The two suspects accused in the fatal shooting of Vermont Border Patrol Agent David Maland, 44, have been identified as transgender extremists affiliated with the so-called “Ziz group,” according to a report from independent journalist Andy Ngo.
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On Inauguration Day, two suspects, since identified as the trans-identifying Felix “Ophelia” Baukholt, a German national in the U.S. on an H1B work visa, and Teresa “Milo” Consuelo Youngblut, 21, of Seattle, allegedly incited a firefight with Maland.
The shootout left Maland and Baukholt dead, and Youngblut injured and facing charges for allegedly firing at Maland.
“Both in the duo are leftist trans militants. One of the deceased armed militants is a German believed to be in the country on an H-1B visa. The duo is allegedly connected to a trans terror cell,” said Ngo on X.
Ngo reported that law enforcement began surveilling Baukholt and Youngblut a week before the shootout after a worker at a Lyndonville, Vermont, hotel reportedly saw them wearing tactical gear and carrying weapons and combat equipment.
Law enforcement contacted the pair, who claimed to be looking for property in the area. The duo the promptly checked out of the motel on January 14.
Ngo spoke with a friend of Baukholt, Jessica Taylor, 32, and reviewed court documents that expanded on the limited details initially provided by law enforcement.
Taylor confirmed that Baukholt, a biological male, identified as transgender and went by the name “Ophelia.”
According to Ngo, Baukholt hailed from the Freiburg, Germany area and graduated from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, before coming to the U.S. on an H-1B visa to work at Tower Research Capital in New York as a quantitative trader in 2021.
Taylor showed Ngo private communications from Baukholt, indicating that he was associated with the Vallejo, California-based transgender cult of personality, the Ziz Group.
The group is centered around Ziz, a transgender identifying male, originally named Jack Lasota, who has reportedly called for the deaths of various groups of people.
The group is currently suspected of involvement in the 2022 Pennsylvania murder of an elderly couple and the January 17 murder of an 82-year-old man in Vallejo, according to Ngo.
Court documents appeared to corroborate Baukholt’s association with the group.
“Both the defendant and the person who purchased the firearms in Vermont that the defendant and her companion possessed on January 20, 2025, are acquainted with and have been in frequent contact with an individual who was detained by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during that homicide investigation; that individual is also a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Vallejo, California,” said court documents.
Documents also revealed that the person who purchased the firearms found with Baukholt and Youngblut is a person of interest in the Pennsylvania murder.
Youngblut, a female who used “xe/xem/xyrs” pronouns on social media, also had a history of involvement with the group.
In May, her family reported her missing, claiming that she had cut off contact with them and was in an extremely controlling relationship. Records showed that she filed a marriage application in November with a man named Maximilian Snyder, though the marriage appears never to have taken place.
Snyder was arrested in California on January 24, just days after Youngblut’s arrest, in connection with the Vallejo murder allegedly carried out by members of the Ziz Group.
Youngblut received care for the injuries sustained during the Vermont shooting at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and faces charges for using a deadly weapon while assaulting a Border Patrol agent.
An investigation of the crime scene discovered two pistols, ammunition, night vision goggles, full-face respirators, radios, a ballistic helmet, and dozens of unspecified electronic devices, some wrapped in tin foil.
Law enforcement also discovered what they believe to be Youngblut’s journal but has not released its contents.
Authorities have not made a statement regarding why Youngblut and Baukholt’s were kitted out with tactical gear, or if they were planning a terrorist attack.
