Latest news with #Lasota
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Zizians: What we know about the vegan 'cult' linked to six deaths
A cult-like group known as Zizians has been linked to a string of murders, sparking several arrests – who are the people behind this group and what do they believe? Jack Lasota, 34, who allegedly leads a group of a few dozen followers known as Zizians, was arrested on Sunday alongside Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, on a number of charges including trespassing and obstruction. Authorities say that they are investigating at least six killings across the United States that are allegedly connected to members of the group, including a double homicide in Pennsylvania, a knife attack in California, and the shooting of a US border guard in January. Four other alleged members of the group have already been charged with murder. Lasota, a transgender woman, is allegedly the leader of the group. She earned a degree in computer science from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 2013 and, according to her blog, moved to the San Francisco area three years later. There, she wrote that she applied for a series of jobs at tech companies and startups - including a brief internship with Nasa - and began to associate with people involved in the rationalist movement, an intellectual trend popular in Silicon Valley that emphasises the power of the human mind to see clear truth, eliminate bias and bad thinking, and improve individuals and society. Lasota began blogging using the alias "Ziz", but soon fell out with mainstream rationalists as her writings spun off in bizarre directions. The blog included posts of thousands of words, blending Lasota's personal experiences, theories about technology and philosophy, and esoteric comments about pop culture, computer coding and dozens of other subjects. At one point, during a long diatribe about the TV series The Office, artificial intelligence and other subjects, she wrote: "I realized that I was no longer able to stand people. Not even rationalists anymore. And I would live the rest of my life completely alone, hiding my reaction to anyone it was useful to interact with. I had given up my ability to see beauty so I could see evil." Other themes included veganism – total avoidance of any animal food or products – and anarchism. In 2019 Lasota and three others were arrested while holding a protest outside of an event held by a rationalist organisation. The last posts on her blog date from around this time. Over the next few years, Lasota and others would move around the US, according to reports, at one point living on a boat, and later staying on property owned by others in California and North Carolina. In 2022, a warrant was issued when Lasota failed to show up for a court hearing, related to the protest outside the rationalist organisation meeting. But her lawyer at the time stated she was "now deceased after a boating accident in the San Francisco Bay area". An obituary - noting that Lasota loved "adventure, friends and family, music, blueberries, biking, computer games and animals" - even appeared in an Alaska newspaper. But the story was wrong: Lasota was still alive. Jessica Taylor, an artificial intelligence researcher who says she knew several of the group members, told the Associated Press that Lasota and the Zizians stretched their rationalist beliefs to justify breaking laws. "Stuff like thinking it's reasonable to avoid paying rent and defend oneself from being evicted," Taylor said. Poulomi Saha, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies cults, says that while there is no strict legal definition of such a group, several of the Zizians' attributes align with the popular cultural conception of the term. "This is a group of individuals that seem to share some unorthodox viewpoints," she said. "That in and of itself wouldn't open up them up to the cult label… but then there is this leadership figure 'Ziz.'" Saha noted, however, that there is still significant uncertainty about the relationships between group members and about what may have motivated alleged acts of violence in recent years. Not long after the obituary was published, Lasota resurfaced along with other members of the group in Vallejo, California, which is north of San Francisco. Several members were living in vans and trucks on land owned by a man named Curtis Lind. At some point the Zizians allegedly stopped paying rent, and Lind sued to evict them. But the dispute escalated and in November 2022, Lind was attacked, stabbed 50 times and blinded in one eye. In an act of what police would later say is self-defence, he fired a gun, which killed Emma Borhanian, a former Google employee who was one of the Zizians and who had previously been arrested at the rationalist protest. Two other members, Suri Dao and Somni Logencia, were arrested and charged with attempting to murder Lind. They remain in prison awaiting