The Invention of an Enemy Image – How a Leaked FBI Document Reveals Something Disturbing

It was a document that was never intended for the public. Stamped by the “Buffalo Port Intelligence Unit,” sent to only two or three recipients, marked with a title that sounded like a headline: “Radical Leftist Trans Militant Cult.” Below it: names, photos, the most serious accusations. The talk was of the “Zizians,” a sect-like group led by Jack Amadeus “Ziz” LaSota. The briefing stated that the Zizians were responsible for the killing of Border Patrol agent David Maland in Vermont, for the murder of Curtis Lind in California, and for at least four other acts of violence. LaSota, according to the paper, “identifies as a trans person” and is wanted in two states for six homicides.

That is how it stood in black and white. But what was missing was at least as striking as what was included. There were no case numbers, no verifiable evidence, no documents that would have held up in court. It was a suspicion list, not an indictment. And yet it was precisely this paper that became the basis for a political campaign that went far beyond the actual investigations.

The leaks mention real names and cases of violence – but the overall picture is more complex: The most clearly documented is the murder of Curtis Lind (Vallejo, 2022), main witness against the Zizian member Alexander “Somni” Leatham; the alleged perpetrator Maximilian Bentley Snyder is currently on trial for it. In the papers, further acts are attributed to the Zizians, such as the death of Border Patrol agent David Maland in Vermont – but to this day there are no publicly verifiable files for that. What is decisive for the classification is what serious research on the milieu shows: The scene does not recruit from “left-wing activists,” but from Rationalist circles around LessWrong/CFAR, where Ziz/Jack LaSota had been active for years with his own ideology – radical veganism (“Carnism as Holocaust”), an eccentric “Hemisphere Theory” (brain hemispheres as separate “persons”), “Debucketing” as detachment from identities, and the deliberately cult-like self-staging as “Sith.” Already in 2019 Ziz and supporters, masked, blocked a CFAR reunion and distributed a pamphlet that explicitly claimed “Alignment” as a moral foundation – an early sign of the sectarian claim, but not a left-wing agenda. The much-cited Vermont shootout also fits this pattern: The participants were not migrants but technically trained Rationalists (among them Teresa Youngblut and a German quant) who, according to scene accounts, were “Ziz-related.” And the sweeping number “six murders by LaSota” remains unsubstantiated to this day. In short: Yes, there is real violence by individuals from this milieu; no, it is neither in ideology nor structure a “left-extremist murder cult.” The label is politically imposed – the reality is a small, sect-like, rationalist-inspired splinter group beyond the left-right spectrum.

LaSota was not only a real person but also an ideologue. His writings revolve around transhumanist ideas, veganism, and a self-invented theory called “timeless decision theory.” In it he claimed that personalities could continue to exist independently in separate brain hemispheres. To outsiders it seems like a construct of esoteric philosophy and internet forum logic – for his followers it was a justification for radicalism and violence.

The picture that emerges from this is disturbing. But it is not a leftist picture. In the forums and chat groups, in LaSota’s writings, there is nothing that could be linked to Antifa, progressive parties, or leftist movement politics. No collective demand for redistribution, no programmatic agenda that could be placed in liberal-left milieus. Instead an elitist cult character, promises of salvation through technology, and a strict ideology that resembles closed-off cults more than a political movement. It is precisely for this reason that the wording “radical leftist” in the Buffalo leak is so telling. It says less about the group than about the authors of the briefing. It reveals a lens through which everything that appears trans, progressive, or unconventional is immediately placed in the left-wing corner – regardless of the actual content.

This narrative was eagerly picked up. Just hours after the leak, the Heritage Foundation followed up, that ultraconservative think tank that had already prepared the restructuring of the state to Trump’s taste with “Project 2025.” In a multi-page paper it literally said: “The murder of Charlie Kirk has shaken the nation. It is the latest example of a perpetrator who has been brainwashed by a destructive and fragmented transgender ideology.” Heritage demanded the introduction of a new terror category: “Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism,” or TIVE for short.

