Yahweh ben Yahweh (born Hulon Mitchell Jr.; October 27, 1935 – May 7, 2007) was an American religious leader,

Black separatist Black separatism is a separatist political movement that seeks separate economic and cultural development for those of African descent in societies, particularly in the United States. Black separatism stems from the idea of racial solidarity, a ...

and founder of the

Nation of Yahweh The Nation of Yahweh is predominantly a Black Hebrew Israelite religious movement which was founded in 1979 in Miami by Hulon Mitchell Jr., who went by the name Yahweh ben Yahweh. (Yahweh is the proper name of the Abrahamic god, so Yahweh ben Ya ...

, a

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in ...

headquartered in Florida that had thousands of Black American devotees at its peak. He preached that Jesus is Black, but white devils are in charge temporarily, and he was accused of teaching hate. Yahweh was indicted on three counts of federal

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

charges, of which he was found not guilty. However, he was convicted of

conspiracy to commit murder Conspiracy to murder is a statutory offence defined by the intent to commit murder. England and Wales The offence of conspiracy to murder was created in statutory law by section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and retained as ...

Early life

Yahweh ben Yahweh was born Hulon Mitchell Jr. on October 27, 1935. One of 15 children born to Hulon Mitchell Sr., the minister of the Antioch Church of God in Christ in Enid, Oklahoma, and Pearl O. Mitchell (nee Leatherman), pianist for the same congregation. After leaving Oklahoma, Mitchell joined the military and then attended law school. He moved to Atlanta, where in the 1960s he joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) and took the name Hulon X. After leaving the NOI in the late 1960s, he became a

faith healing Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...

Christian preacher and named himself Father Mitchell, fashioning himself after

Father Divine Father Divine (September 10, 1965), also known as Reverend M. J. Divine, was an African-American spiritual leader from about 1907 until his death in 1965. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "t ...

and Samuel "Father Jehovia" Morris, two African-American ministers and self-proclaimed divine connections to God who were active during the early 20th century. Mitchell arrived in Miami, Florida in 1978, where he gathered members of the city's

Black Hebrew Israelite Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and African Hebrew Israelites) are groups of African Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups belie ...

congregations and founded the

Leader of the Nation of Yahweh

The Nation of Yahweh set up its headquarters in

Liberty City, Florida Liberty City is a neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood in Miami, Florida, United States. The area is roughly bound by Florida State Road 934, NW 79th Street to the north, Florida State Road 9, NW 27th Avenue to the west, the Airport Expressway ...

in 1979. Broadly classified as a branch of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, Mitchell's doctrine emphasized the belief that God and all of the prophets of the Bible were black and that blacks would gain the knowledge of their true history through Mitchell. He also characterized whites and Jews as infidels and oppressors. Mitchell emphasized loyalty to himself as the son of God. Mitchell's business and charity efforts earned him respect in the community. Then-Miami mayor

Xavier Suárez Xavier Louis Suarez (born May 21, 1949) is an American politician who was the first Cuban-born Mayor of Miami and was a Miami-Dade county commissioner. Early life and education He was born on May 21, 1949, in Las Villas, Cuba. Suarez attended ...

declared Yahweh ben Yahweh Day on October 7, 1990, a month before Ben Yahweh's indictment.

Crimes and aftermath

Although Yahweh ben Yahweh's followers remained devoted to him, he was in trouble with the law by the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2001, he served eleven years of an eighteen-year sentence on a

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

(RICO) conviction after he and several other Nation of Yahweh members were convicted of conspiracy for the role of ex-followers in more than a dozen murders.

Robert Rozier Robert Earnest Rozier Jr. (born July 28, 1955) is an American murderer and former defensive end. Born in Alaska but raised in California, Rozier was a high-school and collegiate athlete before briefly playing professional gridiron football. I ...

, a former NFL player and a devotee of Mitchell, confessed to seven of these murders.Walsh, Anthony (2005). African Americans and Serial Killing in the Media: The Myth and the Reality. Homicide Studies Vol. 9 No. 4, November 2005 271-291; Ben Yahweh faced conviction only for conspiracy to murder. A primary component of the prosecution's case was Rozier, who testified in return for a lighter sentence. Rozier later entered the

Witness Protection Program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

, but returned to prison on a sentence of 25 years to life under California's

three strikes law In the United States, habitual offender laws (commonly referred to as three-strikes laws) have been implemented since at least 1952, and are part of the United States Justice Department's Anti-Violence Strategy. These laws require a person who ...

, following a

check kiting Check kiting or cheque kiting (see spelling differences) is a form of check fraud, involving taking advantage of the float to make use of non-existent funds in a checking or other bank account. In this way, instead of being used as a negotiabl ...

conviction. Mitchell had the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

ID# 22031-034. Ben Yahweh was released on parole in 2001 and returned to Miami, but his activities were restricted until a few months before his death. He was prohibited from reconnecting with his old congregation. To ensure this, he was restricted from any form of speech by Internet, telephone, computer, radio or television that could place him in contact with any Nation of Yahweh members.

Last years and death

In 2006, as he became increasingly ill with prostate cancer, Jayne Weintraub, ben Yahweh’s attorney, petitioned the U.S. District Court for his release from parole to permit him to "

die with dignity Dignified death, death with dignity, dying with dignity or dignity in dying is an ethical concept that refers to the end-of-life process avoiding suffering and maintaining control and autonomy. In general, it is usually treated as an extension of t ...

".Cult leader linked to beheadings asks to 'die with dignity'

CNN.com CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, October 6, 2006. Mitchell died on May 7, 2007 at the age of 71. The location was not disclosed. "Yahweh will be remembered and mourned by the millions of people that he touched through prayer and teachings", his lawyers, Jayne Weintraub and Steven Potolsky, said in a joint statement.

Television

The story of the police investigation and prosecution of Yahweh ben Yahweh is the subject of an episode of ''

The FBI Files ''The FBI Files'' is an American television docudrama series that originally ran from 1998 to 2006 on the Discovery Channel and produced by New Dominion Pictures. The show was cancelled in 2006. However, Court TV Mystery, Discovery, and its siste ...

'' titled "Temple of Fear" (Season 3, Episode 10) as well as an Investigation Discovery Channel episode of ''Most Infamous'' (Season 2, Episode1).

Family

One of Mitchell's siblings is

Leona Mitchell Leona Pearl Mitchell (born October 13, 1949, Enid, Oklahoma) is an American operatic Grammy Award-winning soprano who sang for 18 seasons as a leading spinto soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In her home state of Oklahoma, she rec ...

, his younger sister, soprano who sang at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

References

External links

Official website of Yahweh Ben Yahweh and Nation of YahwehArticle at TruTV's Crime Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yahweh Ben Yahweh 1935 births 2007 deaths People from Kingfisher, Oklahoma African and Black nationalists American people convicted of murder Black supremacists Black Hebrew Israelite religious leaders Cult leaders Former Pentecostals Deaths from prostate cancer Self-declared messiahs Members of the clergy convicted of murder Deaths from cancer in Florida People convicted of murder by the United States federal government American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California American members of the clergy convicted of crimes Former Nation of Islam members 20th-century American clergy 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Founders of new religious movements Deified people