ANDY NGO REPORTS: Fugitive 'trans terror' leader and two members of the 'Ziz' group arrested in Maryland

Three known members of a transgender leftist extremist "cult" linked to six violent deaths across the U.S. as well as a history of escapes were arrested in rural western Maryland on Feb. 16 after evading law enforcement and officials for years.

Group leader Jack Amadeus LaSota, 34, known by the alias "Ziz," was taken into custody by Maryland State Police, as was Michelle Jacqueline "Jamie" Zajko, 32, and Daniel Arthur "Hastur" Blank, 26. The three of them were wearing all black clothes.

They were found in a forested area in Frostburg, Md., a rural Appalachian region in the westernmost part of the state.

Lasota and Zajko were armed. They are facing charges of trespassing on private property, firearm offenses, and obstruction and hindering. Zajko is charged with resisting or interfering with an arrest, but none of them are accused of using their guns or assaulting state troopers.

Blank was charged with trespassing and obstructing. Blank, originally from northern California, has been missing since at least 2022 after joining the group. Pennsylvania State Police investigated his disappearance after he was seen with LaSota and Zajko in January 2023 in Delaware County during the course of a double homicide investigation of Zajko's parents.

LaSota is a biological male who identifies as a woman. Zajko is a biological female who identifies as trans nonbinary. Blank is a male and it is unknown if he identifies any other way. 

The trio was found in Frostburg after a property owner called the police. According to the statement of probable cause, the group asked him if they could camp on his land for a month. They drove two white box trucks with chains on the tires. The "Ziz" group believes in living off-the-grid in box trucks that function as mobile homes. According to the court filing, Zajko had a loaded Sig Sauer pistol on her waistband with a gun belt and ammo. A rifle and a second pistol were found in one of the box trucks. 

Blank was found in one of the box trucks. LaSota and Zajko were in another and initially refused to follow orders to come out.

The suspects refused to identify themselves to law enforcement but were later identified with internal FBI photos. Members of the group have a history of providing law enforcement and the courts with false identities and having their surrogates tell the courts they died in an effort to get cases closed. Zajko refused to cooperate in the arrest and had to be taken down to the ground in order to be handcuffed, according to the criminal complaint. 

"The suspect [Zajko] was taken down to the ground by a controlled takedown and after the suspect was in the ground she resisted arrest again by failing to give her hands behind her back," a State Trooper wrote.

At least one of the box trucks had a North Carolina license plate. The Post Millennial can exclusively report that LaSota, Zajko and fellow members Felix "Ophelia" Bauckholt and Teresa "Milo" Youngblut—two militants allegedly involved in the deadly shootout with the U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont last month—lived together in Airbnb units in Chatham County, N.C. A person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity said LaSota, Zajko and Bauckholt moved in together in mid-2023, while Youngblut joined them later, in November 2024.

The FBI raided the units earlier this month.

Elizabeth Shoemake, the director of operations at the Allegany County Detention Center in Maryland, said the suspects were arrested for suspicious "on-site activity," not based on warrants. LaSota has warrants for his arrest in California and Pennsylvania. In 2023, LaSota bonded out of custody in Delaware County after a judge lowered his bail from $500,000 to $10,000 following his arrest during a double homicide investigation.

"The Maryland State Police is working in coordination with our federal law enforcement partners and the Office of the State's Attorney in Allegany County as this investigation continues," a spokesperson said in a press statement.

Little has been confirmed about the nature of how the suspects were finally located but the trespass charges and arrest location on Piney Mountain Road suggest the trio were hiding out in a forest that happened to be on private property.

Zajko was named as a person of possible interest by ATF authorities on Jan. 21, the day after the deadly shootout between two members of the group and a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Coventry, Vt.

Teresa Youngblut's 2022 Lakeside School graduation photo

Felix 'Ophelia' Bauckholt

Youngblut's husband, Maximilian Bentley Snyder, another alleged "Zizian" group member, was charged last month in the California Bay Area for the murder of 82-year-old Curtis Lind, a state witness and survivor who was set to testify at trial against two other members of the group. Alexander Leatham and "Suri Dao," were charged with murder and attempted murder in 2022 in Solano County and have trials scheduled for early April. Fellow member and assailant Amir Dayyan "Emma" Borhanian was shot dead by Lind in the brutal sword attack. There are no other known witnesses to the incident beyond Lind. Both Leatham and his co-defendant tried escaping from custody.

Alexander Leatham Sonoma County Sheriff's Office booking photo from 2019

Suspect 'Suri Dao' has been charged under her alias in Solano County, Calif.

Amir Dayan 'Emma' Borhanian died in the course of carrying out an attack in November 2022


Zajko remains under investigation in the double murder of her parents, who were killed on New Year's Eve in 2022 in Delaware County, Pa. Rita and Richard Zajko's bodies were found shot execution-style. Soon after, her grandmother died and Michelle was the sole inheritor of her family's numerous assets.

Zajko is a Temple University alumna who was once a children's book illustrator and a neurobehavioral researcher at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Michelle Zajko was photographed again after pretending to be dead in the first photo. Photo: Allegany County Sheriff's Office

LaSota, the mysterious "genius" leader of the group who formerly worked for NASA, has repeatedly escaped from authorities until his third arrest on Sunday. He is originally from Fairbanks, Alaska. In 2022, his counsel and family told the court in Solano County, Calif. that he died in a boating accident.

Jack 'Ziz' LaSota pretended to be dead when he was arrested in Delaware County, Pa. in 2023

Writing under the alias "Ziz," he espoused beliefs about radical anarchist politics, rationalism, transgenderism and transhumanism—the belief that science and technology can be used to transcend from the constraints of human biology itself. LaSota's blog writings attracted highly educated and intelligent transgender individuals from across the U.S. and abroad. They were radicalized into living on his communes and cutting off family ties.

"The FBI is currently coordinating with our partners from Maryland State Police following the arrest of three individuals on state charges in Allegany County, Maryland," the FBI told TPM in a statement. "The FBI's investigation into the assault on U.S. Border Patrol Agent Maland remains active, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to follow every lead and investigate anyone with potential connections to our subject."

The three who were arrested in Maryland have their first court hearing scheduled on Feb. 18 at the Allegany County District Court.

Update Feb. 18, 2025: LaSota, Zajko and Blank were all denied bail at their first hearing. "I shouldn't be here, I haven't done anything wrong," LaSota said via remote appearance. Zajko had an outburst at one point after being misgendered by her public defender. "I'm not a man, I'm not a man," she said. (Zajko identifies as nonbinary.) Prosecutor James Elliott alleged that Zajko bought four documented firearms in Vermont, and one of them is unaccounted for. Two were used in the Vermont shootout on Jan. 20 by Bauckholt and Youngblut, and one was recovered when Zajko was arrested. Their next court date is scheduled for March 24 at 1 p.m.

Andy Ngo is a senior editor at the Post Millennial and author of the New York Times bestseller "Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy."