False Prophet: The Life and Lies of Dwight York and the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, for inwardly they are ravening wolves"
-Matthew 7:15

16 years ago, in rural Putnam County, Georgia, residents of the small town of Eatonton found themselves under siege.
It was the morning of May 8, 2002. On that day, hundreds of agents from the FBI, ATF, Georgia State Police, and local officers from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office launched a swift, full scale raid on the compound of a mysterious sect that had settled there nearly ten years earlier.

The target of the raid was the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a bizarre black supremacist sect led by a charming, predatory ex-con who went by many names. He called himself Malachi Zodak York, Issa al-Haadi al-Mahdi, the Grand Mufti, and many other strange titles. He claimed to be a prophet, a superman, the reincarnation of Muhammad, a Native American chieftain, a pharaoh, and even an alien savior sent from another galaxy.

But his true name was simply Dwight D. York, and, in the end, he would be exposed as nothing more than a predatory, psychopathic con-man.

York had caused a stir in the small town of Eatonton, Georgia, since he and his several-hundred followers moved there in the early 1990s, but no one knew just how twisted and perverted York’s history truly was. No one knew of his dark past and his abhorrent lusts and his horrific crimes.

With the raids, the dark, disturbing past of Dwight York, the past he tried to keep hidden from everyone, would finally be brought to light.

Dwight York: The Evil Within

Much of Dwight York’s early life, even the exact date and location of his birth, remains shrouded in mystery. York has alternately claimed to have been born in Sudan, Ghana, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Egypt, Liberia, or even “Planet Rizq” in the “19th galaxy of Illyuwn”.

According to his birth certificate, however, Dwight D. York was born on June 26, 1945, in Boston, Massachusetts, to a working-class family.

It's still unclear exactly when or how York became involved in racism and the Black Power movement, but what is known for certain is that Dwight York became a member of the Black Panther Party at an early age, and this is likely where he first became involved with issues of race. Unlike figures such as Martin Luther King, however, Dwight York would use the issue of race to fulfill his own greedy desires.

At the age of 12, York claimed to have had a religious experience, and he turned to studying Islam. Moving to New Jersey as an adolescent, York joined a pseudo-religious black supremacist sect called the Moorish Science Temple of America, which preached tax resistance and black nationalism through a distorted mix of Sunni Islam and Sufism. While studying in the Moorish Science Temple, York learned how to incorporate religion and race together into a useful tool to use as a recruitment tool and gain followers.

By this time, York was no stranger to the law. From an early age, York had been arrested for numerous crimes, such as assault and burglary. At the age of 19, York was arrested for having sex with a 13 year old girl, and was charged with statutory rape. Released on bond, York was arrested again for being involved in a gang fight. York fought with the policeman arresting him, and was later convicted of statutory rape, disorderly conduct, possession of a dangerous weapon, and assaulting an officer. He served 3 years in prison before being released on parole.

But, once he was out of prison, York's deviant behavior continued. And as the young career-criminal returned to the streets, his audacity, greed, and lust became his gospel.

Birth of a Cult: The Ansaru Allah Community

Released on parole in 1967, York married a woman named Dorothy Johnson and returned to the Moorish Temple. However, York eventually grew disillusioned with the group. After leaving the Moorish temple, York founded a small organization called the “Nubian Islamic Hebrews”, attempting to form a competing group with the more popular Black Hebrew Israelite movement.

The Nubian Islamic Hebrews did not last too long. York hardly attracted any converts, although the ones he did attract were often violent members of the Black Panther movement. One of York’s most enthusiastic converts, a man named Lawrence Townsend, later became involved in two shootouts with police in Connecticut, an attempted bombing, and, eventually, the murder of a local radio manager. (Townsend is currently serving a life sentence for that crime).

In the 1970s, York founded a group called the Ansaru Allah Community, a black supremacist cult following a Sunni Muslim theology. York referred to himself as “Imam Isa”, and proclaimed that he wanted to form a “pure” community to raise children in a religious lifestyle.

The Ansaru Allah Community followed a mix of Sunni Islamism and black supremacy, blended with elements of racial separatism, Sufism, and York's own self-worship.

York knew that racial tension in Brooklyn was high. In 1972, police were involved in a shootout with members of the Nation of Islam, another black supremacist cult. The gun battle resulted in the death of an NYPD officer and the arrest of NOI member Louis X. Dupree. After a racially charged trial, Dupree was acquitted, but tensions remained between the black community and members of law enforcement.

A master manipulator, York saw his chance to form his own personal empire. He knew he could seize on this racial unrest and use it to pull people into his grasp. York knew that many black Muslims were eager to find a sense of belonging, and he was more than happy to provide an outlet for their frustrations.