Damit war das Drehbuch geschrieben. Aus einer gefährlichen, aber kleinen und sektenhaften Gruppe wurde ein Symbol, das Millionen von Menschen stigmatisieren sollte. Der Druck auf das FBI wuchs. Dessen neu geschaffene Kategorie „Nihilistic Violent Extremism“ – eine Schublade für Täter ohne klare Ideologie. Die politische Absicht ist offensichtlich: Rechte Gewalt, die statistisch den Großteil der tödlichen Anschläge in den USA ausmacht, soll aus dem Fokus gedrängt werden. Stattdessen wird ein neues Feindbild konstruiert: Trans und linksliberal gleich Terror. Die Zizians dienen dabei als Aufhänger, als Beweisstück, obwohl ihre Ideologie und ihr Handeln mit linker Politik nichts gemein haben.

With that, the script was written. From a dangerous but small and sect-like group, a symbol was created that was meant to stigmatize millions of people. The pressure on the FBI grew. Its newly created category “Nihilistic Violent Extremism” – a drawer for perpetrators without clear ideology. The political intention is obvious: Right-wing violence, which statistically accounts for the majority of deadly attacks in the US, is to be pushed out of focus. Instead a new enemy image is constructed: trans and liberal equals terror. The Zizians serve as a pretext, as evidence, even though their ideology and their actions have nothing in common with leftist politics.

The story of the Zizians is the story of a dangerous sect, yes. But it is at the same time the story of political instrumentalization. Their real acts – the murder of Curtis Lind, the death of David Maland, the violent acts of their supporters – are being used to construct a much larger enemy image. Instead of clarification, there is obfuscation. Instead of differentiation, there is generalization. The result: a climate in which the distinction between perpetrator and identity disappears, in which trans and liberal are placed under suspicion across the board.

Thus a leak, passed on to two or three recipients, becomes the starting point of a national campaign. It shows how closely intertwined the security apparatus, think tanks, and political interests have become. The Zizians may be real. But the label that has been given to them is an invention. And this invention says more about the state of American politics than about the small, dangerous group it concerns.

Mike Howell ist Direktor des Heritage Foundation Oversight ProjectMike Howell is the director of the Heritage Foundation Oversight Project, an influential conservative think tank in Washington. In his recent tweets he sharply attacked the FBI and the government for allegedly lacking the courage to explicitly classify “transgender ideology-inspired extremism” as a form of terrorism. Instead, the vague category “Nihilistic Violent Extremism” is introduced, which according to Howell only serves to uphold political correctness and avoid clear designations.

Our research reveals that this development is no coincidence, but part of a new political architecture. What was once the sober attempt to categorize right-wing militias, “Sovereign Citizens” or the Capitol stormers as “Anti-Government Violent Extremists” was abolished under Trump and replaced by a vague construct: “Nihilistic Violent Extremists.” A label so empty that it can be filled at will – and in practice is directed against trans people, Antifa, and increasingly also Democrats.

The break is documented. On March 18, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security declared that the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office were “inappropriate” because they had been developed “under the previous administration”; President Trump had devised a new strategy. Translated this means: The course is not determined by the threat situation but by the will of the president. Language and justice thus become instruments of an agenda that does not protect but stigmatizes. This becomes obvious in the indictment against Tyler Robinson, the alleged murderer of Charlie Kirk: Three times there are references to his supposed “trans orientation” – passages that are legally irrelevant but appear politically placed on purpose.

How this pattern works we have documented in a comprehensive investigation: Kriegserklärung an die Demokratie – Wie Trump Transmenschen, Antifa und Demokraten zum neuen Feindbild macht under the link: https://kaizen-blog.org/en/kriegserklaerung-an-die-demokratie-wie-trump-transmenschen-antifa-und-demokraten-zum-neuen-feindbild-macht/

There we show, based on internal memos, GAO reports, FBI checklists, and official responses, how the security state is being turned into a machine that no longer reflects reality but an ideological construction. It is not an open battle, but a silent yet fundamental declaration of war on democracy – not with weapons but with papers.