JERUSALEM — The agency guarding websites the place assist is distributed in Gaza has been utilizing members of a US biker gang with a historical past of hostility to Islam to run its armed safety, a BBC investigation has discovered.
BBC Information has confirmed the identities of 10 members of the Infidels Motorbike Membership working in Gaza for UG Options — a non-public contractor offering safety at Gaza Humanitarian Basis websites, the place tons of of civilians in search of meals have been killed in scenes of chaos and gunfire.
We will reveal that seven members of the gang are in senior positions overseeing websites on the controversial assist operation backed by Israel and US President Donald Trump.
UG Options (UGS) defended its workers’ {qualifications} for the job, saying it doesn’t display individuals out for “private hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job efficiency”.
The Gaza Humanitarian Basis (GHF) stated it has “a zero-tolerance coverage for any hateful, discriminatory biases or conduct”.
Infidels MC was arrange by US army veterans of the Iraq battle in 2006 and members see themselves as fashionable Crusaders, utilizing the Crusader cross as their image — a reference to the medieval Christians who fought Muslims for management of Jerusalem.
The gang is presently internet hosting anti-Muslim hate speech on its Fb web page and has beforehand held a pig roast “in defiance of” the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
“Placing the Infidels biker membership in command of delivering humanitarian assist in Gaza is like placing the KKK in command of delivering humanitarian assist in Sudan. It is mindless by any means,” stated Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a number one Muslim civil rights group within the US.
“It is sure to result in violence, and that is precisely what we have seen occur in Gaza.”
The gang’s chief, Johnny “Taz” Mulford, is a former sergeant within the US Military who was punished for conspiracy to commit bribery, theft and making false statements to army authorities. He’s now the “nation crew chief” working UG Options’ contract in Gaza.
We emailed Infidels MC for remark. In response, Mulford instructed fellow leaders of the biker gang to not reply however included the BBC when he clicked “reply all” — inadvertently disclosing electronic mail addresses and names of fellow Infidels MC members, a few of whom had been working in Gaza.
By matching up names with public details about Infidels MC’s management, and proof from UG Options insiders who labored with them, we now have recognized 10 members of Infidels MC who Mulford recruited to work with him in Gaza.
Along with Mulford, we now have recognized three main members of Infidels MC who even have senior roles at UGS’s Gaza operation:
One of many gang’s founding members, Richard “A-Tracker” Lofton, a crew chief at one other distribution web site
Confidential paperwork, open-source data and former UGS contractors have enabled us to verify the identities of an extra six Infidels bikers employed to work in Gaza. Three of them are leaders or deputy leaders of the agency’s armed safety groups.
Jarrett, Siebe and Lofton didn’t reply to requests for remark.
UGS informed the BBC it conducts complete background checks and solely deploys vetted people. Nonetheless, information stories point out Mr Jarrett was arrested two years in the past within the US for drunk driving and has a earlier cost of driving underneath the affect from a few decade earlier. It isn’t identified whether or not both case resulted in a conviction.
The founder and chief govt of UG Options, Jameson Govoni, was arrested earlier this yr in North Carolina for his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident and for fleeing from police to evade arrest, in line with court docket paperwork. Govoni, who is predicated within the US and isn’t a member of Infidels MC, declined to remark.
Till now Mulford was the one UG Options contractor to have been recognized as a member of the Infidels. The BBC’s investigation reveals how widespread his hiring of members of the biker gang has been, notably to better-paid jobs main the UGS armed safety groups.
Social media posts present that in Might, simply two weeks earlier than travelling to Gaza, Mulford sought to recruit US army veterans who comply with him on Fb, inviting anybody who “can nonetheless shoot, transfer and talk” to use.
A screenshot of a repost of a message by Johnny Mulford on Fb, the place Mulford says: “In case you have a fight arms MOS, can nonetheless shoot, transfer and talk, (this will likely be examined) can depart inside the subsequent 12 hours, textual content me. And let’s chat”.
In whole, a minimum of 40 of about 320 individuals employed to work for UG Options in Gaza had been recruited from Infidels MC, in line with an estimate by a former contractor.
UG Options is paying every contractor $980 (£720) per day together with bills, rising to $1,580 (£1,160) per day for crew leaders at GHF’s “protected distribution websites”, paperwork seen by the BBC present.
One chief of a crew in Gaza overseeing web site safety, Josh Miller, posted a photograph of a gaggle of contractors in Gaza with a banner studying “Make Gaza Nice Once more”.
The banner advertises the brand of an organization he owns which sells T-shirts and different clothes, together with one which has the slogan “embrace violence” and one other which says: “Surf all day, rockets all night time. Gaza summer season 25.”
His firm additionally posted a video on-line displaying scenes of gun violence and advocating the taking pictures of criminals, with the caption: “Bear in mind, all the time shoot till they’re not a risk!”
Miller has the phrase “Crusader” tattooed throughout his fingers and “1095” on his thumbs. That is the yr when the chief of the Catholic church, Pope City II, launched the primary campaign, attacking Muslims as a “vile race”. Miller didn’t reply to requests for remark.
A publish on the Infidels MC Fb web page promoting “1095” hats says it signifies the beginning of the Crusades, “a army marketing campaign by western European forces to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim management”. The “Holy Land” refers back to the space largely lined by modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Johnny Mulford, who along with main the gang is listed because the registered agent of a Florida firm known as Infidels MC, has the date 1095 tattooed throughout his chest. He has a Crusader cross tattooed on his proper forearm and one other on his left higher arm together with the phrase “Infidels”.
“Whenever you see anti-Muslim bigots right now celebrating 1095, celebrating the Crusades, they’re celebrating the wholesale bloodbath of Muslims — the erasure of Muslims and Jews from the holy metropolis of Jerusalem,” stated Mr Mitchell from the US Muslim civil rights organisation CAIR.
He stated the gang had the hallmarks of anti-Muslim hate teams which for many years have used the identify “Infidels”.
Anti-Islamic views expressed by the gang embody a flyer for the pig roast throughout Ramadan, which the BBC discovered on an archived internet web page. It says: “In defiance of the Islamic vacation of Ramadan… we invite you to attend the Infidels MC Colorado Springs Chapter open bike occasion & pig roast.”
The flyer additionally exhibits a girl carrying a burka that has been torn off from the neck down, exposing her chest.
The Infidels MC Fb web page has hosted clearly Islamophobic discussions. In 2020 the membership shared a hyperlink to a false, satirical article claiming 4 US Democratic politicians, two of them Muslim, needed the Bible to be deemed hate speech.
Feedback from members of the Fb group included: “Filling my journal to the max. Wouldn’t be the primary time we had been at odds with muslims”; “Deport these pathetic skanks to a pathetic third world crap gap the place they will not be offended by the Holy Bible.
As of Wednesday, the feedback stay on the Infidels MC Fb web page.
The Infidels MC web site additionally used to point out the cranium brand of the violent Marvel comedian guide character Punisher, a logo appropriated by white supremacist teams, inscribed with “kafir” in Arabic script — which interprets as “unbeliever” (or “infidel”).
Scenes of chaos and hazard have been widespread on the assist distribution websites in Gaza since they opened on the finish of Might. As much as 2 September, 1,135 kids, ladies and men had been killed close to GHF websites whereas in search of meals, in line with the United Nations Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The UN has stated many of the killings seem to have been carried out by Israeli safety forces. Incidents the place civilians had been harmed whereas in search of assist are “underneath evaluation by the competent authorities within the IDF”, the Israeli army stated.
UGS has denied allegations that its safety contractors additionally fired on civilians and that it put individuals in search of meals at risk because of incompetent management. Nonetheless, the corporate has admitted that warning photographs have been used to disperse crowds.
In a press release, UG Options, primarily based in North Carolina, stated Johnny Mulford is a “trusted and revered determine” with greater than 30 years’ expertise supporting the US and its allies globally. “We stand by his repute, report, and his contributions to the success of advanced missions,” the corporate stated.
“We don’t display for private hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job efficiency or safety requirements. Each crew member undergoes complete background checks, and solely certified, vetted people are deployed on UG Options operations,” UGS stated.
The Gaza Humanitarian Basis stated it depends on “individuals from all backgrounds” to supply assist in Gaza and to construct belief with Gazans.
“The crew offering assist on the Basis’s websites is various — and it’s profitable for that purpose,” the GHF stated. — BBC