Subsequently, when the Ansaru Allah Community settled in Brooklyn, membership in the cult exploded. Ansaru Allah quickly gained traction, accumulating about 3,000 followers by the end of the 1970s, and York was able to set up religious bookstores in the United States, Britain, Trinidad, and Canada.

York preaches to his followers in the Ansaru Allah Community

York also soon became interested in hip-hop, and set up his own band, which he called "Passion", and his own record company, which he called "York's Records". York himself adopted the moniker “Doctor Love”. The music was all part of his plan to spread his message as far and as wide as he could, attempting to gather as many followers as possible.
Some of the members of Passion, such as Leon Pendarvis, (who would later go on to play for Saturday Night Live), Ray Martinez, Kashif Saleem, and François Kevorkian, would later become famous musicians and icons.

York, however, was far from a master musician, and his band didn't last very long or gain much attention. Regardless of his lack of musical talent, York's music still is popular among the rap and hip-hop genre.

In fact, one of the earliest music videos of famous rapper Jay-Z even featured a picture of York, and the performers in the video wore AAC-style clothes.

A still from Jay-Z's 1990 music video "The Originators", depicting performers dressed in AAC-style clothing and holding up a picture of Dwight York.

Early Perversions

Headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, the Ansaru Allah Community garnered little attention from the media. Unwilling to further stoke racial unrest and weary of bad press, the police more or less ignored the Ansaru Allah Community in hopes of smoothing over relations with the black community.

Unfortunately, this enabled York to go to extreme measures in conning the members of his commune out of their money, property, and even their children.

York controlled every aspect of his adherents’ lives. All members of the AAC were required to turn over all “material possessions” to York and do hard labor without pay.
They were forced to live in cramped barracks in a medium-sized Brooklyn apartment building, often with about 400 other cult members. (To this day, the building is still owned by York’s followers).

Despite his ravings against the white race’s “materialism”, York did not hesitate to indulge himself in material lusts, namely sex, money and power. Although he put on the facade of a deeply religious, selfless community leader, York was, in truth, a predatory con-man, and he would stop at nothing to acquire what he wanted.

York gave his members daily quotas to meet, requiring them to earn about $25-$100 a day by selling religious books, tracts, incense, or other items. Those who did not meet their quotas were severely beaten by York’s thugs. Fearful of York’s brutality, many cult members turned to robbery and other criminal acts in order to meet their quotas.

But what York controlled the most about his followers was their sex lives. Dwight York was obsessed with sex. Any cult members wishing to procreate would have to get special permission from York, who would have them have sex in a special room. Frequently, York would impregnate the women of his cult in order for them to receive welfare benefits (money which, of course, he would immediately appropriate).

York also took a sickening interest in young children to satisfy his perverted sexual lusts. It did not matter whether they were boys or girls, toddlers or teenagers, or whether or not they consented to his sexual advances. To Dwight York, children were nothing more than a tool for him to use as he pleased. They existed only to please him, and nothing more.

The Expose: Mainstream Muslims vs. Dwight York

At first, mainstream Muslim organizations tolerated York’s unusual interpretation of Islam.
But, as York’s empire inflated, so did his ego, and the AAC’s Muslim faith began being replaced by York’s narcissism. York proclaimed that the Prophet Muhammad himself had appointed him the next Prophet of Islam.

York began publishing lewd tracts, twisting the Quran to justify his sexual lusts and his taking of multiple wives. He wrote books defending anal sex, adultery, and polygamy as permissible under Islam. As with all of York’s books, he also included a heavy dose of anti-white hatred.

York denounced white people as “blue-eyed devils” and “apes”, half breeds who were “cursed with leprosy” and “descended to the level of animals”. Christianity was an invention by Satan, he proclaimed, to lure black people away from their true heritage. Christmas was a “hoax” put forth by “The Paleman” to destroy the Nubian race, and Santa Claus was a manifestation of the Devil.

Interracial relationships between “Nubians” and “the cursed Paleman” were discouraged.
Furthermore, in a blatant display of hypocrisy, York accused the “Devil Paleman” of attempting to remove age of consent laws in order to sexually abuse young black children.

By now, many Muslim organizations had become fed up with York’s twisting of Islamic doctrine and proclamations of personal divinity. A prominent Muslim cleric, Bilal Phillips, published an expose of York’s group, entitled The Ansar Cult in America, and local community leaders publicly criticized the AAC as deviating from Islam and branded York as a heretic.

