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Vox
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Vox
They were Silicon Valley overachievers. Then they started killing.
Silicon Valley breeds visionary ideas, and with them, communities of dreamers. But not all those ideas and communities are benevolent. It can be hard to separate harmful movements from aspirational ones, but it's easy to exploit those who mistake one for the other. Throughout tech culture, this exploitation frequently generates dogmatic thinking and rigid adherence to a leader or idea — on the most extreme end, you have a group like the 'Zizians,' followers of a 'post-rationalist' leader named Ziz. The cultlike Zizians are allegedly responsible for a string of violence across the country: at least six confirmed deaths — three within the last month alone — two alleged suicides, and one disappearance. Just last week, Ziz and another group member were arrested in Maryland, charged with multiple minor offenses. Larger indictments seem likely to follow. Rationalism is a centuries-old philosophical belief that elevates reason over intuition or faith. Modern-day rationalists are often fixated on how we prepare for the Singularity — the moment when, in theory, AI will gain sentience — and it's in this sense that rationalism has profoundly influenced Silicon Valley. Rationalism takes a fundamentally optimistic, if limiting, approach toward human co-existence with AI. Post-rationalists, by contrast, tend to think an evil, world-destroying AI is inevitable. A post-rationalist leans into contrarianism, spiritualism, and preparing for the worst. This bleak cocktail has proved heady for the Zizians, encouraging them to embrace grandiose moral frameworks alongside self-destructive ideas like sleeping with half your brain. It's also led the group to a headline-making spree of bizarre crimes and murders, all with an elusive leader at the center. Ziz LaSota joined the rationalist community through its lodestar online forum LessWrong in 2012, when she was in her early 20s. She attended at least one workshop hosted by the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR), a rationalist offshoot that some have accused of being cult-like itself, and which in 2014 faced backlash as part of unproven, anonymous child sex-trafficking allegations against its parent group, the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI). In 2016, Ziz moved to the Bay Area from Alaska and gathered a small community to live on boats in the San Francisco Bay to avoid paying rent. The boats were short-lived; the community — most of whom were vegan and trans like Ziz — and what grew out of it, persists in some form to this day. She soon started a niche but attention-getting blog (since deleted but mirrored here) where she divided people into categories like 'living,' 'vampire,' and 'zombie.' She was obsessed with willpower, seemed to view psychopathy as liberational and aspirational, and claimed mind control. 'Sometimes cops harass me for wearing my religious attire as a Sith,' she wrote, referring to wielders of the dark Force in Star Wars. On her blog, Ziz peddled 'unihemispheric sleep' (UHS), a real but very unhealthy practice in which people attempt to rest only one half of their brain at a time. Sleep deprivation is a tactic religious cults have long used to render their followers psychologically vulnerable; in this case, it tied into Ziz's theory that the left and right brain separated people into two different identities. According to Ziz, humans could exist as two entirely different people, even entirely separate genders with different states of awareness and capacities. (This is very similar to the TV show Severance and a lot like the 'two wolves' meme brought to life.) Ziz claimed that these divided inner selves had different cores that were either 'good' or 'nongood.' The likelihood of a person's two cores both being good, or 'double good,' was infinitesimal. Naturally, she herself was double good. In her comment section, people now seriously debated the merits of Ziz's ideas. Some had taken workshops through CFAR, but often directed negative attention their way now. Many commenters were highly educated and working in tech; one was building future-prediction apps and algorithms. You might not think this sounds rooted in rationalism at all — or even post-rationalism, with its renewed interest in intuition and 'woo stuff.' But in fact, modern-day rationalism cultivates all types of wild thinking. On top of having been popularized in its current incarnation through a Harry Potter fanfic, the belief system abounds with fantastical thought experiments, like Roko's Basilisk — in which a vengeful future AI punishes those who did not help to create it. Ziz frequently extrapolated these lines of thinking, weaponizing them into potentially dangerous mindsets. 'Zizians do not think it is ever valid to surrender,' one pseudonymous ex-Zizian wrote. 