trial. Lasota was also at the scene of the attack, but was not charged with a crime. The following month, two parents of a Zizian member were killed in a small Pennsylvania town. Richard Zajko, 71, and his wife, Rita, 69, were found shot in the head in their home. The Zajkos were the parents of Zizian member Michelle Zajko, who was briefly held by police but not charged with a crime. Lasota was arrested and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident. Despite the links to those two attacks, the group mostly flew under the radar without receiving much wider public attention until earlier this year. On 17 January, Lind, the California landlord who had allegedly been attacked by members of the group, was killed. Vallejo Police Department say he was stabbed to death by an assailant wearing a mask and black beanie. Police later charged Maximilian Snyder with murder, and alleged that Snyder killed Lind in order to stop him from testifying during the attempted murder trial. That was followed just a few days later by the killing of a US border patrol agent on the other side of the country. Two Zizians, Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt, were pulled over by US Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in Vermont. A firefight ensured. Bauckholt, a German citizen who also went by the name Ophelia, was killed in the shootout along with Maland. Youngblut - who was previously known as Milo - was wounded and later arrested on firearms charges. The shooting led to a wider hunt for members of the group after police said the gun used to kill Maland was bought by Michelle Zajko. After the Vermont shootout, police in Pennsylvania said they had uncovered new evidence about the shooting of Zajko's parents, and Lasota was wanted for failing to appear at several court hearings. The whereabouts of the pair were unknown until Sunday, when they were arrested with fellow group member Daniel Blank in Maryland. A police report said a resident of Frostburg, about 160 miles (260km) north-west of Washington DC, had called police saying he wanted three "suspicious" people off his property after they asked to camp on his land for a month. Maryland State Police said that the trio were charged with trespassing and obstruction, and that Lasota and Zajko were additionally charged with weapons violations. All three were denied bail. A lawyer for Lasota, Daniel McGarrigle, declined to comment on the arrest but instead sent the BBC a statement he had previously issued about his client, saying: "I urge members of the press and the public to refrain from speculation and premature conclusions."
BBC News
21-02-2025
- BBC News
Who are the Zizians? What we know about vegan 'cult' linked to six killings
A cult-like group known as Zizians has been linked to a string of murders, sparking several arrests – who are the people behind this group and what do they believe?Jack Lasota, 34, who allegedly leads a group of a few dozen followers known as Zizians, was arrested on Sunday alongside Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, on a number of charges including trespassing and say that they are investigating at least six killings across the United States that are allegedly connected to members of the group, including a double homicide in Pennsylvania, a knife attack in California, and the shooting of a US border guard in other alleged members of the group have already been charged with murder. The origins of the group Lasota, a transgender woman, is allegedly the leader of the earned a degree in computer science from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 2013 and, according to her blog, moved to the San Francisco area three years she wrote that she applied for a series of jobs at tech companies and startups - including a brief internship with Nasa - and began to associate with people involved in the rationalist movement, an intellectual trend popular in Silicon Valley that emphasises the power of the human mind to see clear truth, eliminate bias and bad thinking, and improve individuals and began blogging using the alias "Ziz", but soon fell out with mainstream rationalists as her writings spun off in bizarre blog included posts of thousands of words, blending Lasota's personal experiences, theories about technology and philosophy, and esoteric comments about pop culture, computer coding and dozens of other one point, during a long diatribe about the TV series The Office, artificial intelligence and other subjects, she wrote: "I realized that I was no longer able to stand people. Not even rationalists anymore. And I would live the rest of my life completely alone, hiding my reaction to anyone it was useful to interact with. I had given up my ability to see beauty so I could see evil."Other themes included veganism – total avoidance of any animal food or products – and 2019 Lasota and three others were arrested while holding a protest outside of an event held by a rationalist organisation. The