York responded to his critics in a predictable manner. He published his own manifesto attacking Bilal Phillips, entitled Rebuttal to the Slanderers. In a direct attack on Phillips, York declared in his manifesto that “one of the names of the Devil is Bilal”, adding, in all caps, “THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE!”.

Despite his almost laughable attempts to discredit his critics, there are suspicions that, in some cases, York went far beyond simply publishing rebuttals in an attempt to silence those who spoke against him. In fact, one of York's most outspoken critics, a man named Horace Green, would later turn up dead, the victim of what may very well have been an assassination.

Horace Green, the Shotgun Gang, and Race-Baiting

It was about 7:00 AM on the morning of April 19, 1979. Local community activist and outspoken AAC critic Horace Green left his home on Bushwick Avenue (the same street which housed the AAC’s headquarters) and drove to the daycare center where he worked.

As Green exited his car to enter the building, a robed, bearded black man jumped from behind a trash can and fired four shots from a revolver into Green’s back, killing the highly-respected father and school-board member instantly.

The shooter fled the scene before he could be apprehended, and to this day he remains unidentified. There was no robbery, no exchange of words, no fight or tussle. Green had no connections to any outlaws, nor did he owe anyone money. He had no enemies, and was beloved by the community. It seemed to police that Horace Green had been murdered for no reason.

But it has been theorized that Horace Green’s murder may have been connected to his opposition to the strong-armed methods of Dwight York and his cult. Before the murder, York’s private security team, which police believed was running a protection racket, aggressively attempted to buy up property in the area. Locals had complained to Horace Green, and Green was about to go to the authorities to address the issue.

Years after the murder of Horace Green, the local police learned that the FBI was investigating the Ansaru Allah Community in connection with a string of violent bank robberies in Maryland and New Jersey. A group of robbers, dubbed the “Shotgun Gang” by the press, had been robbing banks, stores, and betting shops, shooting people who got in their way. Eventually, police managed to corner the gang, killing one of the robbers in a shootout and arresting four others.

There were many connections between the Shotgun Gang and the AAC. The getaway car used by the robbers was registered to the wife of a prominent AAC member. The pagers carried by the robbers were also registered to the AAC, and some of the gang members were followers of York.

Furthermore, the FBI identified a probable suspect in the murder of Horace Green, a young man named Roy Savage. Savage, who also called himself Hashim Muhammad, was one of York’s most ardent and closest followers.

Savage was a leader in York’s private paramilitary force, called the Mujahid, and he closely resembled the police sketch of the man who witnesses said shot Horace Green.

Roy Savage was one of Dwight York's most ardent followers, and he closely resembled a police sketch of the gunman who killed Horace Green. Savage would later be convicted of two other murders and sentenced to death (later reduced to 88 years).

Soon, York became aware that law enforcement was taking an interest in his group and in his activities. York knew that if the investigation into him progressed, the FBI would soon uncover his dark deeds and the intricate workings of his criminal empire. Worse, they would likely find out about his sick habit of molesting and raping children. With his previous criminal record still on file, York knew that another sex crime conviction could send him to jail for life.

But York also knew that he had two key advantages: his skin color and New York's unstable racial tensions. York knew that relations between the black community and law enforcement were still very fraught with division. A master manipulator to the core, York saw his opportunity and seized it. As a black man and a leader of a black "religious community", York knew could easily accuse the police of racism and thereby discredit their investigation into him.

The emerging atmosphere of runaway political correctness and volatile racial tension provided York with the perfect set of circumstances to set forth his plan. After branding the authorities as racists and bigots, and sewing enough racial chaos into the fray, York knew he could cause the entire police investigation of the AAC to fall apart. Bad publicity against the police would cause people to flock to York's side and discredit any investigation against him.

York soon set his plan into action, and began publicly accusing the NYPD and the FBI of hating black people and of harassing his organization simply because he was a black "community leader". He complained that the "racist" white establishment was persecuting him for his race, and he rambled about the existence of a white conspiracy to undermine black culture.

York's tactic worked. Because the police didn’t want to offend the black community, the investigation into York’s group was eventually dropped. Police couldn't pursue a well-liked black leader without risking bad press and even more racial violence. It was clear that any investigation into York and his cult would only further strain the already fraught racial tensions between the police and the black community.

Local officials, especially those in the black community, were now praising York as a leader and a role model for African-Americans. Even the mayor of New York City, Edward Koch, publicly came to York's defense, writing a praise-filled letter to him in which he commended his ability in "cleaning up" Brooklyn and ridding communities of crime and drugs.

For now, York could continue to do as he pleased. His tactic against the police had been successful. His use of political correctness and race baiting as a shield had saved his neck and utterly destroyed the investigation into the Ansaru Allah Community.

