Alleged leader of cultlike ‘Zizians’ arrested in US as group linked to killings
The apparent leader of a cult-like group linked to multiple killings has been arrested in the US.
Police said Jack LaSota – known as Ziz – was detained on Sunday in Maryland, and faces charges including trespass, possession of a handgun in a vehicle, and obstructing and loitering.
Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, were arrested on similar charges and all three are being held at a local jail.
“The Zizians” have been tied to the killing of US border patrol agent David Maland in January, as well as five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.
Border Patrol agent David Maland was shot dead last month. Pic: AP
Mr Maland, 44, died in a shootout following a traffic stop near the Canadian border in Vermont.
One of LaSota’s followers, German national Ophelia Bauckholt, was also killed in the incident when a woman she was with, Teresa Youngblut, allegedly opened fire.
LaSota, 34, who uses she/her pronouns and said online she is a transgender woman, is a computer programmer and appears to be the leader of the Zizians.
Michelle Zajko was also arrested. Pic: Allegany County Sheriff’s Office/AP
According to the Associated Press news agency, the group appears to be made up of highly intelligent computer scientists, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.
Their goals aren’t clear, but online writings cover topics from gender identity, radical veganism and artificial intelligence.
LaSota’s blog describes a theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could hold separate values and genders and “often desire to kill each other”.
Teresa Youngblut has been charged in connection with the shooting of David Maland. Pic: AP
One of the other killings the group has been linked to is the stabbing of an 82-year-old man in northern California last month.
Prosecutors believe it was to silence him ahead of trial over an alleged 2022 sword attack by disgruntled tenants, in which he lost an eye.
The man charged with the murder, Maximilian Snyder, is said to have a relationship with Teresa Youngblut – the alleged shooter in the death of the border patrol officer.
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In 2023, the parents of Michelle Zajko – the woman arrested alongside LaSota on Sunday – were also found shot dead in their Pennsylvania home.
LaSota was charged with obstructing the investigation and released on bail, and subject to an arrest warrant after failing to show up in court.
Zajko was also questioned over her parents’ killing, but was later released and hasn’t been charged.
A lawyer for LaSota, Daniel McGarrigle, declined to comment when asked whether if his client was connected to any of the deaths.
A bail hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Elon Musk says he has created a new political party – the America Party –
after asking his followers if he should do so in an online poll.
It follows his public falling out with Republican President Donald Trump.
On Friday, the billionaire had asked his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created.
On Saturday evening he wrote on the same platform: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.
“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
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Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk
The world’s richest man made the announcement just one day after President Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk had fiercely opposed.
Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.
From bromance to bust-up
The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).
But observers of the two men, both with huge wealth and reputations, wondered how long the bromance would last.
Donald Trump gave Musk a warm send-off in the Oval Office in May. Pic: Reuters
In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.
After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.
Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.
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