last posts on her blog date from around this time. False obituary Over the next few years, Lasota and others would move around the US, according to reports, at one point living on a boat, and later staying on property owned by others in California and North 2022, a warrant was issued when Lasota failed to show up for a court hearing, related to the protest outside the rationalist organisation meeting. But her lawyer at the time stated she was "now deceased after a boating accident in the San Francisco Bay area".An obituary - noting that Lasota loved "adventure, friends and family, music, blueberries, biking, computer games and animals" - even appeared in an Alaska the story was wrong: Lasota was still Taylor, an artificial intelligence researcher who says she knew several of the group members, told the Associated Press that Lasota and the Zizians stretched their rationalist beliefs to justify breaking laws."Stuff like thinking it's reasonable to avoid paying rent and defend oneself from being evicted," Taylor Saha, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies cults, says that while there is no strict legal definition of such a group, several of the Zizians' attributes align with the popular cultural conception of the term."This is a group of individuals that seem to share some unorthodox viewpoints," she said. "That in and of itself wouldn't open up them up to the cult label… but then there is this leadership figure 'Ziz.'"Saha noted, however, that there is still significant uncertainty about the relationships between group members and about what may have motivated alleged acts of violence in recent years. Escalating violence Not long after the obituary was published, Lasota resurfaced along with other members of the group in Vallejo, California, which is north of San Francisco. Several members were living in vans and trucks on land owned by a man named Curtis some point the Zizians allegedly stopped paying rent, and Lind sued to evict the dispute escalated and in November 2022, Lind was attacked, stabbed 50 times and blinded in one eye. In an act of what police would later say is self-defence, he fired a gun, which killed Emma Borhanian, a former Google employee who was one of the Zizians and who had previously been arrested at the rationalist other members, Suri Dao and Somni Logencia, were arrested and charged with attempting to murder Lind. They remain in prison awaiting trial. Lasota was also at the scene of the attack, but was not charged with a crime. The following month, two parents of a Zizian member were killed in a small Pennsylvania Zajko, 71, and his wife, Rita, 69, were found shot in the head in their home. The Zajkos were the parents of Zizian member Michelle Zajko, who was briefly held by police but not charged with a crime. Lasota was arrested and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident. The hunt continues Despite the links to those two attacks, the group mostly flew under the radar without receiving much wider public attention until earlier this year. On 17 January, Lind, the California landlord who had allegedly been attacked by members of the group, was killed. Vallejo Police Department say he was stabbed to death by an assailant wearing a mask and black later charged Maximilian Snyder with murder, and alleged that Snyder killed Lind in order to stop him from testifying during the attempted murder was followed just a few days later by the killing of a US border patrol agent on the other side of the Zizians, Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt, were pulled over by US Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in Vermont.A firefight ensured. Bauckholt, a German citizen who also went by the name Ophelia, was killed in the shootout along with - who was previously known as Milo - was wounded and later arrested on firearms shooting led to a wider hunt for members of the group after police said the gun used to kill Maland was bought by Michelle Zajko. Fugitives captured After the Vermont shootout, police in Pennsylvania said they had uncovered new evidence about the shooting of Zajko's parents, and Lasota was wanted for failing to appear at several court whereabouts of the pair were unknown until Sunday, when they were arrested with fellow group member Daniel Blank in Maryland.A police report said a resident of Frostburg, about 160 miles (260km) north-west of Washington DC, had called police saying he wanted three "suspicious" people off his property after they asked to camp on his land for a State Police said that the trio were charged with trespassing and obstruction, and that Lasota and Zajko were additionally charged with weapons violations. All three were denied bail.A lawyer for Lasota, Daniel McGarrigle, declined to comment on the arrest but instead sent the BBC a statement he had previously issued about his client, saying: "I urge members of the press and the public to refrain from speculation and premature conclusions."