Roy Savage, who had a long criminal record for assault and drug possession, was later arrested for the gruesome killing and dismemberment of two New Jersey women in 1983. Even when York publicly distanced himself from Savage, denouncing him as a “nut”, Savage remained fanatically loyal to the cult leader, writing him fan mail and refusing to talk to investigators about the Green murder.

Found guilty of the murder of the two women in 1985, Roy Savage was sentenced to death by lethal injection. On appeal, Savage’s conviction was overturned and his death sentence vacated. After being tried again for the murders, Savage was again found guilty, but was sentenced to 88 years. He still remains in prison, and has never been charged in connection with the murder of Horace Green.

Camp Jazzir Abba

By now, York was cautiously aware that the police were taking interest in his activities. Attempting to avoid scrutiny, York decided to leave the urban environment of Brooklyn and head upstate.

In 1983, York purchased a large plot of land in Sullivan County, NY, for $100,000. On the property, he constructed a compound which he called “Camp Jazzir Abba”. Camp Jazzir Abba consisted of numerous shabby trailer homes scattered around the property, and the compound itself was guarded by heavily-armed members of the Mujahid.
York himself lived in a giant mansion on the compound, complete with a jacuzzi, indoor swimming pool, and a recording studio.

Whenever he arrived at Camp Jazzir Abba, York would always be sure to bring a van full of young girls with him. His twisted lusts and desires could not be stifled.

Frequently, York would call in dozens of young girls and boys into a special trailer at the camp, where he would show them pornographic videos, teach them to perform sex acts, and then rape them. York used all of the women in the cult as his personal harem, having sex with whomever he wanted, whenever he wanted. When any of the women got pregnant, York kicked them out of the cult, refusing to give them money or any form of financial support.

This sort of behavior went on for ten years before York, probably worried about police inquiries, spontaneously decided to leave New York for good. In April of 1993, the members of the Ansaru Allah Community piled into vans and left Camp Jazzir Abba. They were heading to their new home, a 400-acre ranch in rural Putnam County, Georgia.

Eatonton

Located about 70 miles southeast of Atlanta, Eatonton is a small, rural city in Putnam County, Georgia. With a population of a little over 6,000 people, Eatonton, called the “Dairy Capital of Georgia”, is a very close-knit community, sheltered from the violence and crime of the inner cities. The population is diverse, but, for the most part, gets along. Nothing out of the ordinary really goes on in this rural community.

So it raised eyebrows for the locals when, out of nowhere, dozens, and soon hundreds, of black men, women, and children suddenly began showing up in their little city, dressed in funny clothes and professing strange beliefs. They became known as the “Yorks” by the locals, but, to many people, the newcomers were little more than a bizarre commune, and didn't appear threatening.

The “Yorks” bought a 400-acre plot of land at 404 Shady Dale Road just outside Eatonton. There, they set up camp, constructing a bizarre compound. The people of Eatonton didn’t know it yet, but the siege of their city by Dwight York had just begun. 

Nuwaubianism is Born

By 1996, three years after moving to Eatonton, Dwight York had all but abandoned much of his cult’s previous beliefs. Instead of a Muslim prophet, Dwight York now decided he wanted to be a Native American chieftain. He renamed his group the “Yammassee Native American Moors of the Creek Nation”, erected totem poles at his Eatonton compound, and began calling himself “Chief Black Eagle”.

York as "Chief Black Eagle"

It wasn’t long before York applied to open a casino, claiming his “tribe” had the right to operate a gambling business. When it was denied, the “Yammassee Native American Moors” underwent a final, and incredibly bizarre transformation.

After his casino application was rejected, York’s cult became even more outlandish. The “Yammassee Moors” morphed into the “United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors”. The religion of Nuwaubianism was born, and it was all centered around the disturbed, narcissistic mind of its leader.

Wrong Knowledge: The Bizarre Tenets of Nuwaubianism and York’s Narcissism

It is impossible to completely and accurately explain the tenets of Nuwaubianism, because it almost totally lacks internal consistency.

In a nutshell, though, Nuwaubianism is a bizarre, outlandish theology that mixes elements of black supremacy, Ancient Egyptian beliefs, anti-white racism, UFOs, Afrocentrism, Native American beliefs, New Ageism, meditation, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, “sovereign citizen” ideology, pseudohistory, tax evasion, conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and the Bilderbergs, Atlantis, and elements of York’s own uncontrollable egomania.

This Nuwaubian poster is a typical example of York's grandiose narcissism.
York often portrayed himself as a prophet or even God Himself reincarnated.

