CLAD IN BLACK
Who are the Zizians? ‘Psuedo-intellectual cult’ linked to 6 deaths including US border officer as ‘leader’ is arrested
A member has spoken out about their motives
THE leader of the Zizians, a "psuedo-intellectual cult" connected to six killings in three states, appeared in court on Tuesday.
The strange group is said to be made up of anarchist computer geeks from Silicon Valley with bizarre beliefs on radical veganism, gender identity, and "social morality."
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Members Jack LaSota, 34, from Berkeley, California, Michelle Zajko, 32, from Pennsylvania, and Daniel Blank, 26, also from California, were arrested on Sunday.
The trio appeared before a judge in a Maryland courtroom for a bail hearing facing a slew of charges including trespassing, obstructing, and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.
It was ruled that LaSota, a blogger and so-called cult leader will be held without bail.
Prosecutors said LaSota - known as Ziz - "appears to be the leader of an extremist group known as Zizians” while Zajko and Blank are reported to be members of the so-called "death cult."
All three suspects were arrested in Frostburg, Maryland on Sunday afternoon and are being held in a county detention center.
The group is connected to six murders across Vermont, Pennsylvania, and California including that of U.S. border patrol agent David Maland near the Canadian border on January 20.
The 44-year-old was killed in a traffic stop shootout in Coventry, Vermont, about 20 miles from the border after law enforcement were alerted to people wearing all-black tactical gear and carrying weapons.
German national Ophelia Bauckholt, a follower of Ziz, was also killed in the incident when the woman she was with, Teresa Youngblut allegedly opened fire.
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State police confirmed that an investigation is ongoing as court records and online posts reveal more about the Zizians as a group of young, highly intellectual computer scientists.
According to Associated Press, the group, aged in their 20s and 30s appeared to have met online where they shared anarchist beliefs and became increasingly violent.
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LaSota appears to be at the center of the bizarre cult-like group that has posted on numerous online forums about a variety of topics including radical veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence.
It is not known what the aim of the group is with LaSota posting dark theories online under the name Ziz.
One of these theories is that the two sides of the brain can be in conflict with each other, each having different values and being different genders, and "often desire to kill each other".
LaSota who uses she/her pronouns has also railed against online so-called rationalist groups that seek to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge.
The San Francisco Gate added that Ziz often posted about “stripping society of morality”, “evil people ganging up to kill off good people” and saving the world with rationalism.
Her attorney has declined to comment on if she is connected to any of the deaths linked to the Zizians.
Though she is wanted in two states and is facing criminal charges, Ziz has not been charged and is not believed to be a person of interest in relation to any of the killings connected to the Zizian group.
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One of these killings is the stabbing of an 82-year-old man in northern California on January 17, 2025.
Prosecutors have claimed Curtis Lind was killed to prevent him from testifying against Zizian members at a trial over an alleged sword attack in 2022 which caused him to lose an eye.
On November 13, 2022, Lind who owned property in Vallejo, tried to evict Zizian members including LaSota, Emma Borhanian, and Alex Leatham for not paying rent.
He was then allegedly attacked by members of the group and the altercation led to the death of Borhanian who was shot.
Leatham and Suri Dao, 23, were charged with murder in Borhanian's death and the attempted murder of Lind.
But on January 17, 2025, Lind, the only eyewitness for the trial against the group, was found dead.
Maximilian Snyder, a 22-year-old data scientist, and the man said to have a relationship with fellow Zizian Youngblut, was charged with the murder.
Meanwhile, in 2023, Zajko's parents were found shot dead in their home in Pennsylvania.
Blank was Zajko's housemate in Vermont at the time and cops investigating the deaths of her parents detained Blank and LaSota at a hotel where Zajko was staying.
LaSota was charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct - Blank was not charged and while Zajko was questioned over the killing, she too was released without charge.
The FBI is continuing to investigate the group and if it is connected to any other crimes.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Zizian Octavia Nouzen told podcaster Ken the Cowboy in an interview: "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."
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