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The man behind the Zizians — a violent AI-vegan-rationalist-transgender cult linked to six deaths — has been arrested in Maryland. 

Among the deaths involving members of the Zizian group is the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Vermont-Canada border.

Ziz, also known as Jack Amadeus LaSota, 33, was arrested last weekend in rural Allegany County, Md. after spending months on the run. Along with LaSota, police also arrested Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, both linked to the bizarre group.

Zajko, along with LaSota, is a person of interest in the double murder of her parents, Rita and Richard Zajko, in Pennsylvania. Zajko is also believed to have bought the guns Ziz cultists Teresa Youngblut and Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt used during last month’s shooting in Vermont.

Maland and Bauckholt both died as a result of the shooting. Youngblut is currently being held on federal charges connected to Maland’s death.

Daniel Blank

It isn’t clear what led to LaSota’s capture in Maryland. He’s charged with suspicion of trespassing on private property, obstruction, and gun possession. Both Blank and Zajko are charged with trespassing and obstruction, and Zajko is charged with having a gun on her person, according to reports. VTDigger reports police in Maryland were unaware of the cult and its connection to the other murders when they arrested LaSota, Blank, and Zajko.

All three are due in court Tuesday for their first appearance on the Maryland charges, though it’s likely other law enforcement agencies will be intervening now that LaSota has been captured. 

LaSota started the cult in the California Bay Area after years of struggling to break into the AI tech field. He attracted followers initially through his blog in which he wrote about artificial intelligence, rationalist philosophy, veganism, and transgenderism.

At one point, LaSota lived on a dilapidated tug boat where he brought his followers together and forced some into sleep deprivation techniques. A reported aim of the sleep deprivation was to unlock a subject’s transgender persona, according to multiple reports. 

The group started living in specially outfitted box trucks that contained hidden living areas, food, water, and power generators. The trucks enabled them to move undetected through urban environments, and were entered through hidden openings in the bottom of the truck, according to reports.

In August, 2022, while facing criminal charges in California, LaSota faked his own death. The ruse did not work long, as he was reported as having been seen alive by law enforcement in November 2022, according to court records. 

Michelle Zajko

LaSota spent months in a Pennsylvania jail in 2023 on charges of obstruction and disorderly conduct in connection to the investigation into the murders of Rita and Richard Zajko. LaSota, Zajko, and Blank were all questioned about the murders. LaSota was eventually released on bail after five months and soon disappeared along with Zajko and Blank. 

Zajko reportedly owned property in Vermont close to the Canadian border, and is believed to have supplied Youngblut and  Bauckholt with guns and ammunition. 

The area where the shootout occurred is part of the Border Patrol’s “Swanton Sector,” which also includes the New Hampshire-Canada border. Officials reported a massive surge in illegal crossings in the sector during the Biden presidency.

When the Biden administration cut federal funding for border security in the region, then-Gov. Chris Sununu created the Northern Border Alliance Task Force to provide resources to backstop federal efforts. Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s budget includes continued funding for the effort.

Zizian cultists are also charged in the killing of Vallejo, Calif., man Curtis Lind, 82. Lind was set to testify against cult members after they allegedly tried to kill him a year ago when Ziz cultist Maximillian Snyder stabbed him. Snyder went to high school with Youngblut and the two had a marriage license. 

The woman accused in the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David C. Maland near the Canadian border in Vermont appears to be part of a techno-rationalist cult founded by a biological male who identifies as a woman and goes by the name of Ziz. The group has been linked to at least three other murders.

Teresa “Milo” Consuelo Youngblut, 21, from Washington state, is being held without bail on federal charges connected to Maland’s Jan. 20 killing. Youngblut’s associate, German national Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt, was killed during the traffic stop that ended in gunfire.

United States Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle said Thursday the evidence against Youngblut appears strong enough to keep her in custody without bail, according to VTDigger.

Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Lasher relied on his previous court filing to make the case Youngblut is too dangerous to be released pending trial. According to Lasher, the connection to Ziz helps make her a danger.

“The defendant’s possession and use of a firearm, combined with her itineracy and associations, suggests she poses a current and substantial danger to the community that could not be addressed by a condition or a combination of conditions of pretrial release,” Lasher wrote.

Both Youngblut and Bauckholt have ties to Jack LaSota, AKA Ziz, a California man who espouses a violent philosophy based on veganism, techno-rationality, artificial intelligence, and transgenderism, according to court filings and media reports. LaSota’s small group of followers, known in the San Francisco area as Zizians, are connected to the murder of an elderly rancher and the murders of a Pennsylvania couple, parents of another Zizian.

“Reject morality. Never do the right thing because it’s the right thing. Never even think that concept or ask that question unless it’s to model what others will think,” LaSota reportedly wrote on a now-defunct blog.

LaSota reportedly faked his own death at least once, and is currently being held on charges connected to the Pennsylvania murders. Like most Zizians, LaSota identifies as a transgender woman. The teachings Ziz espouses encouraged followers to unlock different personas and genders within their minds, using sleep deprivation techniques. The followers are also pressured into cutting off family ties.

LaSota’s teaching reportedly became violent and militant over time, with anger directed at fellow members of the Bay Area tech community who did not adhere to veganism. In a blog since taken offline, Ziz wrote of bringing hell to non-vegan rationalists, and wrote that people should always escalate every conflict. 

Ziz first gained notoriety in 2019 when Zizians protested an event put on by CFAR, the Center For Applied Rational Thinking, a popular self-help non-profit for people in the tech industry. The Zizians alarmed attendees, who called the police.

On Jan. 17, Zizian Maximilian Snyder stabbed 82-year-old Curtis Lind to death in Vallejo, Calif. Lind had been a landlord for the Zizians before three of them allegedly tried to murder him in 2022. Lind survived the 2022 attack thanks to a firearm, killing one Zizian and wounding the two others. He was set to testify at the upcoming Zizian trial against the surviving attackers, Alexander Leatham and Suri Dao, when Snyder killed him.

Snyder went to high school with Teresa Younblut, and the two applied for a marriage license in November in Washington state, though there is no evidence they were married. 

Another Zizian, Michelle Zajko, who identifies as nonbinary, allegedly bought the guns Youngblut and Bauckholt had on them when Maland stopped their car on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vt. Zaijko is currently wanted as a person of interest in the 2023 Pennsylvania murder of her parents, Richard and Rita Zajko. 

Youngblut reportedly fired her handgun at Maland during the stop, while Bauckholt fumbled his pistol and was killed during the brief shootout. The couple had been under federal surveillance for a week in Newport, Vt. They reportedly wore black, tactical clothing and openly carried their guns when walking around town.

On Thursday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made a surprise trip to the Vermont border to speak with Border Patrol agents, though she did not make any public remarks during her visit.