York was no longer “Imam Isa”. Instead, he went by the moniker of “Dr. Malachi Zodak York”, "Maku", "Rev. Malachi Kobina York-El", or a slew of other strange aliases. Now, instead of a Prophet of Islam, York was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, or, alternatively, an alien sent from the “Planet Rizq” in the “19th Galaxy of Illyuwn” to save the people of Earth from impending Armageddon.

To its adherents, Nuwaubianism is not a “theology” but “factology” or “right knowledge”. Some of the weirder beliefs of this “factology” included claims that:

    •    It was important to destroy the afterbirth, otherwise Satan would use it to create a duplicate child
    •    Humans used to be completely symmetrical, but a meteorite hit the earth, which tilted the axis and caused the heart to move off-center. This is also why people have right-and-left-handedness.
    •    Nikola Tesla was secretly an alien from Venus
    •    Abortion is an evil plot by the “Paleman” to destroy the “Nubian” race. Furthermore, aborted fetuses are being gathered in sewers by Satan in order to take over the world.
    •    Men were invented by women through genetic experimentation
    •    Everyone has seven clones living throughout the world
    •    The Human race was created on Mars
    •    The apparition of the Angel Gabriel that appeared to the Prophet Muhammad was actually an alien hologram. Aliens recorded this event and later showed it to Adolf Hitler
    •    The Illuminati (who else?) have nurtured a son of the Devil, who was born on 6/6/1966 to Jacqueline Kennedy (of course!) and Satan. This baby is hooked up to a secret computer called “The Beast 3666” in Belgium, and the Pope is in on the conspiracy.
     •  Blacks are born with a gland that allows them to have telepathic powers, but white doctors have conspired to have these glands removed at birth (although York claimed that he retained his)
    •    Freemasonry is a secret invention by an alien named Yoda (yes, Yoda)

As always, York made sure to include a heaping dose of anti-white racism in his theology. Whites, he taught, were “Pale Devils”; reptilian mutants cursed with leprosy. These cursed mutants, he said, “descended to the level of animals”, walking around on all fours, eating raw carcasses, and mating with dogs which would “lick the festered sores” of whites (which was also the source of AIDS). York wrote of white people: "They loved the dog so much that they turned his name around to worship it, DOG = GOD."

Blacks, however, were descended from an advanced alien race from Planet Rizq.
The “Rizqians”, claimed York, originally had green skin, but it rusted in Earth’s atmosphere and turned black, whereupon they became known as the "Nubians".
The “Nubian race”, according to York, built the Egyptian Pyramids and the Ancient Egyptians were all black people. Blacks, claimed York, were also the original Native Americans and Jews, and were responsible for every technological advancement in human history, from space travel to rocket science to Shakespeare’s plays and even Beethoven’s symphonies.

Of course, the “Nubian race” also played a role in the founding of the United States, said York. George Washington was not, in fact, the first president of America, York said; he was the ninth.
The first president of the United States, said York, was a black man, a “Moor” named John Hanson, and his presidency was not in the history books because white people were trying to "whitewash" history and create a false narrative of America's origins.

But it wasn’t just false history that York was peddling. He even peddled a false pseudo-language, which he called “Nuwaubic”, that attached false etymology to everyday English words.

For instance, take the word “exact”. According to York, the word “exact” came from “eggs” and “act”, so “exact” could mean breaking an egg.
The word "dyslexia", similarly, came from "dys", meaning "against" and "lexia", meaning "law", so "dyslexia" meant "to go against the law". And the word “Caucasian”, of course, came from “Carcass-Asian” or “degenerate Asian”, yet another example of York’s undying hatred of white people.

Also, Nuwaubians weren’t supposed to “believe” in their theology. “Believe”, York taught, came from “Be-lie-Eve”, or to “lie to Eve’s children”. And while most people would “understand” their theology, Nuwaubians would “overstand” it.

York’s lies had no limit. Everything about Nuwaubianism, from history to language itself, was a lie.

As for York himself, he was, in all aspects, a divine God, a “Master Teacher”, and a messiah in the flesh.

York often liked to dress up as a Pharaoh and wear colored contact lenses.

York was an alien savior sent from Planet Rizq, he said, to teach black people of their true heritage and ancestry. He would gather them in the sovereign Nuwaubian Nation, where they would have their own laws, passports, and currency. York was the man who would save the black race from the coming apocalypse, and, one day, UFOs would land in Georgia to bring him and the Nuwaubians back home to Planet Rizq in the galaxy of Ilyuwn, where they would live forever in paradise.

But, until that time, all material possessions, be it money, property, or sex, belonged to York and only to York.

York also published a series of religious texts which he called the “Holy Tablets”, and additionally wrote hundreds of different religious tracts. Much of York’s work was, in fact, plagiarized from thousands of other New Age texts. He would photocopy pages from other books, switch a few words around, capitalize the first letter of every word (whether it was a proper noun or not), change the title, and hence a new “book” was created.

Tama Re: Egypt of the West

It wasn’t long before York and the Nuwaubians began constructing a compound on the farmland of 404 Shady Dale Road. By 1997, the Nuwaubians had constructed a small, Ancient Egyptian-themed city, which they called “Tama Re” or the “Holy Land”.

Tama Re as seen from the air

Tama Re consisted of numerous Egyptian-style structures made out of stucco and plywood. At the entrance to the compound was an Egyptian-style arch, which also housed a security office. Proceeding through the gate and the armed guards would take one down a dirt road lined with flags and statues of animals and Ancient Egyptian gods. A small mulch pit lay off to the side of the road to greet newcomers, decorated with a gigantic sign reading "John 3:16" and a collection of white rocks arranged to spell "WELCOME TO THE HOLY LAND".

Two giant pyramids were also erected on the property; a black pyramid used as a religious temple, ringed by a maze, and a golden-brown pyramid which served as a bookstore. Leading to the second pyramid was a small bridge, which went over a moat containing exotic fish. Brightly-colored, sphinx-shaped fountains lined the sides of the moat, along with some stucco palm trees and neatly-trimmed bushes.

The golden-brown pyramid which served as Tama Re's bookstore

Inside the bookstore pyramid, people could buy Nuwaubian literature or go upstairs to the small cafe, which was rarely open because of the heat. Outside the bookstore pyramid was an outdoor courtyard, which was packed with tables, chairs, and colorful umbrellas.

At the black pyramid, a loudspeaker was fixed to the top of the structure, which broadcast a nonstop “Om” chant 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every once in a while, some Nuwaubian priests, wearing religious robes, would march out of the black pyramid and through the ringed maze, carrying Ark of the Covenant-style vessels and chanting bizarre incantations.

Nuwaubian children play in the maze surrounding Tama Re's black pyramid

Egyptian obelisks, monuments, frescoes, ornate sundials, and statues of black pharaohs went up all around the property. An outdoor altar even featured a black Jesus, crucified on an Egyptian Ankh. To the left side of the compound was a gigantic styrofoam sphinx, decorated in Egyptian garb and surrounded by Nuwaubian and Egyptian inscriptions.

Tama-Re's giant styrofoam sphinx, with the black pyramid in the background.

Several Egyptian obelisks were also erected, decorated with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting black-skinned Egyptian priests praying to UFOs. An Egyptian temple was also set up to serve as a Black History Museum. Nearby was another brightly-painted fountain, with a statue of a black Isis standing at the top, arms and wings outstretched.

The statue of Isis at Tama Re

To the back of the compound, down another small dirt road, was an ornate, well-manicured garden, surrounded by bright green walls decorated with Arabic inscriptions. Here, people could meditate or admire the flowers planted by fellow cult members.

Nearby was a small outdoor stage, decorated with Egyptian symbols and complete with a curtain. Here, York occasionally held performances by hip-hop bands or gave long, loud, rambling sermons to his followers in which he preached the lies of his false religion to all those who could hear him.

York addresses his followers from the stage at Tama Re.

A little train was also set up to ferry people around the property, and a small playground was constructed for children to have fun while their parents worked in several of the cult’s offices and print shops.

Dwight York had his cult produce plastic toy dolls in his likeness, which were sold at Tama Re's bookstore.
It is yet another flamboyant example of York's malignant narcissism.

The Nuwaubians even printed their own currency; dollar-style bills which featured an image of Dwight York clad in Pharaoh garb. This currency could be used to buy books, clothes, cassette tapes of York’s lectures, Nuwaubian flags, “Moorish” license plates, Tama Re postcards, and even toy dolls of York himself at Tama Re’s bookstore in one of the pyramids. Of course, one would have to exchange actual money in order to obtain this Nuwaubian currency. York never gave it out for free.

An example of a Nuwaubian dollar bill used as currency on Tama Re, complete with York's picture on the front.

In the center of the compound was a series of trailer homes, designated “Biga Village”, which would house cult members who lived on the property. When Biga Village became too crowded, a large brick building, known by cult members as the “Barn”, was built across the road, along with several warehouses and garages.

To the outsider’s eye, Tama Re looked like a miniature Egyptian paradise, but, like Dwight York himself, it was all a facade.

Living conditions inside Tama Re were horrid. Not wanting the women of his cult to mingle with anyone else but him, York separated the males and females of the compound. Mothers were torn away from their children, brothers were separated from their sisters, and romantic relations between boys and girls were strictly prohibited.

