Northeast
Zizian leader Jack LaSota: Who is transgender, vegan cult head linked to border agent killing?
The apparent leader of a bizarre vegan transgender cult, the Zizians, has been linked to six killings across the country, including the murder of a Border Patrol agent.
Jack “Ziz” Lasota, 34, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zajko, 33, and Daniel Blank, 26, Maryland State Police said Monday. They face multiple charges, including trespassing, obstructing and hindering, and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.
LaSota was ordered held without bail on Tuesday at Allegany District Court in Cumberland, with prosecutors citing concerns that he was a flight risk and a danger to public safety.
Prosecutors said LaSota “appears to be the leader of an extremist group known as ‘Zizians’ that has been linked to multiple killings.”
MANHUNT TIED TO ‘ANARCHIST’ VEGAN CULT IN BORDER PATROL AGENT KILLING: REPORT
Jack LaSota refused to speak and kept his eyes closed for his booking photo after being detained in a hotel in suburban Pennsylvania on Jan. 23, 2023. (Delaware County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office via AP/File)
The fringe group was brought into the limelight after followers were tied to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January.
LaSota’s run-ins with law enforcement go back to at least 2022. Originally from Alaska, LaSota appeared to pen extremist ideologies in a since-archived blog titled “Sinceriously.” LaSota also identified as transgender and used female pronouns, the Associated Press reported.
In a February 2019 post titled “Punching Evil,” LaSota is believed to have written that there would be “no moral obligation not to perform self-defense” if “the state has been seized by vampires.”
In a Nov. 19 post titled “Good Group and Pasek’s Doom,” LaSota wrote that each hemisphere can have separate values and even genders and that they “often desire to kill each other.”
“Reaching peace between hemispheres with conflicting interests is a tricky process of repeatedly reconstructing frames of game theory and decision theory in light of realizations of them having been strategically damaged by your headmate,” LaSota wrote.
LaSota also described being allegedly targeted by police for wearing Sith-inspired garb. Throughout the blog, LaSota regularly mentions enchantment with the Star Wars franchise.
“Sometimes cops harass me for wearing my religious attire as a Sith,” LaSota wrote. “(As a Sith, I’m religiously required to do whatever I want, and for now that so happens to include wearing black robes).”
In September 2022, a brief obituary was published in LaSota’s hometown paper, the Daily News-Miner, in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Legacy.com)
Staged death
In September 2022, a brief obituary was published in LaSota’s hometown paper, the Daily News-Miner, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The obituary said LaSota was killed in a “boating accident” on Aug. 19, 2022.
“Loving adventure, friends and family, music, blueberries, biking, computer games and animals, you are missed,” the obituary reads.
VERMONT BORDER PATROL AGENT ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY GERMAN NATIONAL WORKED IN PENTAGON DURING 9/11: FAMILY
However, LaSota’s death was short-lived when the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office informed LaSota’s attorney that LaSota had been found “alive and well” at a crime scene on Nov. 13, 2022, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
It was not immediately clear why LaSota faked his death, leading even his parents to believe he was dead. The mystery deepened after his name was connected to a criminal investigation in California in 2022.
Criminal investigation in Vallejo, California
LaSota’s death was contradicted after his name popped up in a squatting incident in Vallejo, California.
The incident unraveled when LaSota and other associates moved to a property in Vallejo belonging to an older California man, then-80-year-old Curt Lind.
“They were unhappy with living on the tug,” Lind told a documentary filmmaker, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “They decided that they wanted to move to my yard and buy moving vans, small moving vans, and change them into places where they could live in the moving van and nobody would know that they’re in there.”
During the November 2022 incident, Curt Lind was attacked with a samurai sword by members of the Zizian cult. (GoFundMe)
During the November 2022 incident, Lind was attacked with a samurai sword when the squatting dispute reached a boiling point.
“He had a samurai sword stuck to his back with about a foot of it sticking out in front, his face cut up all over,” Lind’s friend, Patrick McMillan, told FOX 2 San Francisco at the time of the incident.
