A court hearing in Fairfield, California, descended into chaos Tuesday as a transgender-identifying male murder suspect was removed from the courtroom for a second time due to disruptive behavior. Alexander “Somni” Leatham, 29, who identifies as a transgender woman, is one of two members of the radical transgender anarchist group known as the “Zizians” facing charges in a 2022 murder and attempted murder case.
Leatham shouted accusations of transphobia at jail staff and disrupted proceedings by reading from a prepared statement. “The jail has been hormonally detransitioning me for a quarter of a decade,” he screamed, resisting court deputies as they removed him. Leatham is accused of attempting to murder 80-year-old landlord Curtis Lind and is also linked to the death of fellow cult member Amir “Emma” Borhanian, who was killed when Lind fought back in self-defense.
Leatham, a biological male who formerly attended UCLA and UC Berkeley, was transported to court in a wheelchair, reportedly unwilling to appear voluntarily. During the hearing, he accused jail personnel of threatening him and again declared, “I am not suicidal. If I am killed in police custody, it was murder!”
Judge John Ellis, who addressed Leatham as “Ms. Leatham,” ordered him into an adjacent courtroom after multiple interruptions. Media have been banned from photographing or recording the hearings.
Leatham’s co-defendant, 24-year-old “Suri Dao,” whose real name is Tessa Berns, appeared remotely from a medical holding facility and spoke only briefly. Dao, who identifies as nonbinary, rocked back and forth throughout the session and gave minimal responses.
The hearing, originally scheduled to set a new trial date, was postponed again due to a defense attorney’s injury. The next court date is scheduled for April 22.
Prosecutors allege Leatham and Dao lured Lind from his trailer and brutally attacked him with a sword. Lind survived that incident but was murdered in January 2025 in another alleged attack by Zizian member Maximilian “Audere” Snyder.
The Zizians are a radical leftist cult inspired by trans anarchist leader Jack “Ziz” LaSota. Members are linked to at least eight deaths and several violent incidents across the U.S. LaSota and two others were arrested in Maryland in February. In January, two other Zizians were involved in a deadly shootout with law enforcement near the Canadian border in Vermont.
Second-in-command Jasper “Gwen” Danielson remains at large. Leatham has also filed multiple unsuccessful lawsuits claiming systemic transphobic abuse while in custody.
Court attendees included a lone unidentified transgender person dressed in black who interacted with Dao’s legal team and expressed hostility toward journalists. The individual’s association with the Zizians is unconfirmed.
