Tag: cults

The Leader of the Gun Church That Worships With AR-15s Is Now a MAGA Rapper

The leader of a controversial religious sect that worships with AR-15s has been taking notes from the niche but growing music subgenre dubbed “MAGA Rap.” 

Pastor Hyung-Jin “Sean” Moon, the flamboyant figurehead of the Rod of Iron Ministries (also known as The Sanctuary Church) has a YouTube channel where he’s spinning his far-right sermons into rap videos. (YouTube removed the channel shortly after VICE News reached out for comment). 

Moon’s rap name is “King Bullethead,” and like others in the genre, he’s looking to spread far-right ideological positions through questionable rhymes and low-budget, bombastic music videos, often while taking aim at the LGBTQ community. 

In “Eggplant Emoji,” Moon appears in a rural setting, clad in camouflage, wearing reflective Oakley-esque sunglasses, a crown of gold bullets balanced atop his bald head. He wears skeleton gloves and waves around a gold-plated AR-15. 

A group of heavily-armed church members dressed in patriotic colors stand behind Moon, as he fast-raps about how children are being brainwashed into joining the LGBTQ community and praises conservative women who discriminate against trans women. “They got no shlong, ding dong, hot dog, johnny eggplant emoji/ they got no thang swinging between their legs and making them horny,” he raps. “Conservative women knows that only God can make ‘em man and women/ Love Jesus, family, guns, USA they be lovin’.”

In “Big MAGA 20,” Moon appears at the same desk where he usually delivers his rambling hours-long sermons (these days, they’re uploaded to Rumble since the church was kicked off YouTube years ago for spreading election and COVID-19 disinformation). 

“They can’t stop us so they silence, censor and act like Communists,” he raps. “Politicians lie to get their power and form their little cliques/Politics is a combination of the words ‘poly’ and ‘ticks’/‘Poly’ means more than one, a few, a group of cliques, and ticks are parasites that suck your blood until the very last drip.”

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Number of bodies exhumed from suspected Kenyan cult graves jumps to 47

Kenyan police have now exhumed the bodies of 47 people thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death.

Police near the coastal town of Malindi started exhuming bodies on Friday from the Shakahola forest.

“In total, 47 people have died at the Shakahola forest,” detective Charles Kamau told Reuters on Sunday.

The exhumations were still ongoing, Kamau said.

Earlier this month, police rescued 15 members of the group — worshippers at the Good News International Church — who they said had been told to starve themselves to death. Four of them died before they reached hospital, police said

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Sympathy For The Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment

“Google ‘The Process Church of the Final Judgement’ and you’ll discover a long list of conspiracy theories. Only now, former members reveal the truth about the misunderstood group once dubbed ‘One of the most dangerous Satanic cults in America.'”

What life was really like inside the doomsday cult run by the paedophile known as ‘Little Pebble’

His devotees call him Little Pebble; his victims know him as a paedophile.

William Costellia Kamm is the self-appointed leader of a notorious doomsday cult that formed its headquarters in 1987, based in a secure compound in Cambewarra, just outside Nowra on the NSW South Coast.  

At its height, thousands of pilgrims from around the world travelled to the bush setting for a spiritual experience like no other.

On the 13th day of each month, the Virgin Mary would appear to William – her apparition only visible to him – and he would pass on her messages and warnings to the gathered and devout crowd.  

He declared his compound the Holy Ground, a new promised land for his followers for when the apocalyptic second coming of Christ would wipe out most of mankind.

At the time, Kamm was married and had four children but unknown to his wife, this self-proclaimed Messiah was planning on creating a royal harem, filled with 12 queens and 72 princesses – 84 mystical spouses to bear his children to repopulate the earth. 

Little Pebble claimed God chose who his brides would be but as Detective Chief Inspector Peter Yeomans from the State Crime Command puts it, it was Kamm who did all the grooming, and his preference was under-age girls. 

“He was using religion in such a way that just split families. So, it was just awful and it continued for many many years. I see it as grooming with the families to get to these children and it’s just terrible,” he says. 

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Neo-Nazi Pedophilic Cult Member Allegedly Coerced Minors to Make Child Porn

A neo-Nazi affiliated with a satanic pedophilic cult gave himself away on social media, including posting a photo of himself, wearing a T-shirt that read “kiddie diddler” in front of a swastika, police say. 