'Giving in is choosing a strategy that gets coerced into surrender.' By 2019, Ziz and a handful of her acolytes had transitioned from houseboats to living in an RV lot in Vallejo, another city in the Bay Area, owned by an elderly landlord named Curtis Lind. A nebulous cluster of dedicated followers who had found her through her blog continued to interact with her and the other community members online. That year, Ziz began claiming that the allegations against MIRI were true and that higher-ups had been blackmailed into a payout. This all led to Ziz shutting down a CFAR alumni reunion in Occidental, California, 'to protest the coverup of child molestation' by CFAR attendants, according to court documents. Ziz and followers showed up to the retreat wearing robes and Anonymous-style masks and blocked the entrance. A SWAT team later detained them amid disputed reports that protesters were armed. These arrests, and the stacked charges that accompanied them, opened a new chapter — one in which her followers drowned in attorneys' fees and she dodged court hearings as her notoriety spread. By this point, rationalists had begun posting warnings to the community, describing Ziz as dangerous and cult leader-like and referring to her followers as 'Zizians.' The growing perception that her influence was toxic may have been boosted by the deaths of former members, including Maia Pasek, who allegedly died by suicide in 2018 while intensely practicing UHS. Ziz later wrote a long blog post alleging that Pasek was 'nongood' and had been performing UHS incorrectly. Then there was Jay Winterford, an ex-Zizian who rounded-up testimonials against Ziz. Winterford died in 2021, reportedly by suicide, after which Ziz wrote a comment generally believed to be about Winterford, saying she had spent '7 months, most of every day in a desperate (and mutual) mental battle, of trying to get in [Winterford's] head.' Ziz also allegedly weaponized her own followers. A follower named Jamie Zajko appeared to claim that Ziz had pressured her for weeks to murder another ex-Zizian. 'I'm writing this, so if Alice and I die or vanish, everyone knows who is responsible,' Zajko wrote. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the Vallejo Zizians allegedly stopped paying rent. (Ziz later wrote that paying rent was 'bad praxis.') Lind began a years-long eviction process, during which the Zizians allegedly took over the property. Meanwhile, Ziz skipped court. In August 2022, lawyers representing Ziz and a long-time follower named Gwen Danielson in a countersuit over the CFAR incident filed motions claiming Ziz had died after falling overboard earlier that month, and that Danielson was believed to have died by suicide (though prosecutors were skeptical). Ziz's obituary was released under her birth name. She wouldn't remain dead for long. In the wee hours of November 13, 2022, the dispute between Lind and his Vallejo tenants erupted. The Zizians were due to be evicted in two days, and claimed Lind had been harassing them. According to a friend of Lind's, several tenants lured him outside his home. Those present included Zizians Suri Dao, Somni Leatham, and Emma Borhanian. A prosecutor later claimed Ziz was also there, 'alive and well.' In one version, when Lind stepped outside, the tenants attacked. In another, Lind started shooting, unprovoked. What's undisputed is that someone stabbed Lind repeatedly with a samurai sword, ultimately blinding him in one eye, and that he also shot two of the tenants, seriously injuring Leatham and fatally shooting Borhanian. Police charged Dao and Leatham with the murder of their friend and Lind's attempted murder; they're still in detention and have each repeatedly attempted to escape. On the other side of the country, Jamie Zajko — the follower Ziz had allegedly pressured to commit murder — was also facing police scrutiny. In early January 2023, her parents, Rita and Richard Zajko, were shot to death in their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, around the same time as an argument during which neighbors' surveillance allegedly captured screams of 'Mom!' Police interviewed Jamie Zajko's roommate, a man named Daniel Blank, in connection to the crime. Shortly after, Ziz was found hiding in a hotel with Blank and Zajko and detained on a $500,000 bail in connection with obstruction and disorderly conduct charges, but then released. Police failed to find enough evidence to bring indictments against any of the trio. By this point, the group was in disarray. One Zizian, Borhanian, was dead; one, Zajko, was on the lam; and two more were missing. Blank had dropped out of contact with friends; his profile was uploaded to the national missing persons database in 2023. Danielson had allegedly faked her death, but she, too, had fallen off the public radar around the same time as Blank. The last known contact with her was reportedly with family over the holidays in 2024; her father told the San Francisco Chronicle that she broke away from the group and went into hiding, and he fears for her safety. Meanwhile, Dao and Leatham were still in detention, their trial still looming. Because evidence was scarce, Lind's testimony at trial would be vital to the case. Enter three more Zizians living in the same neighborhood in North Carolina — a genderfluid woman named Teresa Youngblut, who also went by