The leader of a group that has been described as "cultlike" and has been linked to multiple killings has been arrested, drawing renewed attention on its activities.
Jack LaSota, who goes by "Ziz," is the leader of the "Zizians." LaSota, who identifies as a woman, was taken into custody on Sunday in Frostburg, a rural area in Maryland, and faces a series of charges, including firearms and obstructing and hindering. Two others, including a woman called Michelle Zajko, were arrested on similar charges.
A computer programmer, LaSota was said to have died in a boating accident in 2022, according to an obituary in Alaska. However, ever since LaSota and associates have been linked to a series of crimes including the stabbing of an 80-year old man and the shooting of a border patrol agent.
An investigation by The Independent traces back the origins of the "Zizians" to a 2019 protest at the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) alumni retreat in northern California.
Four individuals, clad in black robes and Guy Fawkes masks, blocked the entrances to the retreat, accusing the think tank of covering up misconduct and fostering a toxic environment. Police, responding to a mistaken report of armed individuals, intervened with force. The protesters were arrested, and some later alleged mistreatment while in custody.
One of them was LaSota, who was part of rationalist and effective altruist movements but developed an offshoot ideology that included anarchist and militant vegan elements, the outlet detailed. LaSota was then described as a manipulative leader and by others as a victim of ostracization from the rationalist community.
The outlet also drew attention to "dark and sometimes violent" blog posts, which described a theory about the two hemispheres of the brain holding separate values and genders and "often desire to kill each other." Another investigation by The Associated Press determined that the Zizians' goals aren't clear but "span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence."
"There's no organization. There's no centralization. We're just a bunch of anarchist trans leftists that are trying to exist in current year in this world," said Octavia Nouzen in an interview with journalist Ken the Cowboy, as per The Independent.
Following the 2019 protest, Ziz and her associates moved into a trailer yard in Vallejo, California, owned by Curtis Lind. Tensions escalated when the group stopped paying rent during the pandemic-era eviction moratorium. In November 2022, a violent confrontation at the trailer yard resulted in the death of one group member, Emma Borhanian. Prosecutors charged two of Ziz's associates with murder, arguing that Lind had acted in self-defense when he fired a shot that ended up killing her.
Lind was stabbed to death last month, with prosecutors saying the killing intended to prevent him from testifying in the trial related to the initial attack.
Overall, the Zizians have been linked to the killing of US border patrol agent David Maland and five other homicides in states like Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.
Two of those others killed were the parents of Michelle Zajko, who was arrested with LaSota on Sunday. LaSota was charged with obstructing the investigation into their deaths but later released from jail after posting bail. Zajko was initially taken into custody over the killing of her parents but later released and not charged.
The killing of Maland took place in the context of a traffic stop, where a follower of LaSota's opened fire at the agents during a traffic stop. German national Ophelia Bauckholt also died in the exchange, with the latter being shot after pulling out a firearm. The person riding with Bauckholt pleaded not guilty to firearm charges.
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