He has since been arrested and charged with sexually exploiting minors and possession of child pornography, among other alleged crimes. 

After being tipped off to disturbing social media posts, FBI agents raided the home of Angel Almeida, 22, in Queens, New York, in Nov. 2021 and seized a handgun along with occult texts and memorabilia that show his affiliation with Order of Nine Angles (O9A), a satanic group that pushes its adherents to commit depraved acts, including sexually abusing minors. On two separate occasions, Almeida spent months coercing two minors into partaking in sexual activities to create child porn, according to the Department of Justice. 

Almeida was initially indicted on charges relating to the handgun in Dec. 2021 but was indicted on child abuse charges Tuesday. 

On social media, Almeida posted images of himself boasting about his alleged sexual crimes, as well as pictures of dead animals, and a firearm (despite being a felon), according to the feds. 

The FBI was initially tipped off to a Facebook account under the name “Sargent Grey,” that had images of Almeida wearing a skull mask, a signifier of neo-Nazi accelerationist groups in front of an O9A flag. This led authorities to a second account under the name “Necropedocell,” with images of a child bound and gagged and a photo of a handgun with the caption “for the 2k pedophile haters.”

On yet another account, this one on Instagram under the name Stain_Lord_352, the FBI found the picture of Almeida wearing the T-shirt with “kiddie diddler” written on it. The image also included a sign that read, “I am addicted to hardcore child pornography.” The account posted another photo with the caption “no limits evil” alongside a photo of a bloody cat that had been stabbed with a knife. This account also contained several references to O9A. 

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Scientology Strikes Back — and News Org Knuckles Under

Last week, I wrote about the media’s abject failure to tell the true story of Scientology and its relationship with Lisa Marie Presley, who lived most of her life in the notorious cult before breaking away. She died January 12 at age 54.

This week, I received an interesting email from Dodge Landesman — an anchor for KYMA, the  Yuma, AZ, NBC and CBS TV station — who also covered the Scientology angle in the Presley story. He told me that he has been fired. Like me, he wrote about Presley and her role as a possible witness against Scientology in a criminal trial for rape against another celebrity, Scientologist Danny Masterson. 

After the story aired, Landesman explained, Scientology contacted the reporter, as well as his bosses, who bounced it to the conglomerate that owns the station — and threatened to sue them.  The company pulled the story and fired Landesman. 

In place of the original article is this mysteriously vague notice:

Editor’s Note: In an exercise of editorial discretion, NPG of Yuma-El Centro Broadcasting, LLC has elected to unpublish this piece. After careful review, and given information that came to light after the piece was published, NPG of Yuma-El Centro Broadcasting, LLC has determined that it can no longer stand behind the piece because, among other things, it contained aspects of opinion by the author.

If Landesman had written something false — as proven by “information that came to light after the piece was published” — it’s odd that the editor didn’t publish a correction notice. 

KYMA News Director Ernesto Romero declined to discuss the matter, saying, “Our company does not comment on personnel matters and the editorial note included in the article speaks for itself.”  

Although the original report has been taken down, we can still view it here — with the tantalizing headline “Lisa Marie Presley was planning Scientology takedown before her death.” 

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Gloria Trevi Sex Cult Claims Revived in New Lawsuit

NEARLY TWO DECADES after a judge abruptly cleared pop diva Gloria Trevi of charges she lured minors into a secret sex ring in Mexico, the singer is facing a new civil lawsuit in Los Angeles that revives claims she procured underage girls for her ex-producer Sergio Andrade.

The new complaint, obtained by Rolling Stone, was filed shortly before the Dec. 31 deadline for a three-year “lookback” window that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on childhood sex assault claims in California. Neither Trevi nor Andrade are specifically named in the suit, but it’s clear they’re the top two Doe defendants based on details including concerts Trevi played in the 1990s and albums she recorded.

According to the filing, two Jane Doe plaintiffs allege they were 13 and 15 years old respectively when Trevi approached them in public and lured them into joining Andrade’s purported music training program by promoting it as an elite star-making opportunity. The victims says Trevi groomed them to become sex slaves to Andrade, and that much of their abuse happened in Los Angeles County.

