists and cracked a few jokes. They got aggressive and violent and threatened multiple times to destroy the car and kill him. It was absolutely terrifying. One of the same people had been aggressive towards me in the autonomous zone earlier in the day. Hopefully the city will allow the cops to go and arrest the people who did this.”
Sortor called for federal involvement, arguing that allowing violent anarchists to control city blocks should never be tolerated.
Local reporting confirms the zone has disrupted businesses, blocked emergency access, and drawn criticism from Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, yet it has remained in place into early August.
As of Sunday, no arrests related to the specific assault on the journalists had been publicly announced.
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