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
Arrests shed new light on ‘Zizian' group tied to multiple homicides, including Minnesotan
A homicide suspect and two other people sought in connection with multiple deaths, including a Vermont U.S. Border Patrol agent from Minnesota, were caught after parking at the end of a remote dirt road in Maryland and asked the property owner if they could live there, court records show. Maryland police on Monday afternoon arrested Jack "Ziz" Lasota, 34, Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, in a rural area after the property owner called police to report the black-clad suspects on his land. They were collectively armed with a rifle and two handguns, including a loaded pistol tucked into Zajko's waistband, police said. "All of the subjects involved are to be questioned regarding other crimes that have occurred across the country," Master Trooper Brandon Jeffries wrote in an arrest affidavit for the three. 'It caught up to him': St. Cloud homicide ends aspiring rapper's search for a new life Court records and interviews indicate Lasota is the ideological leader of a small group of highly educated computer experts and vegans who called themselves "Zizians," lived in box trucks in California and North Carolina and are connected to at least six deaths nationally. Some of the group members are transgender. The FBI is investigating but has declined to reveal details, and one expert said the group has some hallmarks of a religious cult, with Lasota as a charismatic leader who has inspired seemingly disconnected actions. "They're not all necessarily all connected in one overarching plan. It's not necessarily like a Manson Family-type of plan," said Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow and policy adviser at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism. "When you look at his writings, it's all about the mind and consciousness. He doesn't really seem interested in left-wing political issues the way most people would understand it." Blank is a suspect in the late 2022 shooting deaths of Zajko's parents in Pennsylvania, and authorities say Lasota and Zajko are being investigated in connection with other multiple deaths nationally, including the Jan. 20 shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont. 'The guy died here': Slaying rattles neighborhood, raises fears about safety in St. Cloud Authorities said Zajko may have supplied the guns used in the shootout that ended with the death of Border Patrol agent David Maland and a German national, Ophelia Bauckholt. Arrested in that shooting was Teresa Youngblut, who is jailed and faces charges of using a deadly weapon. Maland, who grew up in Blue Earth, Minnesota was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. A man that Youngblut last year got a license to marry, Max Snyder, is jailed in California on charges that he ambushed and fatally stabbed a landlord who had at one time allowed Lasota and other group members to park their trucks on his property. That landlord killed another member of the group in self defense after they attacked him over a planned eviction, according to court records. LSD, veganism, high-IQ suspects: Probe of six murders takes feds into strange territory "These people are educated, good at math. They had this very moral lifestyle, believed reasonable things, and then to just to go off and join a murder gang is just so weird," said Jessica Taylor, 32, a California-based AI safety researcher who briefly dated Bauckholt and knew several other members of the group. Court records obtained by USA TODAY show Pennsylvania State Police interviewed Zajko in Vermont in early 2023 after the deaths of her parents, and found her in possession of a legally purchased 9 mm handgun. They did not detain Zajko at that time, but later that month discovered that Zajko's parents had been shot at close range with a 9 mm pistol and bullets, and that forensics testing indicated the gun Zajko owned could have fired the fatal shots. Vermont police then returned to search Zajko's home but found only three 9 mm cartridges but no gun. In January 2023, Zajko was questioned by Pennsylvania State Police about the deaths of her parents, but her disappeared before being arrested, leaving behind her car and $40,000 in cash, according to court records. The ATF is now seeking federal firearms charges against her. In the Monday arrest affidavit, Maryland State Police said they found Zajko, Lasota and Blank parked down a dirt road in two trucks with temporary registration plates. Ordered to come out, Blank surrendered quickly, but after "crying, saying not to kill her," Zajko refused to be handcuffed until officers dropped her to the ground, where they discovered a loaded handgun in her waistband. All three refused to provide identification or sign arrest paperwork and were identified only after their pictures were shown to an FBI agent, police said. St. Cloud Times Editor Alice Mannette contributed to this story. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Details emerge in 'Zizian cult' killings of Minn. border agent, others
USA Today
19-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Who are the Zizians, the cult-like group under FBI investigation?
