By Paul Bean
Jack “Ziz” LaSota, the alleged leader of the radical “Zizian” cult, has been federally indicted for the first time (6/18), with authorities connecting the group to a string of violent crimes, including the January 2025 killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Coventry, Vermont.
LaSota, who uses aliases such as Andrea Phelps, Julia LaSota, and Anne Grimes, was arrested in February 2025 in western Maryland with two associates, Michelle “Jamie” Zajko and Daniel Blank, following a manhunt targeting the group, described by federal officials as a “Trantifa” (transgender-Antifa) terror cell.
The Zizians, a group of young, highly educated computer scientists with radical vegan and transgender ideologies, gained national attention after a deadly shootout on January 20, 2025, near the Vermont-Canadian border.
During a traffic stop in Coventry, Zizian member Felix “Ophelia” Baukholt, a German national and transgender woman, and associate Teresa Youngblut engaged in a gunfight with U.S. Border Patrol agents.
The exchange left Border Patrol Agent David Maland dead and Baukholt fatally wounded. Youngblut, the driver, has pleaded not guilty to federal firearms charges. The incident occurred on President Trump’s Inauguration Day and garnered national attention for VDC and our coverage of the incident.
LaSota’s February arrest followed reports of suspicious activity in Frostburg, Maryland, where the trio was found camped on private land with two box trucks.
Authorities recovered a significant weapons cache, including a GM6 Lynx .50 caliber rifle, a black HS Produkt Hellcat 9x19mm handgun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
LaSota, who identifies as a transgender woman and uses she/her pronouns, faces federal charges alongside local Maryland counts for trespassing and firearm offenses.
The Zizians are also linked to other homicides, including the December 2022 execution-style killings of cult member Michelle Jaqueline Zajko’s parents in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and the November 2022 and January 2025 murders of California landlord Curtis Lind, who survived an earlier attack by Zizian members and was set to testify against them. Maximilian Snyder, another alleged Zizian, is charged in Curtis Lind’s stabbing death.
Three other Zizian members are currently detained in California in connection with two murders. Teresa Youngblut, a Seattle woman, is in custody in New Hampshire, facing charges related to the January killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in Coventry, Vermont.