The apparent leader of a cult group known as the Ziziens was arrested in Maryland with another member of the group, said police from the Maryland State.
Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested on Sunday with Michelle Zajko, 33, from Media, Pennsylvania. They face several accusations, including intrusion, obstruction and embarking and possession of a handgun in the vehicle, police announced on Monday.
An audience for freeing up for the two is scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Algany district court.
The Ziziens were linked to the murder of American border patrol David Maland near the Canadian border in January and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.
Maland, 44, was killed in a January 20 shooting after a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32 km) from the Canadian border.
The officials offered few details on the cross-country investigation, which opened after the death of Maland. Interviews with Associated Press and an examination of judicial archives and online publications tell how a group of very intelligent young computer scientists, most of them in their twenties and thirties, met online, shared anarchist beliefs and became more In addition violent.
Their objectives are not clear, but online writings cover subjects of radical veganism and gender identity with artificial intelligence.
In the midst of all this is “Ziz”, which seems to be the leader of the strange members of the group who called themselves “Ziziens”. It was seen near several crime scenes and has links with various suspects.
Lasota published a dark and sometimes violent blog under the name of Ziz and, in a section, described his theory according to which the two hemispheres of the brain could contain distinct values and sexes and “often wish to kill themselves”.
Lasota, who used her pronouns, and in her writings, says that she is a transgender woman, has changed the enemies perceived, including so -called rationalist groups, which operate mainly online and seek to understand human cognition by reason and knowledge. Some are interested in the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
Lasota, 34, has not responded to several emails from Associated Press in recent weeks, and his lawyer Daniel McGarringe refused to comment when he was asked if she was linked to one of the deaths. Before her arrest on weekends, she missed appearances in court in two states, and bench mandates were issued for her arrest.
Reached on Monday, McGarrigle only confirms that he represented Lasota and would not confirm his arrest or no detail of the last case.