The arrests of three people in Maryland has helped shed new light on a series of connected deaths across the country that experts say are tied to a group called the "Zizians." Named after their purported leader, Jack "Ziz" Lasota, 34, the group is connected to at least six deaths nationwide, according to police, interviews with people who know group members, the FBI and court records. Lasota was one of three armed people arrested Monday after trespassing in a rural area and then asking a landowner if they could live there in two box trucks. Lasota and one of the other people arrested Monday have been on the run for months, according to police. The unfolding details have drawn international attention and flashy headlines as authorities, court records and interviews have revealed a tangled web of relationships and shocking violence linked to a small group of highly educated vegan computer experts. "They're not all necessarily all connected in one overarching plan. It's not necessarily like a Manson Family type of plan," said Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow and policy adviser at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism. "When you look at his writings, it's all about the mind and consciousness. He doesn't really seem interested in left-wing political issues the way most people would understand it." USA TODAY consulted several extremism experts, interviewed a person who knew several members of the group, and examined dozens of court filings from Vermont to Pennsylvania and California to understand the bigger picture. Who are the 'Zizians?' Experts and people who know them say the group is led by Lasota, who in online postings discussed the nature of consciousness and rational decision making. Many of the group members are vegan, and either have degrees in computer science or have studied related fields. Some members of the group are transgender, or have rejected binary sexuality. The group at one time was based in the San Francisco area, living in box trucks on a landlord's property. Members also appear to have lived in North Carolina and Vermont. Citing Lasota's online postings, Pitcavage said the group has elements of a religious cult. Britain's Daily Mail newspaper referred to Lasota as the "'Tech genius' leader of vegan trans cult." And the New York Post called the group a "radical leftist trans militant cult." Why were some Zizians arrested? Group members are charged with violent offenses in multiple states, at both the state and federal level. Authorities have not yet indicated any cohesive motive for the offenses, and experts consulted by USA TODAY said the online nature of the connections between the Zizians may make it hard to link the crimes definitively. Among those charged: ∎ Michelle Zajko, 32, who was arrested with a handgun alongside Lasota and another man in Maryland on Monday. Zajko faces state charges of trespassing, resisting or interfering with an arrest, obstruction and carrying a handgun. ATF agents are also pursuing federal charges against Zajko over allegations that she lied on purchasing paperwork for several guns bought in 2024 and which were later used by two other people in Vermont during a double-fatal shootout with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Zajko is also a "person of interest" in the Pennsylvania homicides of her parents in late 2022, according to court filings. ∎ Daniel Blank, 26, who faces Maryland charges of trespassing, obstruction and hindering in connection with his Monday arrest. He is also a suspect in the deaths of Zajko's parents, who were killed near where he grew up, Maryland court records show. Blank was reported missing in 2022, according to Pennsylvania State Police. ∎ Lasota faces Maryland charges of trespassing, obstruction and possession of a handgun in a vehicle. Court records in Vermont have also referred to him as a "person of interest" in the deaths of Zajko's parents. Lasota ‒ who may use female pronouns but is currently jailed as a man ‒ appeared to have faked his own death in April 2022, according to an obituary in his hometown Alaska newspaper. ∎ Teresa Youngblut, 21, accused by federal prosecutors of shooting at U.S. Border Patrol agent David Maland on Jan. 20 near the Canadian border in northern Vermont. Maland was killed in the exchange, as was a German national Youngblut was traveling with, Ophelia Bauckholt. Federal court filings indicate Zajko bought the guns Youngblut and Bauckholt were carrying. Youngblut is in federal custody. ∎ Max Snyder, 22, who late last year got a marriage license to wed Youngblut in Seattle, Washington, where they grew up. Snyder is accused by Solano County, Calif. prosecutors of ambushing and fatally stabbing a landlord who in December 2022 tried to evict Lasota and other group members from his Vallejo, Calif., property. The landlord shot two of the group members, killing one, in an incident ruled self defense by prosecutors. What motivates the Zizian group? Is it a cult? Many of the group members come from middle-class families and have studied computer science or related fields, according to Jessica Taylor, a California-based AI safety researcher who knew group members socially. Taylor briefly dated Bauckholt, the German national, who she said had worked for a Wall Street trading firm around 2022, specializing in using AI to enhance trading strategies. Pitcavage, the