Milo; their partner Maximilian Snyder, who also went by Audere; and Ophelia Bauckholt, who moved to the US from Germany around the time of the Zajko murders. Like many in the group, they were highly intelligent: Snyder studied philosophy at the University of Oxford while Bauckholt was a successful Wall Street stock trader. (Zajko has a degree in bioinformatics and had been a research intern at a Philadelphia hospital studying, ironically, sleep deprivation.) Over several days in early January 2025, witnesses noticed a person in all black looming around Lind's Vallejo residence. On January 17, Lind was killed. Snyder was arrested on January 24 and charged with the murder in a stabbing death, with the criminal complaint alleging Lind was killed to prevent him from testifying. Shortly before Lind's death, Youngblut and Bauckholt traveled to Vermont. The pair drew attention by dressing in all black and carrying a handgun. (Officials believe Zajko, still dodging authorities, gave them firearms she'd purchased the year before.) Authorities reportedly surveilled the duo for days as they visited Newport, Vermont, and looked at property in the area. Finally, on January 20, things came to a head: Approached by a border agent named David Maland, Youngblut allegedly pointed a Glock at him and fired it at least twice. In the ensuing shootout, Youngblut was shot, and both Maland and Bauckholt were killed. Authorities later described finding a weapons cache in the car the pair were driving, as well as '48 rounds of .380-calibre jacketed hollow point bullets, a ballistic helmet, and night vision equipment.' Youngblut was promptly arrested and is facing federal charges. On February 16, Ziz, Zajko, and Blank were all apprehended by authorities in Maryland. The trio were arrested on charges including trespassing and obstructing law enforcement. Blank's arrest marked the first time he had been located since being reported missing, according to a lawyer at a pretrial hearing in which all three were detained without bail. Ziz told the judge, 'I haven't done anything wrong.' The death toll seemingly associated with Ziz and her followers now stands at six. It might seem that Ziz masterminded all this mayhem, but it's unclear how much direct involvement she had. Is this, as the Daily Mail has proclaimed, a 'trans death cult'? Are the Zizians simply loosely connected murderous individuals? Something in-between? 'There's no organization, there's no centralization. It's not like we all have Ziz on speed-dial and ask her what to do every day,' a Zizian called Octavia Nouzen said in an interview she gave to a podcaster who goes by Uncle Kenny, who has extensively investigated the Zizians. 'It doesn't take a mysterious cult leader with infohazards and brainwashing and all this spooky stuff to make these bad things happen — there's other contingent circumstances.' The Zizians are far from the only extremist thought community that's embedded itself within tech culture. One major factor in the Zizian radicalization seems to be the way rationalism and post-rationalism encourage adherents to adopt ever more arcane, fantasy-infused worldviews which can easily turn dangerous. 'At the time, my left hemisphere was a revenant and my right hemisphere a lich; and yeah my phylactery shattered, but what ended up happening was that part of me started fading towards zombiedom for many months, before rebuilding a phylactery and restoring lichdom,' goes a typical comment on Ziz's blog; this one happens to be from Danielson before she disappeared. In the middle of a passionate defense of the Vallejo tenants, one supporter breaks away to invoke the modern rationalist ur-text Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality , declaring, 'You know that scene from HPMOR where Harry does everything he can to save Hermione, but she dies anyway? This was like that, but so much worse because it really happened.' The Zizians are far from the only extremist thought community that's embedded itself within tech culture; some are arguably even influencing high-level decisions that are being made about humanity's near- and long-term future. We have yet to fully grapple with the darker implications of this much obscure ideology impacting our societal development, as well as the immediate effects at an individual level. It's heartbreaking to read Maia Pasek's alleged suicide note and see her using the framework of rationalist decision theory to posit her own existence as a question of simple logic or non-logic. And then, of course, there are the murders. There's no knowing if, how, or why, Ziz might be orchestrating this cacophony of death. While her acolytes keep roleplaying epic battles between good and evil, alive and undead, humans and basilisks, it's only rational to think like Ziz herself: The worst may be yet to come. See More: Culture Internet Culture True crime
The Independent
16-02-2025
- The Independent
Inside the ‘Zizians': How a cultish crew of radical vegans became linked to killings across the United States