“The truth is, they jumped him,” his son, Carl Lind, told the outlet.
Lind, despite the stabbing, still managed to shoot two of his alleged attackers, killing one of them, Emma Borhanian. Prosecutors concluded that the landlord acted in self-defense.
According to police reports, LaSota was handcuffed at gunpoint at the scene but was not charged.
Lind’s surviving the initial attack was short-lived, when, on Jan. 17, 2025, he was stabbed to death.
Maximilian Snyder, 22, another “Ziz” member, was arrested and charged with his murder, according to court records obtained by FOX 13 Seattle.
The outlet also reported that Snyder had applied for a marriage license with Teresa Youngblut, who is tied to the 2025 border agent killing.
Previous mugshot of Michelle Zajko (FBI)
Michelle Zajko, 32, was also charged with resisting arrest and carrying a handgun. (Allegany County Sheriff’s Office)
Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, arrest
Richard and Rita Zajko were found dead from homicide from gunshot wounds in their Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, home on New Year’s Eve.
Police launched an investigation into the murder and began looking at their daughter, Jamie Zajko, another follower of LaSota.
GERMAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IDENTIFIED IN DEADLY SHOOTING OF US BORDER PATROL AGENT IN VERMONT
Daniel Blank was allegedly involved in Richard and Rita Zajko’s 2023 murder. Blank and LaSota were charged with “obstructing administration of law” and “disorderly conduct.” (Allegany County Sheriff’s Office)
LaSota was brought into the conflict during a police investigation into the Zajko murders.
Daniel Blank, also a “Zizian,” and LaSota were found at a Pennsylvania hotel on Jan. 13, 2023. They were both arrested for “obstructing administration of law” and “disorderly conduct.”
LaSota was freed on bail in June 2023 and reportedly soon stopped showing up for court dates. LaSota was considered at large with an arrest warrant in Pennsylvania, where the case is still pending.
Vermont investigation
The Maryland State Police confirmed to Fox News Digital that LaSota, Zajko and another person were arrested Sunday afternoon on a number of charges unrelated to the murder of Maland in Vermont, near the border with Canada.
TRANSGENDER VEGAN ‘CULT’ MEMBERS ARRESTED
Police said that shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 16, LaSota was arrested and charged with trespassing, obstructing and hindering, and having a firearm in a vehicle in Frostburg, Maryland. Zajko was arrested on the same charges as well as resisting arrest and having a handgun.
Zajko allegedly bought .40-caliber and .380-caliber handguns in February 2024 in Mount Tabor, Vermont, that were used in Maland’s shooting, the Albany Times Union previously reported, citing court documents.
David Maland, a Minnesota native and Air Force veteran, worked as a Border Patrol agent at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Newport Station. He spent nine years in the military and 15 working for the federal government. (U.S. Border Patrol)
Maland, a Minnesota native and Air Force veteran, worked as a Border Patrol agent at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Newport Station. He spent nine years in the military and 15 working for the federal government.
It is unclear what brought members of the group to Vermont.
German national Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt and Youngblut exchanged gunfire with Maland near the Canada-Vermont border on Jan. 20 during a traffic stop. Bauckholt and Maland were killed. Youngblut was injured and faces criminal charges.
Teresa Youngblut, who is charged by the FBI in connection to the shooting death of Border Patrol Agent David Maland, is seen at the Newport City Inn on Jan. 14, 2025, in Newport, Vt. (Newport City Inn photograph via AP)
North Carolina FBI investigation
Following the shooting of Maland in January, the FBI Albany field office confirmed to Fox News Digital that they had conducted “court-authorized investigative activity in connection with an ongoing federal law enforcement investigation” in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Feb. 5.
Chapel Hill was previously linked to the Zizians after Bauckholt rented a property in the area. Youngblut and Bauckholt had been living in condos in North Carolina, and LaSota had also been living there as recently as this winter, according to a landlord spoke to The Associated Press, WTVD reported.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
What the Zizians believe
The “Zizians” were created by LaSota, who goes by the nickname “Ziz.”
