Zizians

The Zizians are an informal group of rationalists allegedly involved in six violent deaths in the United States—three in 2022 and three in 2025. The term Zizians derives from the name of Ziz LaSota, a member of the group who is sometimes characterized as their leader. The Zizians do not use this name or consider themselves to have a clearly identified leader, or even to be members of a group. They advocate a distinctive ideology including anarchism, veganism, and the notion that the hemispheres of the brain can have distinct genders and conflicting interests. They have been widely described as a cult.

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 and Emma Borhanian, both associates of the Zizians, were killed during altercations with Maland and Lind, respectively.

Beliefs A small offshoot of the rationalist community, Zizians hold a distinctive ideology combining anarchism, veganism, transhumanism, 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).

Zizians' beliefs are rooted in an interpretation of "timeless decision theory", a rationalist alternative to causal decision theory. They see it as requiring resolute opposition to perceived moral wrongs, such as blackmail or societal norms. This stance has led the Zizians 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.

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 claim to 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 attempting 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. 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 a cult or cult-like by publications such as The Independent, the Associated Press, SFGate, and Reason. The Boston Globe and The New York Times have compared the Zizians to the Manson Family. Similarly, Anna Salamon, the director of the Center for Applied Rationality, compared the Zizian belief system to that of a doomsday cult.

The Zizians are mostly transgender or non-binary. LaSota's writings include claims that transgender women are cognitively uniquely suited for artificial intelligence safety research.

Murders with alleged Zizian involvement

Curtis Lind

In 2017, Ziz LaSota began recruiting a "Rationalist Fleet" of followers to live on boats on the ocean, including a World War II–era tugboat, built as the Panameta and subsequently renamed Caleb, that they sailed from Alaska to California. After struggling with the upkeep of the 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, Lind 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 was scheduled for March 3, 2026, but was suspended in December 2025 as one of the defendants was medically unfit to stand trial. LaSota was contacted by police during the investigation but not charged.

On January 17, 2025, three days before a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol officers on the east coast, 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, saying that he was a follower of Yudkowsky but is not anymore. 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.

The Zajkos' daughter had begun talking to LaSota in 2022, and the two bonded over their "mutual grief and desire for justice" over Borhanian's death. 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. On June 24, 2026, the daughter was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of her parents.

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 wounding 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 stayed 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 other 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 other 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, "We must never forget that the men and women in green on the front lines of this border crisis defend our homeland at great personal cost" and "[f]ar too often these courageous public servants, like Agent Maland, pay the ultimate price". Maland's flag-draped casket was carried by a motorcade of Border Patrol agents and Vermont State Police from Burlington, Vermont, to Albany International Airport, and flown to his family in Minnesota.

The surviving Zizian member was charged in connection to Maland's death and pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors have filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

Members

Ziz LaSota