The four wore black hooded robes and the classic protesters' Guy Fawkes mask made famous in V for Vendetta. Gathered near a secluded retreat in the woodlands of northern California, about an hour and a half outside San Francisco, they parked their vehicles to block the entrances. Their goal was to disrupt the annual alumni retreat of the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR), a little-known Berkeley think tank associated with the subculture known as rationalism. Flyers allegedly sent out beforehand accused the Center of covering up "sex scandals", discriminating against transgender women, "violating basic principles of friendliness", and other trespasses. Then the SWAT team swooped in. According to a later police report, officers believed — wrongly — that the protesters were armed and that there might be an "active shooter" situation. The protesters were subdued, and some would later allege that they were assaulted and mistreated in custody. For most outsiders, this incident in November 2019 was a baffling if short-lived news story. What nobody could have known then was that it was the beginning of a dark chain of events that would ultimately result in the deaths of at least six people. Last month, on January 17, an 82-year-old trailer yard landlord named Curtis Lind was stabbed and died in nearby Vallejo, California, by a mysterious attacker wearing a mask and a black beanie. On January 20, more than 3,000 miles away in Vermont, a U.S. border agent and a young German maths whiz who worked as a financial trader were killed in a shootout after a traffic stop. Meanwhile, police in Pennsylvania are still investigating the murder of an older couple who were shot dead inside their home in Chester Heights, a suburb of Philadelphia, on New Year's Eve 2022. What links these cases, according to prosecutors, public evidence, interviews, and media reports, is a small group of ideologically radical young people — most of whom are trans or non-binary — who appear to follow a left-wing anarchist offshoot of rationalist philosophy. In the midst of this web is a polarizing and cryptic figure known as Ziz, a 34-year-old vegan computer scientist who played a leading role in the initial protest. Depending on who you believe, she may be the highly manipulative leader of a 'Zizian' cult or simply one figure in a loose-knit network of rationalist defectors. The whereabouts of Ziz herself, known in court documents by her legal name Jack Amadeus LaSota, remains unknown. Though wanted in two states on lesser counts, she has not been charged or deemed a person of interest in connection to any of the killings. But her politics are central to a bizarre and tragic story involving Silicon Valley start-ups, a rent strike, allegations of abuse and indoctrination, an abandoned Alaskan tug boat, and the coming machine apocalypse. Down and out in Silicon Valley Ziz moved down to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016 because, in her words, it was "sort of [her] destiny". Her life so far certainly pointed that way. She'd earned a computer science degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where her father is an A.I. researcher. She'd completed an internship at NASA back in 2013. Like many tech workers, she'd also been drawn to the rationalist subculture and to the closely intertwined 'effective altruist' movement, which had a strong presence in Berkeley. She shared some rationalists' belief that artificial intelligence would soon attain godlike power and could destroy humanity if not properly controlled. But Ziz's attempt to break into Silicon Valley went poorly. According to her blog, she crashed out of job after job and bounced around between insecure temporary housing, all while transitioning to female (and facing prejudice for it). Even so, she found friends among the rationalists. One of them was Gwen Danielson, another trans woman who developed a psychological theory that every person has multiple personalities within themselves, as well as techniques meant to awaken these personalities. In 2017, Ziz and Danielson embarked together on a plan to build a "rationalist fleet" of rehabilitated old boats that could offer cheap housing to talented young compatriots, freeing them to devote their energies to "saving the world". They bought a nearly century-old tug boat named the Caleb in Alaska, and sailed it down the coast to the Bay Area. Both forged links to CFAR, the think tank. Danielson presented some of her psychological techniques at the 2017 CFAR alumni retreat, and in 2018 Ziz reportedly joined an apprenticeship program co-run by CFAR and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, another rationalist non-profit focused on managing the risks of A.I. Meanwhile, on her blog, Ziz was developing her own branch of E.A. and rationalist philosophy: strange, dense, and full of unusual jargon such as "anti-ethics", "dichotomy leakage", and "timeless gambits". She classified people as "zombies" and "vampires", or "single good" versus "double good". Ultimately, her creed was anarchist and vegan. She felt that she lived in a society of "flesh-eating monsters", and that most rationalists drastically undervalued non-human life. Any future super-A.I., she believed, must benefit animals too. "Ziz seemed