The group exhibits cult behavior, according to Dar Dixon, an actor and the podcast host of “The Art of Being Dar,” who shared his cult expertise with Fox News Digital.
“The thing that I noticed about this ‘Zizian’ cult is that it hits all the major points that will set somebody up to be involved in it. You’ve got transgender human beings, all right? You’re dealing with sexuality. You’re dealing with sexual identity, and you’re dealing with sex. Anytime you do all those things, you’ve already got someone, as they say, by the tight and curlies,” he said.
“The second thing is they were on a restrictive diet. In this case, they were vegan,” he said. “So when you start to mix in the sexual aspect, then with a restrictive diet, now what you’re doing is behavior control.”
WATCH: Cult expert says ‘Zizian’ fringe group tied to killing of US border agent uses behavior control
Referencing cult expert Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control, Dixon discussed how cults emotionally control their members.
“I’m sure there was a lot of sleep deprivation going on also, which affects your thoughts, which affects your emotions, which also affects your behavior and your ability to take in and process information,” he said.
“This is part of the emotional control. You’re never allowed to feel your feelings or to discuss your feelings. If you don’t step in line with the party line, you’re immediately reprimanded, sometimes severely, either verbally or physically, or you’re shunned.”
“So the culmination of sexual identity, food restriction, sleep restriction and emotional restriction, well, now I’ve got you,” he said. “I own you. And I can take you any direction I want to take you now.”
Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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Eleven of the graduates will begin their residencies at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland.
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The preliminary injunction ordering SchoolCare to continue paying Dover educators’ health care claims may have implications for the 89 other school districts that paid SchoolCare’s special assessment, according to Anthony Carr of Shaheen and Gordon.
“This could be significant for those 89 other towns and districts,” said Carr, who is representing Superintendent Christine Boston in the lawsuit against SchoolCare.
SchoolCare threatened to stop paying claims on May 1 if Dover failed to pay a special assessment of $1.7 million above and beyond its normal monthly premium in order to cover the insurance risk pool’s losses. Dover refused to pay the special assessment, arguing that it was illegal.
Superior Court Judge John Curran, finding that school employees covered by SchoolCare could face “irreparable harm,” ordered SchoolCare to continue to pay “covered healthcare claims of Dover employees, spouses, dependents, and retirees.”
Curran also found that if the case went to trial, Dover would “likely succeed on the merits” of its case.
Whether the case will go to trial remains an open question, as the judge has not ruled on the claims of SchoolCare and the New Hampshire Secretary of State that the court is not the proper jurisdiction for Dover’s complaint.
“The court will duly consider the important jurisdictional question this case presents in ruling upon those pending motions to dismiss …,” Judge Curran wrote. “For the purposes of this motion, the court finds that the plaintiffs have a sufficient likelihood of establishing jurisdiction at this stage.”
Carr said the order for the preliminary injunction is “very helpful, very favorable.” However, the only “asterisk” is that there is a pending motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.
Favorable ruling hinges on pending jurisdictional argument
Both New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, through the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation and its counsel, which intervened, and SchoolCare, have filed motions to dismiss the case with jurisdictional arguments.
“The Bureau respectfully asks this Court to dismiss the District’s Complaint in its entirety because the claims contained therein fall under the Bureau’s exclusive jurisdiction and authority and are best submitted to the Bureau’s administrative enforcement mechanism,” according to court documents.
SchoolCare has argued the plaintiffs can’t show a “likelihood of success on the merits” as the matter needs to be brought before the secretary of state, not the Superior Court.
“Basically, SchoolCare and the Secretary of State are trying to argue that none of these claims brought by Dover, none of these claims brought by Dr. Boston, should be in any court in the state, and these are all issues that should be squarely and solely resolved by the Secretary of State. So that’s really the only lingering issue in that regard,” said Carr.
