Yahweh ben Yahweh
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| Yahweh ben Yahweh | |
| Born | October 27, 1935 Kingfisher, OklahomaUnited States |
|---|---|
| Died | May 7, 2007 (aged 71) Miami, Florida United States |
| Occupation | Leader of Nation of Yahweh |
Yahweh ben Yahweh, born and legally named Hulon Mitchell Jr. (October 27, 1935 - May 7, 2007), was the leader of the religious cult[1] Nation of Yahweh.
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[edit] Before the Nation
Hulon Mitchell Jr. was born the first of fifteen children in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. His father was a Pentecostal minister who emphasized the Book of Exodus in his preachings. His childhood was one of relative poverty made worse by marginalization caused by Jim Crow laws.
After a period of military service and a period as a psychology major at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, he became interested in spiritual movements. He also became interested in the Civil Rights movement organizing sit-ins in Oklahoma. Although he quickly grew disillusioned with this and as "Yahweh ben Yahweh" he denounced Martin Luther King Jr. as "that dead dog preacher."
This led to a growing interest in black nationalism and some study of the Nation of Islam. He later studied other groups as well and by the late 1970s pronounced himself "Yahweh ben Yahweh", meaning "the LORD Son of the LORD," Yahweh being related to the Tetragrammaton, or the name for God in the Hebrew Bible. He was married and had four children, and was divorced by the time his religious sect was founded.
[edit] Leader of Nation of Yahweh
The Nation of Yahweh set up its headquarters in Liberty City, Florida. Yahweh ben Yahweh emphasized that God and all the prophets of the Holy Bible were black and blacks would gain the knowledge of their true history through him. He also emphasized whites and particularly Jews as infidels and oppressors. Lastly he emphasized loyalty to himself as the son of God YHWH. He ultimately cultivated a loyalty enough that members apparently pledged to kill his enemies.
To become a member of the inner circle of his organization, applicants had to kill a "white devil" and bring Mitchell a body part - an ear, nose or finger - as proof of the kill. Between April and October 1986, according to court papers, Mitchell's "Death Angels" descended on Miami frequently to kill random white people.[1]
The Nation of Yahweh remodeled a series of buildings in Miami. These buildings allowed for the growth and development of the Yahwehs. He became the living Messiah of the Nation of Yahweh. As Messiah he is said to have been absolute and theocratic.
At the time his business and charity efforts earned him respect in the community. The mayor of Miami, Florida declared October 7, 1990, "Yahweh ben Yahweh Day." This occurred a month before his indictment for alleged crimes.
[edit] Crimes and aftermath
Although his followers remained devoted to him, by the 1990s he was in trouble with the law. From 1990 until his release on September 26, 2001, he served 11 years of an 18-year sentence on a RICO conviction after he and several other Nation of Yahweh members were convicted of conspiracy in more than a dozen murders. He was acquitted of first degree murder charges in 1992.
A court document description states the following:
- Racketeering Act 5: Homicide of Leonard Dupree.
- Because Dupree was known to be a karate expert, Yahweh openly challenged him to fight Lightburn, the Yahwehs' resident martial-arts expert. The two men squared off in front of about 30-60 Yahweh onlookers. Dupree quickly knocked Lightburn down, at which point Yahweh ordered all present, including Ingraham and Maurice, to attack Dupree. Ingraham struck Dupree in the face with a tire jack. Dupree was literally beaten to death. During the struggle, Gaines locked the doors of the Temple at Yahweh Ben Yahweh's request.
Yahweh Ben Yahweh was released on parole in 2001 and returned to Miami, but his activities were strongly restricted until a few months before his death. He was prohibited from reconnecting with his old congregation. To assure this he was restricted from any form of speech by telephone, computer, radio or television that could place him in contact with any congregational members. In 2006, as he became increasingly ill with prostate cancer, his attorney Jayne Weintraub petitioned the U.S. District Court for his release from parole in order to permit him to "die with dignity". [2]
A ruling on a failed appeal, U.S. v. Yahweh Ben Yahweh (792 F. Supp. 104) starts:
- Violent crime cases are the exception in federal courts. The instant case is arguably the most violent case ever tried in a federal court: the indictment charges the sixteen defendants on trial with 14 murders by means such as beheading, stabbing, occasionally by pistol shots, plus severing of body parts such as ears to prove the worthiness of the killer. They were also charged with arson of a slumbering neighborhood using molotov cocktails. The perpetrators were ordered to wait outside the innocent victims' homes wearing ski masks and brandishing machetes to deter the victims from fleeing the flames.
However, his lawyers’ attempt to end the conditions for his parole eventually succeeded.
Yahweh ben Yahweh only faced conviction for conspiracy. A primary component of the prosecution's case was the testimony of Robert Rozier. Rozier, a former NFL player and Yahweh ben Yahweh follower, admitted to several of the murders and testified against Hulon Mitchell Jr., in return for a lighter sentence. Rozier would later enter the Witness Protection Program, but would return to prison after being given a 25 years to life sentence under California's three strikes law, following a check kiting conviction.
Yahweh ben Yahweh died May 7th, 2007 from prostate cancer.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Yahweh ben Yahweh cult - headed by Hulon Mitchell Jr - The Crime library
- ^ Cult leader linked to beheadings asks to 'die with dignity', CNN.com, October 6, 2006, Miami, Florida.
[edit] External links
- Crime Library Nation of Yahweh Profile
- Apologetics Index Nation of Yahweh Profile
- Rick Ross compilation of public media articles
- Religious Movements Site
- Official Yahweh ben Yahweh & Nation of Yahweh site
- 'Temple of Love' Black Supremacist Cult Leader Yahweh Ben Yahweh Dies at 71, from Foxnews.com, May 8, 2007
- Article about Yahweh’s Death
[edit] See also
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