Maryland State Police said Monday that Jack Lasota, described in reporting as an apparent leader of the group known as the Zizians, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zajko of Media, Pennsylvania.
Lasota, 34, and Zajko, 33, face charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering, and possession of a handgun in a vehicle, according to police. A bail hearing was scheduled for Tuesday at Allegany District Court.
A group under a widening spotlight
The Zizians have been linked in reporting to the January killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border, as well as five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and California.
Maland, 44, was killed Jan. 20 during a shootout after a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, about 20 miles from the Canadian border.
Officials have released limited details about the broader investigation. The Associated Press reported that interviews, court records, and online postings portray a group of young computer scientists, many in their 20s and 30s, who met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.
Online writings and unclear aims
According to the Associated Press, the group’s goals remain unclear. Online writings associated with people in the network have touched on radical veganism, gender identity, artificial intelligence, and hostility toward some online rationalist communities.
Conservative journalist Andy Ngo has referred to the group as “Trantifa,” a term he coined as a play on “transgender” and “Antifa.” That label is Ngo’s characterization, not an official law-enforcement term cited in the source material.
Lasota has written online under the name “Ziz,” according to the Associated Press. In one cited section, Lasota described a theory that the brain’s two hemispheres could hold separate values and genders and “often desire to kill each other.”
The AP reported that Lasota used she/her pronouns and described herself in her writings as a transgender woman. The same reporting said she criticized perceived enemies, including online rationalist groups focused on cognition, reason, knowledge, and in some cases the risks of artificial intelligence.
Attorney declined comment on alleged links
Lasota had missed court appearances in two states before the Maryland arrest, and bench warrants had been issued, according to the source report.
Lasota’s attorney, Daniel McGarrigle, declined to comment to the Associated Press when asked whether Lasota was connected to any of the deaths. Reached Monday, he would only confirm that he had represented Lasota and would not confirm the arrest or discuss the latest case.
