Ziz LaSota

The Zizians are an informal group of rationalists with anarchist and vegan beliefs who also believe the hemispheres of the brain can have conflicting interests and identities. They are allegedly involved in six violent deaths in the United States, three in 2022 and three in 2025. Federal prosecutors say the Zizians are associated with persons of interest in the murders of four people: David Maland in Vermont (a U.S. Border Patrol agent), Curtis Lind in California (a landlord), and Richard and Rita Zajko in Pennsylvania (the parents of one of the group members). In addition, Ophelia Bauckholt (a German citizen) and Emma Borhanian, both associates of the Zizians, were killed during altercations with Maland and Lind.

The term ''Zizians'' is derived from the name of Ziz LaSota, who is sometimes characterized as their leader. They themselves do not use this name or consider themselves to have a clearly identified leader, or even to be members of a group.

Beliefs

The Zizians, a small offshoot of the rationalist community, hold a distinctive ideology combining anarchism, veganism, and radical interpretations of rationalist and effective altruism (EA) principles. They identify as "vegan anarchotranshumanists", emphasizing animal rights and viewing meat consumption as a severe ethical violation, prioritizing the preservation of all sentient life against threats like artificial intelligence (AI). Their beliefs are rooted in an extreme interpretation of timeless decision theory, which they see as requiring resolute opposition to perceived moral wrongs, such as blackmail or societal norms, leading to conflicts with organizations like the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) and the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) over alleged ethical failings, including misuse of donor funds and anti-trans discrimination.

The Zizians have unique psychological theories, such as "debucketing", aimed at liberating people from societal constraints to pursue their moral ideals, and the notion that the hemispheres of the brain can have distinct genders and conflicting interests. They practice unihemispheric sleep (UHS), a form of sleep deprivation intended to "jailbreak" the mind, which they believe can enhance their commitment to their cause. In 2018, a member committed suicide, which an anonymous rationalist alleged was caused by that member practicing UHS. LaSota later wrote a blog post claiming the member did not perform the practice correctly. In a discussion with CFAR co-founder Anna Salamon, LaSota argued in favor of UHS, pointing to the suicide as proof of its effectiveness. The Zizians' adherence to "heroic responsibility" and fixation on apocalyptic scenarios, such as Roko’s basilisk, drives extreme actions to uphold their moral framework, which they believe mainstream rationalists lack.

The group has been called radical or cult-like by publications such as ''The Independent'', the Associated Press, and '' SFGate''.

Murders with alleged Zizian involvement

Curtis Lind

After struggling with the upkeep of a tugboat they had been living on, which they eventually abandoned, some members of the Zizians opted to move into trailers and converted box trucks. Curtis Lind, who docked a boat in the same harbor as the group, offered to let them move into a lot he owned in Vallejo, California. During the COVID-19 pandemic, group members allegedly stopped paying rent and placed locks on trailers meant for other tenants. When Lind sued the group for back rent, one member allegedly brandished a knife, causing Lind to start carrying a pistol.

On November 15, 2022, Lind, then 80, was, according to his own account, attacked by a group of people after being called in to fix a water leak. He said he was struck in the head, stabbed repeatedly (leaving "about 50" puncture wounds), and cut severely on the back of his neck ("like somebody was trying to cut my head off"). He was left impaled by a samurai sword, and his right eye was punctured three times, blinding him in that eye. After he regained consciousness, he shot two of those involved in the altercation, killing 31-year-old Emma Borhanian and wounding the other. Both had been arrested alongside LaSota at a 2019 protest against an event organized by the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR), and Borhanian had reported LaSota's 2022 alleged drowning. Two of Lind's alleged attackers were charged with Borhanian's murder under the theory that their actions precipitated Lind's self-defense, under California's felony murder rule. Their trial has been scheduled for 12 October 2025. LaSota was contacted by police during the investigation but was not charged.

On January 17, 2025, three days before the shootout with U.S. Border Patrol officers on the other side of the country, Lind was stabbed to death and had his throat slit outside his gated property in Vallejo. Lind had been expected to be an important witness in the trial of the alleged attackers for the Borhanian felony murder charge, and stopping him from testifying was alleged as the motive for his killing. Prosecutors charged a 22-year-old data scientist with Lind's murder. The accused dictated to reporters a statement addressed to the well-known rationalist thought leader Eliezer Yudkowsky, calling himself "a student of Yudkowsky who became disillusioned with him". Yudkowsky refused to read the statement and said, "Audience should not be a reward for crime."

