The “Ziz Cult” is being blamed for a string of brutal murders and mayhem throughout the USA, together with the current deadly capturing of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont.
A nationwide manhunt is underway for Michelle Zajko, a trans, non-binary individual whom police imagine purchased the semiautomatic weapons utilized by two different trans people who shot and killed Border Patrol agent David Maland on Jan. 20 throughout a site visitors cease in Coventry, Vermont.
A number of of the associates are in custody for numerous violent crimes whereas alleged chief Jack “Ziz” LaSota, a vegan who additionally goes by the title Andrea Phelps, is at massive after faking his personal dying to flee prosecution.
Zajko, who’s related to the group in on-line posts, can be an individual of curiosity within the double homicide of her mother and father in 2023, and in reference to the slaying of Vallejo, California landowner Curtis Lind.
In all, the alleged cult is tied to a string of killings paying homage to the murders carried out by Charles Manson followers within the Nineteen Sixties however on this case, Mr. LaSota isn’t charged in any of the killings.
Some members of the Ziz group are charged with gravely injuring and later murdering Lind, who they attacked with a sword after he tried to evict them from squatting on his property.
Lind, 82, shot and killed one among his assailants in self-defense. He misplaced a watch within the assault and on Jan. 17, as he was poised to testify in opposition to his jailed assailants, he was stabbed to dying exterior his house. Police arrested Maximilian Bentley Snyder, who has connections to the Zizians, and charged him with Lind’s homicide.
In courtroom paperwork obtained by The Related Press, prosecutors mentioned Lind was “deliberately killed for the aim of stopping his testimony in a legal continuing.”
Whereas legislation enforcement made connections between most of the people, on-line social media influencer Andy Ngo, who has tracked Antifa and different delinquent teams, pieced collectively the assaults extra broadly and earlier this month helped tie the violence to Mr. LaSota and his associates.
Mr. Ngo, writing for The New York Publish, described Mr. LaSota’s group, generally known as the Zizians, as “extremely educated trans vegan ’rationalists’ who maintain fringe, esoteric ideological beliefs about transhumanism and animal rights.”
Mr. LaSota was on the scene of Lind’s first assault and was squatting on Lind’s property, however police let him go regardless that he had skipped a courtroom look on an unrelated cost.
Police and courtroom data present a sample of violence amongst members related to him.
Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt and College of Washington scholar Teresa “Milo” Consuelo Youngblut, two trans people, fired at Maland throughout a site visitors cease, killing him, in response to federal legislation enforcement.
Mr. Bauckholt, a German nationwide right here on an expired visa, was killed within the shootout with the Border Patrol brokers.
An FBI search of their Toyota Prius uncovered weapons, ammunition and tactical gear, together with a ballistic helmet, night-vision tools, and full-face respirators, in response to an affidavit.
Ms. Youngblut, who additionally makes use of the title “Milo,” faces two federal costs associated to assault with a lethal weapon. She’s additionally related to the dying of Mr. Lind.
Ms. Youngblut, 21 and Mr. Snyder, 22, who’s charged with murdering Lind, utilized for a wedding license in King County, Washington final Nov. 5, King County data present.
The duo at the moment are probably going through a long time or life in jail on the separate homicide costs. Mr. Snyder describes himself in his LinkedIn profile as a “passionate scholar, information scientist, and creator” who attended Oxford College, sang in his highschool choir and was a Nationwide Benefit Scholarship finalist.
Mr. LaSota’s whereabouts are unknown. He was arrested in 2019 whereas protesting after which barricading a workshop placed on by the Berkeley-based Middle for Utilized Rationality. His mom and associates declare he later died in a boating accident and produced an obituary.
The Coast Guard carried out a search however no physique was discovered. Police later made contact with Mr. LaSota on the scene of Lind’s first assault however he was not arrested or charged, and isn’t charged in any of the killings.
