A suspected member of the radical “Zizian” cult was forcibly removed from a California courtroom after claiming that an officer told her she should be killed for being transgender. Alexander “Somni” Leatham, a 29-year-old trans woman from Agoura Hills, California, was one of five alleged members of the group of radical vegans, many of whom identify as transgender, who appeared in Solano Superior Court on Tuesday.
Leatham alleged that an officer told her she “deserved to be shot for being transgender while he had a gun, and I was in chains,” according to SFGate. Leatham and others in the group face charges in connection with a series of killings across the country, including the January killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent along the northern border.
During the hearing, Leatham reportedly went on a profanity-laden rant, accusing authorities of attempting to de-transition her. “The court has been hormonally detransitioning me for a quarter of a decade as part of a state-sponsored conversion therapy program,” she said, according to SFGate. “I am not suicidal. I have never been suicidal. If I am killed in police custody, it was murder!”
Judge John B. Ellis ordered Leatham to be taken to an isolation room prior to the hearing, stating that she could appear via camera due to her behavior. “If defendant Leatham can’t behave herself, she can be moved to the isolation booth,” Ellis said.
Members of the Zizians have been charged or named as persons of interest in connection with six deaths across the country. These include the stabbing of an 82-year-old landlord in January, the shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont in January, and the 2022 double homicide of an elderly Pennsylvania couple.
Leatham and Suri Dao face attempted murder charges after a rent dispute with landlord Curtis Lind, which escalated into a violent altercation. During the incident, Lind fatally shot Zizian follower Emma Borhanian in self-defense. Lind was injured by a samurai sword during the confrontation.
Curtis Lind had purchased property in Vallejo, California, placing trailers and shipping containers on the land to provide affordable housing for those unable to afford traditional housing costs. According to tenant Patrick McMillan, the Zizians initially paid rent but stopped during the pandemic. Lind’s daughter, Dina Morrill, said there was an agreement that the group would fix their vehicles and leave, but they ultimately turned on him. “The truth is, they jumped him,” Lind’s son, Carl Lind, told KTVU.
Lind managed to shoot two of his attackers, killing Borhanian. Prosecutors concluded that he acted in self-defense. However, Lind was later stabbed to death in a second attack on January 17, 2025. Maximilian Snyder, a 22-year-old Zizian member, was arrested and charged with his murder, according to court records obtained by FOX 13 Seattle.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 22 at 9 a.m. Fox News Digital has reached out to Leatham’s attorney for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital. She joined FOX in 2021 and has covered major news events across the U.S. and internationally, including the “Defund the police” movement, assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life, and illegal immigration. She reports on crime, politics, business, lifestyle, and world news. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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