Cult members were charged hundreds of dollars for their Nuwaubian “passports” which enabled them to live on the property. York proclaimed that all material possessions, such as their money and property, belonged to him. He raked in millions of dollars in cash from his adherents, and gave them little in return.

A Nuwaubian "passport" which enabled the bearer to live in Tama Re.

The trailer homes at Biga Village rarely had running water or electricity. Some of the trailers had holes in the floor, which York never bothered to fix. Sanitation was equally horrible, and many trailers had rat problems.
Conditions at “the Barn” were even worse. The building was overcrowded, lacked basic fire protection, and had no electricity.

York's mansion at Tama Re

York himself, however, lived the high life as a millionaire and a virtual God. While his disciples lived in shabby conditions, York used his fortune to buy several houses, and even built a gigantic mansion at Tama Re. The mansion was spacious, luxurious, and was walled off from his less fortunate followers.

York's mansion had a marble floor, two bedrooms, a jacuzzi, a television, running water and electricity, and was full of pictures of himself. In the upper floors of the mansion was a sort of “throne room”, which consisted of elaborately decorated, gilded walls and a golden throne in front of a stained-glass window, surrounded by statues of black Pharaohs and pictures of York.

The "throne room" within York's mansion at Tama Re

On the top floor, past a staircase with a sign reading “DO NOT GO UPSTAIRS”, was a bedroom with a jacuzzi and a four-post, king-sized bed. The room's ceiling was covered with mirrors.

The stairway within York's mansion that led to his bedroom.
Later, stories would emerge of the horrors that took place beyond those stairs.

Shelves in the room were stacked with pornographic movies, lubrication, sex toys, and other paraphernalia, including a video camera.

Most disturbing, however, was a giant, four-foot-tall Pink Panther doll right next to the bed. The doll of the popular cartoon character, designed for children, had a pink penis sewed between its legs. York used the Pink Panther doll to teach children how to perform sex acts, often filming the encounters.
York’s perverse sexual desires truly knew no bounds.

Dwight York used this anatomically-correct Pink Panther doll, complete with a plush pink penis, to teach children to perform sex acts. It is one of the most flamboyant examples of York's disturbing sexual perversions.

Behind York’s mansion at Tama Re was a private outdoor pool and patio, full of toys for the children to use whenever they came over. Next to the mansion was a garage which held numerous expensive cars, including a private limousine decorated with religious symbols.

York's "Zimmer" limousine, decorated with Nuwaubian decals

Every June 26, York’s birthday, York would hold a gigantic “Savior’s Day” festival at Tama Re, where he would invite people to his compound to show their appreciation for him and, of course, donate money as a “birthday present”. Every “Savior’s Day” festival was a major source of income for York, sometimes earning him $500,000 at once.

A "Savior's Day" celebration at Tama Re. York can be seen in the center, wearing a white robe.

York was at the top of the world. He had everything he could have wanted; money, mansions, sex, a harem of women, young girls and boys to abuse at will, and fanatically loyal and devout followers. But York’s ego and lust for power could never be satisfied. He would always want more. His greed, audacity, and egomania consumed everything about him.

York didn’t know it yet, but his insatiable egomania would also eventually spell his downfall.

Building Permits

For the most part, aside from their eye-catching Egyptian structures, the Nuwaubians didn’t attract much attention from other people in Putnam County, Georgia. Many people saw them as little more than a strange curiosity, and paid them little attention.

Some people, however, were uneasy with a cult living in their backyard. The Waco Siege and the mass suicide of Heaven’s Gate had prompted fears of the Nuwaubians in some locals, but Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills tried to calm everyone down. At one point, Sills told a news reporter who was doing a story on the Nuwaubians that there was no reason to believe the cult was dangerous, just that they were odd.

But York would soon change the perspective Sills, and many other locals of Putnam County, would have of the Nuwaubians.

One day in the spring of 1997, Putnam County inspector J.D. “Dizzy” Adams drove to Tama Re, intending to do a routine building inspection to make sure the Nuwaubians were complying with zoning laws in their construction work on the property.

When Adams arrived at Tama Re’s gate, however, the armed Nuwaubian guards refused to let him inside. They yelled at him to go away, even when he explained his business.

Armed Nuwaubians in "uniform" guard the gates of Tama Re

Adams was confused. What were the Nuwaubians hiding? After trying, and failing, a few more times to be allowed into the compound, Adams turned to Sheriff Howard Sills for help.