Richard and Rita Zajko

During a welfare check on January 2, 2023, Pennsylvania state police discovered the bodies of husband and wife Richard and Rita Zajko, aged 72 and 69 respectively, at their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. Autopsies found that Rita had a gunshot wound in the back of her head and Richard had wounds in his right hand and temple. Based partly on a recording by a neighbor's doorbell camera, it was concluded they had been killed on December 31. Their daughter, who is associated with the Zizians, has been named a person of interest in the murders. She is alleged to have purchased guns found at the scene of Maland's killing and to have been in contact with a person of interest in Lind's murder. She began talking to LaSota in 2022, and the two bonded over their "mutual grief and desire for justice" over Borhanian's death.

David Maland

On January 20, 2025, after a traffic stop, United States Border Patrol agent David Christopher Maland and at least one other Border Patrol agent engaged in a shootout with Bauckholt and another Zizian, leading to Maland's and Bauckholt's deaths and the wounding of the other member. Bauckholt and the other member were traveling south on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vermont, when they were pulled over. They were put under "periodic surveillance" nearly one week before the shooting after they were reported to be armed and wearing all-black tactical clothing when checking in to their hotel. The case has been connected to the killings of Lind and the Zajkos due to connections between the suspects.

Background

Before traveling to Vermont, Bauckholt and the other member lived in separate Airbnb rentals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Both have been described as having cut off all contact with friends in fall 2023 and May 2024. Homeland Security Investigations agents had been conducting "periodic surveillance" of them since January 14.

A hotel employee in Lyndonville, Vermont, reportedly contacted law enforcement about the duo after seeing one of them carrying "an apparent firearm in an exposed carry holster". Both wore "all-black, tactical style clothing with protective equipment". After the report, Homeland Security agents contacted the duo, who refused to speak with them extensively. They said they were in Vermont only to purchase real estate. The duo checked out of the Lyndonville hotel and were seen five days later in Newport, Vermont, with one of them carrying a handgun. The next day, hours before the shootout, the two were seen at a Walmart, with Bauckholt buying aluminum foil.

After the shooting, authorities found ammunition, a helmet, night-vision monoculars, a tactical belt with a holster, a pair of walkie-talkies, a magazine loaded with cartridges, and shooting-range targets in their car. Smartphones were also found, wrapped in aluminum foil, apparently to prevent their phones from being tracked. Their handguns were reportedly bought by an associate in Mount Tabor, Vermont.

Shootout

Around 3:15 p.m., Agent David Maland initiated a traffic stop on I-91 southbound, about 15 kilometers from the border with Canada, with a blue 2015 Toyota Prius registered in North Carolina to conduct an immigration inspection. According to accounts by law enforcement, Bauckholt, registered as the car's owner, appeared in a Homeland Security database to have an expired visa. Bauckholt's visa was in fact current. Prosecutors allege that the second member drew a handgun and fired at least two shots at the agent during the stop and that Bauckholt also attempted to draw a firearm. At least one Border Patrol agent shot the duo. Maland and Bauckholt were pronounced dead at the scene while the second member was taken to a hospital and later arrested.

Maland, 44, was a United States Air Force veteran. According to his family, he had been planning to marry his partner. Maland was an active security officer at the Pentagon during the 9/11 attacks before handling security at Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. He had worked for the last 15 years for the Department of Homeland Security as a border patrol agent and as a K-9 handler. Maland was the first Border Patrol agent killed by gunfire in the line of duty since 2014.

Reactions

Vermont's U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch and U.S. House Representative Becca Balint issued a joint statement saying, "Our deepest condolences go out to the agent’s family, and to the Border Patrol". Representative Mark Green, who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, issued a statement saying he was "heartbroken by the loss of Agent David Maland", adding, " must never forget that the men and women in green on the frontlines of this border crisis defend our homeland at great personal cost" and that " r too often these courageous public servants, like Agent Maland, pay the ultimate price".

Maland's flag-draped casket was carried by a motorcade from Burlington, Vermont, to Albany International Airport by Border Patrol agents and Vermont State Police, and was flown to his family in Minnesota.

A person was charged in connection to Maland's death, and that person pleaded not guilty.

