I consider myself fairly news-savvy and politically aware. I'm often elbows-deep in political news when I write for Twitchy, and for a long time, I did a politically-minded podcast.

One of the stories that has happened recently has surprisingly not gotten a lot of attention in the mainstream media, and it looks like there is an alarming reason for that.

...

There were two transgender individuals involved, both of whom were known to federal authorities (shocker, we know).

According to Ngo, 'Federal law enforcement had been surveilling German man Felix 'Ophelia' Baukholt and Seattle @UW student Teresa 'Milo' Youngblut (xe/xem/xyrs...yeah) after staff at a Lyndonville, Vt. motel reported seeing them with black tactical clothing, weapons and protective militia-style equipment.  When the duo was pulled over on Jan. 20, Youngblut allegedly shot dead Officer David Maland in a surprise attack. In the returning fire, Baukholt, who was also armed, was killed. Youngblut was injured and survived.'

When Felix's (aka 'Ophelia') social media was leaked, it turns out that the duo was linked to a violent and militant transgender 'cult' who follows someone who refers to themself as 'Ziz.'

On February 18, three members linked to the Zizian cult -- including leader Jack LaSota -- were arrested in Maryland after trespassing on private property.

Here's more from WBAL:

The leader of a cultlike group connected to six killings in three states was ordered held without bail Tuesday in Maryland, where she faces trespassing and other charges.

Jack LaSota, 34, of Berkeley, California, and two others arrested with her on Sunday appeared via videoconference for bail hearings in Allegany County District Court. A judge ordered all three held without bail, describing them as dangerous flight risks.

Allegany County State's Attorney James Elliott said LaSota has faked her own death in the past and "appears to be the leader of an extremist group known as Zizians" that has been linked to multiple deaths.

But LaSota, who is known online as Ziz, asked for pretrial release, saying she was homeless with no means of traveling. Speaking haltingly, she also requested a vegan diet and said she was "in a mild state of delirium" due to lack of food.

"I haven't done anything wrong," she told the judge.

This story will vanish from media by the weekend. Why? Well, as the great Iowa Hawk said:

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Without Twitchy, I have to venture a guess that a lot of our readers wouldn't know about this cult, let alone that its members are violent, vegan, and transgender, or that they were arrested and held without bail.

Compare that to, say, Elon Musk and his innocuous hand gesture at President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day rally. 

CNN called it a Nazi salute and the media narrative was set. 

Famed Congressional intellectual AOC attacked the ADL over what she called a 'Heil Hitler' salute because the ADL kinda, sorta, gently said maybe media shouldn't jump right to calling Musk the reincarnation of Adolf. 

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and Italian at NYU, used her 'expertise' to declare Musk's movement a 'belligerent' Nazi salute. 

Senator Chris Murphy felt the situation so important he asked President Donald Trump's nominee for UN ambassador, Elise Stefanik, about it during her hearing.

Scott Jennings shamed a CNN panel who tried to make the salute a thing, calling them 'truthers.'

A Milwaukee news station meteorologist was fired for calling Musk a Nazi on her Instagram account.

Shall I continue?

It's not just Elon Musk and his awkward hand gesture that garners media attention. For four years, journalists of all stripes pull out the January 6 story whenever they need a cudgel with which to bash Donald Trump and Republicans. They are appalled by the 'violence' of the day and shocked Donald Trump had the temerity to pardon people associated with the 'insurrection.'

Whenever the Patriot Front goons hop out of their rented U-Haul and march through the streets of any given city, the media collectively point and shriek about 'white supremacy' and 'white nationalism' threatening our nation. The fact they're wholly incurious to uncover and expose these supposed white nationalists has not gone unnoticed. CNN dredged up information on some random guy who made a gif of Donald Trump wrestling with their logo, so it can be done.

Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters burned parts of several cities, like Minneapolis, MN and Kenosha, WI, to the ground in the summer of 2020 with nary a condemnation from media. In fact, amid government-mandated COVID lockdowns, media made the case for allowing such large gatherings because they had the correct political motivations.

It's (D)ifferent when they do it.

Likewise, the coverage of the mass shooting of Republicans at the Congressional softball game practice -- where Rep. Steve Scalise was almost killed -- went away as soon as the political leanings of the shooter, James Hodgkinson, was a die-hard Bernie bro. 

Audrey Hale, who killed three children and three staff at Nashville's Covenant School, was a Left-wing radical and transgender. Media worked hard to suppress coverage of Hale's manifesto because Hale wasn't a Right-winger, but one of their own.

Which brings us back to the Zizians. Authorities say they've been connected to at least six homicides across the country, including Richard and Rita Zajko, who were shot in their home in December 2022, and the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David "Chris" Maland who was gunned down in Vermont near the Canada border on January 20, 2025.

Imagine if a Trump supporter in a MAGA hat started a cult that traversed the country, killing people. Including a federal law enforcement officer. Imagine the breathless headlines and hysterical 24/7 media coverage we'd get as media held them up as proof that MAGA is a threat to our very way of life. 

There would be no rest for Republicans, both in and out of office, as we were all inextricably linked to their violence and asked to renounce them in the strongest terms possible.

But we now have multiple instances of Left-wing ideologues committing violent crimes (and threatening violent crimes), and our media give the story lip service before moving on to the next Republican-induced outrage.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Ratings and the public trust in media are at all-time lows precisely because they refuse to be actual journalists who do actual journalism and remain fervent partisan hacks.

You almost have to admire their kamikaze-like commitment to the cause.

I'd even salute them for it, but they'd just call me a Nazi.