like an intensely ambitious and moralistic person... who was interested in psychology and doing good things for the world," Jessica Taylor, who met Ziz at a Berkeley rationalist event in 2015 or 2016 and stayed in touch for several years, told The Independent. "They get very moralistic about philosophy." In an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle, CFAR's executive director Anna Salamon described Ziz as "a young person who was hanging around and who I suspect wanted to be important." She claimed that Ziz repeatedly and intensely pushed MIRI to adopt Danielson's psychological theories, then soured on the group when she failed to gain influence. Over time, however, Ziz grew apart from other rationalists. One pseudonymous "warning" website would later depict her as a manipulative cult leader who preyed on vulnerable trans people and sucked them into her 'Zizian' ideology. People close to Ziz dispute this, and allege that she was driven out of the community by abuse and mistreatment. "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 self-declared Zizian Octavia Nouzen in an interview with internet journalist and podcaster Ken the Cowboy, who assembled a detailed timeline of events and sources related to the group. The four people who protested at CFAR in 2019 were Ziz, Danielson, Ziz's friend Emma Borhanian — who reportedly worked at Google — and a non-binary rationalist known as Somni (legal name Alexander Leatham). According to Nouzen, who said she knew the protesters and had heard it multiple times from them, their intentions were peaceful if disruptive: occupy the bridge leading to the venue, stop eventgoers from entering the retreat property, and make their point heard. But, Nouzen said, they didn't realise there was already a group of children inside the venue — who were now unable to leave once they blocked the exits. It's unclear why the police believed they might be armed. The four were initially charged with felony false imprisonment and child endangerment, before having their rap sheet reduced to misdemeanors. Both Ziz and Danielson alleged that they were abused in police custody, and Ziz would later describe the whole ordeal as a profoundly demoralizing experience. "I will actually never be able to trust society, even in a limited respect, like trusting cops to not torture you for literally doing nothing wrong[,] again,' she said in court records seen by the Chronicle. A deadly confrontation at a California trailer yard During this time, Ziz and Danielson apparently began to itch to live again on dry land. They wanted, in Danielson's words, a way of living that was "independent from the system of rent and social politics". A solution appeared in the shape of Curtis Lind, a fellow boater who anchored near the Caleb at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. "They were unhappy with living on the tug,' Lind later told a documentarian in 2024. "They decided that they wanted to move to my yard and buy moving vans... they could live in the moving van, and nobody would know that they're in there." He described himself as "pretty friendly with some of them — friendly enough so that I took one of them to a Walmart to buy [her] first bra". The group moved into R.V.s on Lind's land in Vallejo, north of the Bay. According to the Chronicle, they abandoned the Caleb at Pillar Point, where it remains to this day — rusting, partially submerged, and too expensive for harbor authorities to remove. Meanwhile the crew's legal issues dragged on, and their lawyer fees mounted. When the pandemic struck, California temporarily banned evictions, and so the group stopped paying rent. It's not clear exactly who lived there, apart from Borhanian, Dao, and Leatham. Lind described a rotating cast of six to eight people who came and went, and would later testify that Danielson was the "mouthpiece" of the crew. The atmosphere between Lind and his tenants seems to have remained civil if awkward until July 2022. At that point California lifted its eviction ban, and tensions at the trailer yard began to rise. In August 2022, according to the Chronicle, Ziz faked her death, with Borhanian and Ziz's sister Naomi telling authorities she had fallen into the water from her own sailboat, the Black Cygnet. We don't know where she was when Lind and his tenants finally came to blows on November 13, 2022. What happened that day is disputed. One pseudonymous blog post purporting to be from someone close to the group, but which The Independent could not verify, alleged that Lind had previously threatened his tenants, and that he attacked first. Lind, in his 2024 interview, claimed that one of the group threatened him with a knife after he obtained a court judgement against them, prompting him to buy a gun out of concern for his safety. On the day, Lind alleged that one of the tenants tricked him into bending down to turn off the water supply and then attacked him without provocation, driving a samurai sword into his chest. "At that time I pulled out my pistol and started shooting," he said. Whatever the truth, the incident ended with Lind and Leatham rushed to hospital in critical condition, and Borhanian dead. She had been shot and killed by Lind. In the aftermath, prosecutors charged Dao and Leatham with Borhanian's murder. Lind, they contended, had fired in self-defence, and therefore it was the tenants who were responsible for her death. They remain in custody today, awaiting trial. 