The suspect in the death of Vermont U.S. Border Patrol agent David C. Maland pleaded not guilty Friday, the latest plot point in a story involving a bizarre AI-vegan-transgender cult linked to six killings across the U.S.
Teresa Youngblut, 21, appeared in the United States District Court of Vermont in Burlington on Friday for her arraignment on charges of using a deadly weapon to assault a law enforcement officer. A grand jury handed up indictments against Youngblut on Thursday. She is not yet charged with directly causing Maland’s death.
A reputed member of the Ziz cult, Youngblut’s alleged murder of Maland is just the latest violent incident in the story of the fringe sect with its belief in an AI monster bent on torturing all non-vegans.
Jack “Ziz” LaSota
Jack LaSota is a person of interest to investigators looking into multiple cases. Among them, the 2022 Delaware County, Pa. double-murder of Richard and Rita Zajko.
The Zajko’s daughter Michelle has been linked to the Ziz movement — as well as her parents’ murder.
Zajko, who identifies as “trans nonbinary.” has not been seen since the Jan. 20 shooting. Investigators have linked the guns recovered after Maland was killed to Zajko, saying she bought them in Vermont. Zajko also owns a small parcel of land in Vermont near the Canadian border.
According to reporting by VTDigger, a day after Maland’s shooting, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent an alert to firearms dealers seeking help “identifying any firearms purchases made by Michelle Jacqueline Zajko, a person of interest in the shooting of a Customs and Border Protection Officer on Jan. 20, 2025.”
“Ziz” LaSota, an Alaskan native who went to Silicon Valley to be part of the tech industry, became part of the online AI rationalist community, where young tech workers pontificated on complicated thought experiments and half-formed philosophy. Soon, he formed a community of like-minded vegans who would submit to his sleep deprivation techniques, use LSD, and who could be pushed into adopting or exploring transgender identities.
At the heart of LaSota’s faith is the belief in a coming basilisk, an AI super being that will punish everyone who did not work to create the being. It will also, he believes, punish all those who eat animals. Like the Manson Family trying to instigate a race war to bring about Helter Skelter, LaSota reportedly tried to push his group into further and further acts of violence.
At one point, LaSota faked his own death to avoid law enforcement. His whereabouts are still unknown.
Youngblut may have been married to Michael Snyder, a former high school classmate and fellow Zizian. The two have a marriage license, though it is not clear if they went through with the ceremony. Snyder is facing charges that he murdered an elderly Vallejo, Calif., man, Curtis Lind, weeks before Lind was set to testify against the group.
For a time, Zizians lived in storage containers set up on Lind’s property. When Lind tried to evict the group, three of them allegedly attacked him. Lind shot at them, killing one in self-defense and wounding another. Police later found a storage container outfitted with cutting tools and chemicals, theorizing the Zizians intended to dispose of Lind’s body after killing him.
Friday’s arraignment was brief, as United States Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle previously ruled Youngblut was too dangerous to be released and ordered her held without bail pending trial.
Maland was patrolling the CBP’s Swanton Sector, which includes all of New Hampshire’s northern border and has seen a surge in illegal crossings in recent years.
According to court documents and reports, he stopped Youngblut near the Canadian border on Jan. 20 while she was driving with fellow Zizian and German national Felix Bauckholt, a biological male who was living as “Ophelia.” During the quick interaction with Maland, Youngblut reportedly drew a .40 caliber handgun and started shooting. Maland returned fire and Bauckholt reportedly fumbled drawing his weapon. Bauckholt died at the scene. Maland died at a nearby hospital.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that LaSota is in custody. LaSota’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