Members

Ziz LaSota

Although the group members do not use this name or even consider themselves members of a group or to have a clearly identified leader, they are known as "Zizians", based on the name of their founder, Ziz LaSota. Like many other members of the group, LaSota is transgender. According to a CFAR employee, LaSota targeted "smart, mostly autistic-ish trans women who were extremely vulnerable and isolated" for recruitment.

LaSota, who was 34 years old as of 2025, earned a bachelor's degree in computer engineering in 2013 from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She had an internship at NASA and pursued a master's degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2013 to 2014 but did not graduate. LaSota moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in hopes of becoming involved with the effective altruism (EA) and rationality movements. Disaffected by high cost of housing, she and a group of fellow EA adherents sought to form a seasteading intentional community. Initially living on sailboats in the Berkeley Marina, they eventually bought an old tugboat and sailed it from Alaska to Pillar Point Harbor in San Mateo.

During her involvement with the rationality community, LaSota became disillusioned with the leadership of community institutions such as the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI). LaSota and her associates claimed CFAR and MIRI discriminated against trans women, used donor money to pay off a former staffer who had accused MIRI leaders of statutory rape and a coverup, and ignored the welfare of animals in the pursuit of human-friendly artificial intelligence. CFAR co-founder Anna Salamon attempted to prevent LaSota from attending the fellowship due to strange beliefs and behavior at previous events, but was overruled by a committee. These included LaSota's theories that human consciousness can be split between the brain's two hemispheres, which may hold different values, genders, and may be "good", "evil", or both. After more CFAR staff members raised concerns, LaSota was no longer invited to the group's events. In 2019, LaSota, Borhanian, and two associates staged a protest against a CFAR event at a retreat in Occidental, California. Because a 911 call led police to mistakenly believe the protesters were armed and because a group of children was also at the retreat for a separate event, the protest drew a forceful police response. After the four protesters were arrested, a SWAT team was deployed to evacuate the retreat because police mistakenly believed a fifth protester had a hatchet; that person was later discovered to be a maintenance worker. Fallout from the protest and the police response led to a rift between the Zizians and the rationalist community establishment: the Zizians accused CFAR employees of swatting them by falsely reporting to police that they were armed, while a member of the rationalist community published an anonymous callout coining the appellation "Zizians" and branding them as a cult. The Zizians filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Sonoma County, which was dismissed.

LaSota faked her own death in a supposed boating accident in August 2022, but turned up in January 2023 in a Philadelphia hotel room where police were carrying out a search for a weapon suspected to have been used in the murder of the Zajkos. LaSota was identified as the subject of an outstanding warrant in California and arrested for disorderly conduct and interfering with a police investigation. After her bail was reduced to $10,000, unsecured, LaSota was released pending trial. She appeared in court in Pennsylvania in August 2023, but subsequently failed to appear in December 2023. After media coverage of LaSota and associates related to David Maland's death, LaSota was recognized by the owner of a rural property in Frostburg, Maryland, where she was attempting to camp. The owner called the police, who arrested LaSota on February 16, 2025, for trespassing, obstructing an officer, and transporting firearms. She is being held in custody without bail; she requested a pretrial release, which a local judge denied.

Ophelia Bauckholt

Ophelia Bauckholt was a transgender German citizen on a current visa working as a quantitative trader for Tower Research Capital in New York since October 2021. Before working at Tower, she worked as a trader at Radix Trading for two years and as an intern at Jane Street Capital. Bauckholt reportedly quit working for Tower in 2023, which put her visa's extension at risk.

Bauckholt was raised in Freiburg im Breisgau and attended the Goethe-Gymnasium there, where she was a gifted mathematician. In 2014 and in 2015, she won gold and bronze medals for the German team at the International Olympiad in Informatics. She graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

Bauckholt expressed interest in the rationalist community after attending a CFAR event in 2019, and reportedly cut off contact with friends in the fall of 2023.

On January 20, 2025, Bauckholt was killed in a shootout in Coventry, Vermont, after being stopped by border patrol agent David Maland, who was also killed. The Freiburg public prosecutor's office is investigating the circumstances surrounding Bauckholt's death, as is done whenever a German citizen dies abroad.

References

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2025 in Vermont
Cults of personality
Deaths by firearm in Vermont
January 2025 crimes in the United States
Rationalism
United States Border Patrol