[NYPOST] The apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians has been arrested in Maryland along with another member of the group, Maryland State Police said Monday.
Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zajko, 33, of Media, Pennsylvania. They face multiple charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering and possession of a handgun in the vehicle.
A bail hearing for the two is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Allegany District Court.
The Zizians have been tied to the killing of US Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
Officials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which broke open after the Jan. 20 shooting death of Maland. News Agency that Dare Not be Named interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent mostly peaceful.
Their goals aren’t clear, but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence
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