The lawyer said they’re “hopeful,” based on their comprehension of the law, that a “favorable ruling” will soon come out on the jurisdiction argument.
“Once the jurisdictional issue is resolved, it will be much more clear that the 89 towns and districts likely have causes of action, similar breach of contract actions against SchoolCare to recoup the funds that they were forced to pay under duress, and SchoolCare may not have had a lawful basis to request or receive those funds,” Carr said.
89 members who paid assessment could follow Dover’s lead
Carr explained what the preliminary injunction could mean to the other districts and towns.
“If the jurisdiction were to get resolved favorably, then what those 89 towns and districts would be able to do is piggyback this order, which although it’s directly granting a preliminary injunction, what it’s inherently doing as part of that is saying that we are likely to succeed on the merits of our claim. And one of those claims is the breach of contract claims. So, if we were to be successful on jurisdiction, those other 89 towns and districts would be pretty wise to say that they very well may have viable claims as well,” said Carr.
“This order recognizes that all 89 of those towns and districts may have legal rights to recoup those funds and redeploy them for the betterment of their communities and children, including going toward educational services and staffing. I hope that other towns and school districts will follow the lead of Dover and Dr. Boston and stand up to SchoolCare and demand what’s right,” Carr said in a press release.
He called the judge’s ruling a “huge win for Dover.”
He highlighted one of the immediate results being that district teachers and staff “don’t have to worry about coverage stopping in the middle of a policy period. That’s amazing. We heard stories about a kid who was scheduled to have heart surgery. I believe a staff member needed a kidney transplant. And so, the stakes are very high. And these are people, real humans in Dover, who were worried about how this might go,” said Carr.
“On the flip side, if Dover was forced to pay the ransom, we offered testimony that $1.7 million is the equivalent of about 16 and a half full-time salaries. And we’ve seen in other towns and districts, not just the budget being thrown into crisis, but again, real humans with families being laid off. So it both preserves the status quo for the health coverage for all the fantastic teachers and staff in Dover. And it also, at least for the time being, precludes great teachers and staff within Dover from being laid off,” Carr said.
“I would not want to be the 89th or the 88th town or district that pursues recourse. I think it’s important to act urgently,” said Carr. “I guess I’m on a bit of a personal mission to kind of see all these issues through and to make sure that SchoolCare does not benefit from its own improper conduct. So, we will see what the future holds, but I may very well be representing some of these towns and districts. I would say there’s really no need for any of the towns and districts to wait (for the jurisdictional issue),” said Carr.
Portsmouth agreed to pay assessment ‘under protest’
Trevor McCourt, Portsmouth’s deputy city attorney, said “the city of Portsmouth has not made payment on the $1.57 million assessment at this time. We’ve made arrangement to make that payment by July 15th of this year, and the City Council’s vote was specifically to authorize that payment under protest.”
McCourt said “the last act of the City Council was to agree to make that payment under protest. Certainly, I don’t know what the plan will be moving forward. We plan to make the payment. We continue to make our monthly payments.”
He said they’re “certainly encouraged” by the ruling out of the Strafford Superior Court, and that he personally has already commented “pretty publicly, I agree with the position that Dover is taking.”
What’s next for the case?
Carr said right now, they have “a laser focus on an order on the jurisdictional issue, just so we can make sure that we’ve got the green light to keep these claims in court where we feel like they belong.”
Carr said if they receive a favorable ruling on jurisdiction, they’re attention will be on prosecuting their case and going to trial if needed.
“One of the elements of getting a preliminary injunction is the court has to find a likelihood of succeeding on the merits, meaning that the court is not quite, but kind of pre-adjudicating whether our claims are going to win or not,” said Carr. “So, for the court to find at this early stage that we’ve met that threshold is a great indication, but it doesn’t necessarily mean game over. What it means game over for is that Dover does not have to pay the $1.7 million now. The case will proceed on a 12-month trial track after this, and whether it’s through a jury trial or through pre-trial briefing, we will be hopeful to get a result saying that we never have to pay the $1.7 million.”
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