'They know how to track people down' After this point, events get murkier. Many 'Zizians' not already imprisoned dropped off the map, while new figures appear to have fallen into their orbit. Gwen Danielson split from the group and began living 'completely under the radar', according to her father Brett Danielson. He told the Chronicle that he'd last spoken to her around the 2024-25 winter holidays. On December 31, 2022, according to The Boston Globe, two people visited the home of Richard Zajko, 72, and his wife and Rita Zajko, 69, in suburban Philadelphia. Shouts were heard from the home, and the visitors stayed less than 20 minutes. A few days later, Pennsylvania police found the Zajkos dead from gunshot wounds to the head. The investigation zeroed in on their daughter Michelle Zajko, who often goes by Jamie and owned a handgun that uses the same type of ammunition. Zajko had previously lived in the Bay Area and appears to have known Ziz for years. In February 2022, a Tumblr account allegedly belonging to Zajko accused Ziz of threatening to kill her if she did not kill a friend with whom Ziz was feuding. No one has been charged with the elder Zajkos' death, and Jamie — who is considered a person of interest — has denied any involvement in her parents' death. She reportedly stands to inherit their estate, which has been frozen due to the ongoing investigation. But when police detained Zajko in a hotel room on January 11, she shouted at them to notify another guest that she was in custody. The next day police returned with a warrant for the other hotel room. Inside they found Daniel Blank, then 24, and a completely immobile and uncooperative Ziz. Officers said she lay limp as if "unconscious or dead", and had to be carried out. Both were arrested, and Ziz was charged with misdemeanor obstruction and disorderly conduct. Eventually friends got together to fund her bail, after which she disappeared. Two years later, in January 2025, two things happened that at first glance might seem unconnected. In Vallejo on January 17, Lind was killed outside his trailer yard while waiting to testify in the case against Dao and Leatham. Police quickly arrested and charged 22-year-old data scientist and Oxford graduate Maximilian Snyder, who goes by Audere. Acquaintances told the Globe that he was familiar with Ziz's writings, and one has publicly alleged that he tried to raise money for her bail. Then, in Vermont on January 20, U.S. border agents stopped a pair of young people on the interstate. One was Milo Youngblut (known in court records as Teresa), who had been reported missing by their parents one year ago — and who had applied for a marriage license with Snyder in November. The other was Ophelia Bauckholt (known at work as Felix), a German national, quantitative trader, and former coding gold medalist. Taylor, who was friends with Bauckholt, describes her as "socially strange" and "a non-conformist", who "might not have understood normal people very well" but maintained a strong circle of close friends. She told The Independent that Bauckholt had long been interested in rationalist ideas and was a fan of Ziz's blog, before cutting contact with Taylor in late 2023. Bauckholt and Youngblut had been under "periodic surveillance" since January 14, when a hotel employee reported them as suspicious after seeing them carrying at least one firearm and wearing black tactical gear. Prosecutors allege that Youngblut got out of their Toyota Prius and opened fire on the officers without provocation, starting a shoot-out that killed both Bauckholt and a Border Patrol agent named David Maland. Police are also searching urgently for Jamie Zajko, who is reportedly suspected of buying the handguns used by Youngblut and Bauckholt. A bulletin described her as armed and dangerous and said she followed an 'anti-law-enforcement ideology'. The exact nature of the potential connections between Youngblut, Bauckholt, Snyder, and the other 'Zizians' — or, indeed, how they got involved in these situations — remains unclear. Still, many in Ziz's old community fear they will be targeted in score-settling attacks. 'We are dealing with highly intelligent people who know how to track somebody down if they want to,' said Brett Danielson, who is concerned that his daughter may have come to harm. 'If any one of them wants to do somebody harm, they are going to do anything they can do to track them down.' For his part, when interviewed in jail by the Chronicle, Snyder refused to comment on who killed Lind, instead dictating a letter to rationalist luminary Eliezer Yudkowsky urging him to stop eating meat and think of animals as people. The letter began: "I am not one of Ziz's friends, and neither she nor her friends endorse me or my words so far as I know. I speak only for myself, as myself, for the sake of everyone. This I swear on my Laws."