By the time the Jane Does were recruited, Trevi and Andrade already had reached international fame with a series of hits showcasing Trevi’s edgy lyrics and rebellious persona, the lawsuit states. Trevi was dubbed Mexico’s version of Madonna while Andrade was credited as her behind-the-scenes production ace. It would be several years before the once-celebrated duo would seemingly disappear ahead of a flood of sex cult allegations from multiple former protégées. The claims would explode into an international scandal, with Andrade painted as a violent serial pedophile and Trevi his willing accomplice. The two would be arrested in Brazil in January 2000 after an international manhunt.

Trevi, now 54, spent four years in pre-trial detention but was ultimately acquitted when a judge said there was insufficient evidence to support the rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors charges filed against her by Mexican prosecutors. After spending four years awaiting trial, Andrade was convicted of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors, but ended up spending only one more year behind bars.

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Scientology leader David Miscavige is ‘nowhere to be found’: Prosecutors trying to serve federal trafficking suit against him have tried to reach him 27 times over four months but have failed to locate him

Prosecutors trying to serve David Miscavige with a federal child trafficking lawsuit say that the mysterious leader of Scientology is ‘nowhere to be found.’ 

Authorities have attempted to serve papers to Miscavige, 62, on 27 different occasions over the course of four months in the Clearwater-area in Florida and in Los Angeles, reports the Tampa Bay Times. 

When lawyers appeared at Scientology properties and asked security guards about Miscavige’s whereabouts, the guards said that they were clueless. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have even hired a private investigator in an attempt to track him down.

At one point, lawyers  even took the direct route and sent an Instagram message to the church’s official account to ask about Miscavige. 

The lawsuit being filed by former church members, husband and wife, Gawain and Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris. The trio say that they were forced into labor on Scientology boats as children after signing a one billion-year contract in exchange for little or no money. 

Paris left the church in 2009 and Gawain and Laura Baxter left in 2012. 

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Tacoma bible college linked to alleged ‘cult’ loses GI Bill approval after FBI raid

A Tacoma seminary program associated with a chain of churches raided by the FBI earlier this year has lost approval to receive federal Veterans Affairs education funds. Former members have described the chain as a cult that defrauds soldiers.

In late June, the FBI served search warrants at several House of Prayer Christian Church locations near military bases, mostly in the Southeast. A former church minister told The News Tribune the Tacoma location on South 54th Street was constructed in 2004 and targeted soldiers at nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

A JBLM spokesperson told The News Tribune this summer the base was aware of the House of Prayer and referred questions to federal law enforcement. The FBI’s Seattle field office confirmed “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the church but declined to provide additional details.

A spokesperson for the House of Prayer declined to comment on the investigation.

Current and former members have accused the House of Prayer of draining veterans’ GI Bill funds by perpetually enrolling them in bogus seminary classes and pressuring them to gain 100% VA disability then donate their benefits, according to an August 2020 report sent to the VA by the legal assistance nonprofit Veterans Education Success. In the report, members also accused the church of using their personal information and forging signatures to apply for VA home loans without their knowledge.

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Bentley-driving Arizona ‘Mormon prophet’ had TWENTY wives as young as nine including his own daughter, FBI says – and drove them around in a TRAILER with a bucket for a toilet

An Arizona polygamist cult leader had 20 wives aged as young as nine, married his own daughter, and drove his spouses around in a trailer with a bucket for a toilet, it is claimed.  

A new FBI affidavit has revealed shocking allegations against Bentley-driving Samuel Rappylee Bateman, 46, who was arrested in Arizona earlier this year.

Samuel Rappylee Bateman, 46, is accused by witnesses of ‘marrying’ up to 20 women and girls as young as nine, including his own daughter, according to the affidavit filed on Friday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.  

He has been in federal custody on obstruction charges since his September arrest, which unfolded after Bateman was pulled over by cops while transporting underage girls inside a squalid trailer furnished with a couch and a bucket for a toilet.  

Bateman leads a splinter group of the radical Mormon offshoot Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS — but Bateman is apparently so extreme that he has been denounced even by former FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, a convicted child rapist. 

The FBI affidavit, filed in the Eastern District of Washington, outlines sickening allegations of incest, group sex acts involving adults and underage children, and child sex trafficking. 

FBI Agent Dawn A. Martin, citing witness statements, writes in the filing that Bateman ‘began to proclaim he was a prophet’ and declared his intention to marry his own teenage daughter in 2019.

The affidavit states that Bateman has since gathered ‘approximately 50 followers and more than 20 wives, many of whom are minors, mostly under the age of 15.’ 

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