Members of Zizians group attend hearing ahead of Maryland trespassing trial

Three members of the Zizians, a cultlike group linked to six deaths across the U.S., were in court in Maryland on Friday for a hearing ahead of their trial on trespassing, weapons and drug charges. Jack LaSota, Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank are among a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists drawn together by radical beliefs about veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence. Authorities have described LaSota, a transgender woman known as Ziz, as the apparent leader of the “extremist group."