extremism expert, said online postings attributed to Lasota indicate an obsession with the mind, rational thinking and consciousness. Lasota and several other group members were arrested in 2019 while protesting a rationalist group meeting. Rationalists believe in using logic to make decisions and create rules, as opposed to historical precedent or emotion. "There's significant evidence that Jack Lasota is the person who is the idea engine for these people," said Pitcavage. The Maryland state public defender's office, which is representing Lasota, Blank and Zajko in the Maryland arrests, declined to comment Friday. Taylor said she worried that the group had become a "death cult" or a "murder gang" over their adherence to a moral code at odds with mainstream laws and behavior, including strict veganism and the belief that landlords are inherently corrupt. "You're talking about being willing to kill people who they think are bad," said Taylor, adding that she lost touch with Bauckholt in 2023. Poulomi Saha, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies the behavior of groups that mainstream Americans would consider cults, said groups like the Zizians are hard for many to understand. She said members "live" online, making it hard for the public or even law enforcement to track their shift from talk to action. She said it's not clear the Zizians are a cult, but acknowledged many people might consider them one. "The internet culture and the absolute immersion that's possible there means there are forms of connection that only appear only after the fact," said Saha, who has been following the cases. "We are kind of grasping for a story that makes sense of it … People on the outside can never fully know what's happening on the inside." As with similar groups, Saha said, she suspects the Zizians fell under the sway of a charismatic leader who persuaded followers to do things they ordinarily wouldn't do. In participating in those extreme acts, Saha said, people fall victim to a group psychology that both permits and encourages more extreme behavior. "The kind of violence of the accused crimes is really quite startling," she said. Is there an overall federal case against the Zizians? Although court records are replete with references to an ongoing FBI investigation, the FBI has so far declined to comment substantively on the Zizian group. Experts consulted by USA TODAY say this is the kind of case the FBI specializes in, because the incidents cross state lines, involve potentially illegally purchased firearms and included the death of a federal law enforcement officer.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Yahoo
Police Arrest Members of ‘Cult-Like' Group Tied to Murders Across U.S.
Authorities have arrested the 'apparent leader' of a 'cult-like group' known as the Zizians along with two accomplices, Maryland state police officials reported (via The Associated Press). Jack Lasota, 34; Michelle Zajko, 33; and Daniel Blank, 26, were arrested on Feb. 16 on a slew of charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering justice, and possession of a handgun. Lasota is believed to be the leader of the Zizians, described as a 'cult-like group' which is believed to be responsible for at least six homicides across the United States. The Zizians are tied to five separate murders in California, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. They are also suspected of killing David Maland, a U.S. Border Control agent, in a shootout during a routine traffic stop last month in Coventry, Vermont, a town roughly 20 miles from the Canadian began to piece together the group's involvement in the crimes after Maland's Jan. 20 murder. Although authorities have been tight-lipped regarding the interstate investigation, a separate inquiry led by The Associated Press found that the Zizians appear to be 'a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s' who 'met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.' 'Their goals aren't clear,' the outlet found, 'but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.' Lasota, who uses she/her pronouns, is thought to be the group's leader. Zajko and Blank's roles are unclear at this time, but they're alleged to have worked closely with the center of the organization is an enigmatic figure known as 'Ziz.' According to AP, Ziz has been seen by witnesses at multiple crime scenes and has connections to multiple suspects in the case. The outlet found that Lasota had published a series of blogs under that name, including violent fantasies and theories about the brain and gender. Police moved in after the trio arrived at the home of a man they did not know and requested to camp on the property for several weeks. The property owner asked the 'suspicious' group to leave, KRON 4 reported, and phoned police when they didn't. Officers arrived to find the suspects dressed in black and wearing gun belts holding live ammunition. They also recovered a rifle and a handgun from the suspects' truck. Zajko, who initially resisted arrest, also had a handgun on her. A bond hearing was held for Lasota at 11 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The Guardian reported that she was ordered held without bail pending trial, with prosecutors citing that she could be a flight risk and posed a danger to public safety as she 'appears to be the leader of an extremist group.'
