US authorities have arrested Zizians cult leader Jack Lasota, a 34-year-old transgender woman, and Michelle Zajko (32) and Daniela Blanka (26).

The trio has been charged with trespassing and obstruction, and the group has been linked to at least six murders across the US, including a double homicide in Pennsylvania, a stabbing attack in California and the killing of a border agent in January. Four other suspected members have already been charged in the killings.

Lasota graduated from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks with a degree in computer science in 2013 and moved to the San Francisco area in 2016, where she became involved in the rationalist movement. Although she initially associated with intellectual circles that advocated eliminating prejudice and improving society through logical thinking, she soon clashed with rationalists due to her radical views.

On her blog under the pseudonym "Ziz," she wrote about technology, philosophy, pop culture, and anarchism. Among her posts, her thought stood out: "I realized that I can't stand people anymore. Not even rationalists. And I will live the rest of my life completely alone, hiding my reactions from everyone I find it useful to communicate with."

The cult also emphasized a preference for veganism, a complete abstinence from consuming animal products, the BBC reports.

Lasota was arrested in 2019 during a protest outside a rationalist rally, and her last blog post was published around that time. In 2022, an obituary appeared claiming she had died in a boating accident in San Francisco. But that story was false — Lasota continued to operate with the group.

The group wandered the US, living on a boat and in properties in California and North Carolina. At one point they settled in Vallejo, California, where they failed to pay rent to a man named Curtis Lind. The conflict escalated in November 2022, when Lind was stabbed 50 times and blinded in one eye. In self-defense, he shot and killed Emma Borhanian, a former Google employee and member of the Zizians.

After the confrontation with Lind, two members of the Zizians, Suri Dao and Somni Logencia, were charged with attempted murder. Lasota was present but was not charged. A month later, Michelle Zajko's parents were found dead in Pennsylvania, shot in the head. Police questioned Zajko, but she was not charged.

In early 2025, Curtis Lind was found dead after being attacked by a man wearing a mask and a black hat. Police later charged Maximilian Snyder, a member of the Zizians, with murder.

A few days after Lind's murder, U.S. Border Patrol agent David Maland was killed in Vermont during a vehicle stop involving Zizians members Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt. Bauckholt, a German national known as Ophelia, was killed in the shooting, while Youngblut was wounded and arrested.

Following the shooting, police found new evidence in the murder of Michel Zajko's parents and issued an arrest warrant for Lasota. The manhunt ended Sunday in Maryland, where Lasota, Zajko and Blanka were arrested for trespassing. Lasota and Zajko were also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Although the Zizians group was not publicly known until earlier this year, a series of violent incidents and arrests brought it to the attention of the public and authorities.

It is still not entirely clear what the group's motives are and how their beliefs led to the brutal crimes. Lasota's lawyer has called for restraint in speculation, and investigations into the killings are still ongoing.