Washington Post
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
What to know about the killing of a Border Patrol agent and ties to a cultlike group
The killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border last month and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California have been tied to a cultlike group. Interviews and online postings reveal how young computer scientists described by those who know them as highly intelligent appear to have become increasingly violent. Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont , a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border. Washington state resident Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the killing. She was traveling with German citizen Felix Bauckholt, who is also listed in court documents as Ophelia. Both had connections to a cultlike group known in online communities as 'Zizians' because of their affinity for a blogger who calls herself 'Ziz.' The pair had been under the surveillance of authorities for several days after an employee at a hotel where they were staying reported seeing Youngblut carrying a gun. Bauckholt died in the Vermont shootout. Authorities have not specified whose bullets hit whom. Youngblut's lawyer said through a spokesperson that they are not commenting. Youngblut pleaded not guilty in federal court on Feb. 7. Jack LaSota, 34, of Berkeley, California, published a dark and sometimes violent blog under the name Ziz and, in one section, described her theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could hold separate values and genders and 'often desire to kill each other.' LaSota, who used she/her pronouns, and in her writings says she is a transgender woman, railed against perceived enemies, including so-called rationalist groups, which operate mostly online and seek to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge. Some are concerned with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. When LaSota left the rationalists behind, she took with her a group of 'extremely vulnerable and isolated' followers, Anna Salamon, executive director of the Center for Applied Rationality, told the San Francisco Chronicle. In North Carolina, a landlord told The Associated Press that he had been renting two condos to Bauckholt and Youngblut. LaSota also had been living with Bauckholt as recently as this winter, said the landlord, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety. In November 2019, LaSota, Emma Borhanian, 31, Gwen Danielson and Alexander Leatham, 29 were arrested at a protest outside a Northern California retreat center where a rationalist group was holding an event. The group said they were protesting sexual misconduct inside the group. In 2022, landlord Curtis Lind went to court to evict Borhanian, LaSota, Leatham and other tenants who had stopped paying rent at a Vallejo, California, property. Two days before the Nov. 15 eviction deadline, prosecutors say Leatham, Borhanian and Suri Dao attacked him. Lind shot his attackers, killing Borhanian and wounding Leatham. He survived being impaled with a sword but lost an eye. Prosecutors concluded he acted in self-defense and charged Dao and Leatham with violent crimes. On Jan. 17, the 82-year-old landlord was stabbed to death. Maximilian Snyder, 22, who applied for a marriage license with Teresa Youngblut in Washington state in November, is charged with murder. On New Year's Eve 2022, Rita and Richard Zajko were shot and killed in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. Police questioned the couple's daughter, Michelle, at her home in Vermont, and a few weeks later, took her into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel. She was not arrested or charged. LaSota was at the hotel, too, and was arrested after refusing to cooperate with officers, and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct. Six months later, LaSota was released on bail but stopped showing up for court. LaSota's attorney, Daniel McGarrigle, said last month his client was 'wholly and unequivocally innocent of the charges filed in this case.' LaSota, 34, has not responded to multiple Associated Press emails in recent week. She has missed court appearances in two states, and bench warrants have been issued for her arrest. Associated Press reporters have left numerous phone and e-mail messages with LaSota's family and received no response. Her whereabouts are unknown and McGarrigle declined to say whether he's had recent contact with his client.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Yahoo
What to know about the killing of a Border Patrol agent and ties to a cultlike group
The killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border last month and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California have been tied to a cultlike group. Interviews and online postings reveal how young computer scientists described by those who know them as highly intelligent appear to have become increasingly violent. Border agent killed in Vermont Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border. Washington state resident Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the killing. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. She was traveling with German citizen Felix Bauckholt, who is also listed in court documents as Ophelia. Both had connections to a cultlike group known in online communities as 'Zizians" because of their affinity for a blogger who calls herself 'Ziz.' The pair had been under the surveillance of authorities for several days after an employee at a hotel where they were staying reported seeing Youngblut carrying a gun. Bauckholt died in the Vermont shootout. Authorities have not specified whose bullets hit whom. Youngblut's lawyer said through a spokesperson that they are not commenting. Youngblut pleaded not guilty in federal court on Feb. 7. Connection to Ziz Jack LaSota, 34, of Berkeley, California, published a dark and sometimes violent blog under the name Ziz and, in one section, described her theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could hold separate values and genders and 'often desire to kill each other.' LaSota, who used she/her pronouns, and in her writings says she is a transgender woman, railed against perceived enemies, including so-called rationalist groups, which operate mostly online and seek to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge. Some are concerned with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. When LaSota left the rationalists behind, she took with her a group of 'extremely vulnerable and isolated' followers, Anna Salamon, executive director of the Center for Applied Rationality, told the San Francisco Chronicle. In North Carolina, a landlord told The Associated Press that he had been renting two condos to Bauckholt and Youngblut. LaSota also had been living with Bauckholt as recently as this winter, said the landlord, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety. First arrests In November 2019, LaSota, Emma Borhanian, 31, Gwen Danielson and Alexander Leatham, 29 were arrested at a protest outside a Northern California retreat center where a rationalist group was holding an event. The group said they were protesting sexual misconduct inside the group. Deaths in California In 2022, landlord Curtis Lind went to court to evict Borhanian, LaSota, Leatham and other tenants who had stopped paying rent at a Vallejo, California, property. Two days before the Nov. 15 eviction deadline, prosecutors say Leatham, Borhanian and Suri Dao attacked him. Lind shot his attackers, killing Borhanian and wounding Leatham. He survived being impaled with a sword but lost an eye. Prosecutors concluded he acted in self-defense and charged Dao and Leatham with violent crimes. On Jan. 17, the 82-year-old landlord was stabbed to death. Maximilian Snyder, 22, who applied for a marriage license with Teresa Youngblut in Washington state in November, is charged with murder. Pennsylvania couple killed On New Year's Eve 2022, Rita and Richard Zajko were shot and killed in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. Police questioned the couple's daughter, Michelle, at her home in Vermont, and a few weeks later, took her into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel. She was not arrested or charged. LaSota was at the hotel, too, and was arrested after refusing to cooperate with officers, and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct. Six months later, LaSota was released on bail but stopped showing up for court. LaSota's attorney, Daniel McGarrigle, said last month his client was 'wholly and unequivocally innocent of the charges filed in this case.' LaSota, 34, has not responded to multiple Associated Press emails in recent week. She has missed court appearances in two states, and bench warrants have been issued for her arrest. Associated Press reporters have left numerous phone and e-mail messages with LaSota's family and received no response. Her whereabouts are unknown and McGarrigle declined to say whether he's had recent contact with his client.
