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Associated Press

The apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians has been arrested in Maryland along with another member of the group, Maryland State Police said on Monday.
Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested on Sunday along with Michelle Zajko, 33, of Media, Pennsylvania. They face multiple charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering, and possession of a handgun in the vehicle.
A bail hearing for the two was scheduled for Tuesday at Allegany District Court.
The Zizians have been tied to the killing of US Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January and five other murders in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.
Maland, 44, was killed in a January 20 shoot-out after a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 32km (20 miles) from the Canadian border.
Officials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which began after the shooting death of Maland.
Associated Press interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.
Their goals were not clear, but online writings spanned topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.

At the middle of it all is “Ziz”, who appeared to be the leader of the strange group of members who called themselves “Zizians”. She has been seen near multiple crime scenes and has connections to various suspects.
LaSota published a dark and sometimes violent blog under the name Ziz and, in one section, described her theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could hold separate values and genders and “often desire to kill each other”.
LaSota, who used she/her pronouns, and in her writings said she was a transgender woman, railed against perceived enemies, including so-called rationalist groups, which operated mostly online and seek to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge. Some were concerned with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
LaSota, 34, did not respond to multiple Associated Press emails in recent weeks, and her lawyer Daniel McGarrigle declined to comment when asked whether she was connected to any of the deaths. Before her weekend arrest, she missed court appearances in two states, and bench warrants have been issued for her arrest.
On Monday, McGarrigle would only confirm that he has represented LaSota and would not confirm her arrest or any details of the latest case.


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Crime

Police arrest apparent leader of cultlike ‘Zizian’ group linked to multiple US killings

Jack LaSota, top left, and her alleged associates. Photo: AP

Jack LaSota after being detained in a hotel in suburban Pennsylvania in 2023. File photo: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office via AP

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Firefighters at the scene of the crash at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada on Monday. Photo: The Canadian Press via AP

A Delta CRJ-900LR aircraft. File photo: Shutterstock

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Black magic cult corpse rituals investigated in Thailand.

US teen kills female student then shoots himself at Nashville high school

A parent prays as she waits for her daughter at a reunification site following the shooting. Photo: AP

Police at the scene of the shooting. Photo: Metro Nashville Police Department via dpa

A school bus arrives at a unification site following the shooting. Photo: AP

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Luigi Mangione in court reading the federal complaint. Image: Elizabeth Williams via AP

Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. File photo: Business Wire via TNS

A protester outside the court. Photo: Reuters

News

World

United States & Canada

The Zizians have been tied to the killing of a US Border Patrol agent in January and five other murders in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California


The Zizians have been tied to the killing of a US Border Patrol agent in January and five other murders in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.


Gun violence in the US

United States