Transgender Cult Leader Leans on Landmark Supreme Court Second Amendment Decision for Defense

The leader of a vegan transgender cultlike group accused of a string of six murders across several states is trying to use the Supreme Court’s landmark New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision to claim their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms are being violated after being arrested as a fugitive.Jack LaSota — also known as Ziz LaSota — has been held without bail in Maryland since being arrested with two “Zizian” followers last February on gun and drug charges. The 34-year-old also faces federal charges of being an armed fugitive after being indicted by a federal grand jury last June.According to the indictment, Jack LaSota possessed several firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition when he was arrested. Prosecutors said Mr. LaSota was knowingly a fugitive from justice and therefore not permitted by law to possess a firearm or ammunition.Now, the defense has filed a request in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland to have the fugitive in possession charge dismissed.Jack Proctor argues that Bruen states that “when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct” and a weapons ban would be unconstitutional unless the government can show “the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”The filing claims that Mr. LaSota was only considered a fugitive on non-violent offenses, consisting largely of misdemeanors. “No historical tradition supports disarming someone for nonviolent crimes,” Mr. Proctor argues in the brief.The federal judge will now have to decide if a fugitive facing minor charges can be barred from possessing firearms in light of the Bruen decision. A separate filing seeks to suppress all evidence obtained at the time of Mr. LaSota’s arrest because the defense claims the search of the truck he was in with the weapons was carried out without a warrant.Mr. Proctor refers to his client as a female in the filings with the name Ziz LaSota. The government’s suit uses Jack LaSota as the defendant and refers to him as a male.If convicted on the federal charge, Mr. LaSota faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison on the federal gun charge.Mr. LaSota is accused of leading a mysterious cultlike group of young, highly educated computer scientists who follow an anarchist, pro-vegan ideology.The group is linked to killings in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and California. The most recent killings involved the killing of a border patrol agent in a Vermont shootout last year and the deadly stabbing of a California landlord three days earlier. A member of the group is also accused of murdering a member of the group who they suspected of preparing to testify against two fellow Zizians after a 2022 incident.Members of the group are also accused in connection with the murders of the parents of a Zizian member at their Pennsylvania home.Mr. LaSota is not charged directly in connection with any of the killings.

Transgender Cult Leader Leans on Landmark Supreme Court Second Amendment Decision for Defense

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