The Independent
15-02-2025
- The Independent
What to know about the killing of a Border Patrol agent and ties to a cultlike group
The killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border last month and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California have been tied to a cultlike group. Interviews and online postings reveal how young computer scientists described by those who know them as highly intelligent appear to have become increasingly violent. Border agent killed in Vermont Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border. Washington state resident Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the killing. She was traveling with German citizen Felix Bauckholt, who is also listed in court documents as Ophelia. Both had connections to a cultlike group known in online communities as 'Zizians" because of their affinity for a blogger who calls herself 'Ziz.' The pair had been under the surveillance of authorities for several days after an employee at a hotel where they were staying reported seeing Youngblut carrying a gun. Bauckholt died in the Vermont shootout. Authorities have not specified whose bullets hit whom. Youngblut's lawyer said through a spokesperson that they are not commenting. Youngblut pleaded not guilty in federal court on Feb. 7. Connection to Ziz Jack LaSota, 34, of Berkeley, California, published a dark and sometimes violent blog under the name Ziz and, in one section, described her theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could hold separate values and genders and 'often desire to kill each other.' LaSota, who used she/her pronouns, and in her writings says she is a transgender woman, railed against perceived enemies, including so-called rationalist groups, which operate mostly online and seek to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge. Some are concerned with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. When LaSota left the rationalists behind, she took with her a group of 'extremely vulnerable and isolated' followers, Anna Salamon, executive director of the Center for Applied Rationality, told the San Francisco Chronicle. In North Carolina, a landlord told The Associated Press that he had been renting two condos to Bauckholt and Youngblut. LaSota also had been living with Bauckholt as recently as this winter, said the landlord, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety. First arrests In November 2019, LaSota, Emma Borhanian, 31, Gwen Danielson and Alexander Leatham, 29 were arrested at a protest outside a Northern California retreat center where a rationalist group was holding an event. The group said they were protesting sexual misconduct inside the group. Deaths in California In 2022, landlord Curtis Lind went to court to evict Borhanian, LaSota, Leatham and other tenants who had stopped paying rent at a Vallejo, California, property. Two days before the Nov. 15 eviction deadline, prosecutors say Leatham, Borhanian and Suri Dao attacked him. Lind shot his attackers, killing Borhanian and wounding Leatham. He survived being impaled with a sword but lost an eye. Prosecutors concluded he acted in self-defense and charged Dao and Leatham with violent crimes. On Jan. 17, the 82-year-old landlord was stabbed to death. Maximilian Snyder, 22, who applied for a marriage license with Teresa Youngblut in Washington state in November, is charged with murder. Pennsylvania couple killed On New Year's Eve 2022, Rita and Richard Zajko were shot and killed in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. Police questioned the couple's daughter, Michelle, at her home in Vermont, and a few weeks later, took her into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel. She was not arrested or charged. LaSota was at the hotel, too, and was arrested after refusing to cooperate with officers, and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct. Six months later, LaSota was released on bail but stopped showing up for court. LaSota's attorney, Daniel McGarrigle, said last month his client was 'wholly and unequivocally innocent of the charges filed in this case.' LaSota, 34, has not responded to multiple Associated Press emails in recent week. She has missed court appearances in two states, and bench warrants have been issued for her arrest. Associated Press reporters have left numerous phone and e-mail messages with LaSota's family and received no response. Her whereabouts are unknown and McGarrigle declined to say whether he's had recent contact with his client.