Sheriff Howard Sills: The Man Who Stood Up to York

Sheriff Howard Sills, shown with
his trademark cigar

Sheriff Howard Sills was a gruff, serious but respected police officer. With a bushy mustache and a distinctive southern drawl, Sills was well known for being a no-nonsense kind of guy. He was tough, and occasionally vulgar, but always fair. If anyone could get Dwight York to allow building inspections, Sills was the man.

Sills didn’t want to alarm the Nuwaubians by coming to the compound in full police uniform, so he wore plainclothes, went with Inspector Adams back to Tama Re, and told the guards that the inspector had a legal authority to make sure the buildings at Tama Re complied with the zoning laws.

Hearing this, the guard phoned Dwight York himself, asking him to come out and talk to Sills.
Soon, York emerged, wearing Nuwaubian robes and lots of jewelry, and headed towards the gate. He was surrounded by an entourage of men, including one who held an umbrella over York’s head to shield him from the sun.

York calmly approached Sills and Adams, at first not saying a word. Once he reached the pair, York’s temper exploded. He launched into a swearing, insulting screed. “This is my fucking land!”, he yelled at Sills. “I can do whatever I damn well want!”

Sills and Adams decided to leave. They didn’t want a confrontation over something as simple as building permits.

The next day, Sills and Adams returned to Tama Re, this time with a posse of uniformed, armed officers. Sills explained that he had a court order to inspect the buildings, and that he didn’t want trouble.

Reluctantly, the Nuwaubians let Adams in to inspect the buildings. For the most part, the inspection went well. The buildings appeared to comply with the zoning laws.
One building under construction, however, had not been issued a building permit. It wasn’t much of a big deal at first. Adams told the Nuwaubians they needed a permit for the building, and a few days later the Nuwaubians obtained a permit to construct a large storage building. York paid a small fine and the police considered the case resolved.

The issue should have ended there, but, of course, York couldn’t help but cause more trouble.

Club Rameses

One day, a few months after the whole building permit fiasco, in early 1998, Sheriff Sills was watching the news. An Atlanta television station was doing a news report on Tama Re. The report mentioned that a nightclub, called “Club Rameses”, was on the Nuwaubian compound. Sills was astonished to see footage of the nightclub, complete with a bar, dance floor, and a statue of Tutankhamun, with Nuwaubians selling alcohol and hosting disco events.
Sills knew immediately that it had to be the same building the Nuwaubians had obtained a permit for.

There was just one problem: The permit had stated that the building was to be used only for storage purposes. There was no permit for a nightclub on Tama Re, nor was there a permit for the Nuwaubians to sell alcohol.

The inside of "Club Ramses", York's illicit nightclub on Tama Re.

Still, Sills wasn’t about to make a big deal out of the incident. He ordered the county fire marshals to inspect Club Rameses to make sure it complied with the fire codes.
The inspection revealed the nightclub was a giant fire hazard. It had no sprinkler system, was overcrowded, had no emergency exits or proper insulation, and was full of patched, exposed wiring.

This time, Sills was not going to let York get away. He was going to shut down Club Rameses for fire code violations and for permit violations.
Sills sued for an injunction to shut down the nightclub and halt construction. The Nuwaubians filed a countersuit, and, after a legal battle, Sills finally obtained an injunction to shut down Club Rameses. The Nuwaubians refused to comply with the injunction, but Sills was not about to let it pass. If the Nuwaubians weren’t going to comply with the law, he would force them to.

But Sills had to be careful. Recently, police in Clayton, Georgia, had informed Sills that they had arrested a group of burglars who gave their addresses as 404 Shady Dale Road, the same address of the Nuwaubian compound. The suspects’ apartment also contained numerous Nuwaubian paraphernalia and some weapons.

In his investigation of the Nuwaubians, Sills also received a report from the FBI outlining their investigation of the Ansaru Allah Community in New York. The FBI report connected York’s cult with numerous bank robberies, assassinations, protection rackets, narcotics rings, arson attacks, shootouts, and other crimes.

Also, Sills had noticed that Nuwaubian cultists were conducting paramilitary training at Tama Re, and York had become increasingly belligerent towards town authorities.

Sills did not want to have a repeat of Waco in his county. He needed to be cautious. There was no telling what lengths York would go to in order to stay ahead of the law.

On May 8, 1998, Sills made his move. Accompanied by 57 police officers, some dressed in riot gear, Sills led a posse of fellow deputies into Tama Re, armed with an injunction. They brushed past the guards at the gate, marched over to the nightclub, and, in about 30 minutes, posted closure notices on the walls of Club Rameses and padlocked the doors. York was not at the compound at the time, but when he returned to find Club Rameses shut down, his temper exploded again.

York was furious with the authorities for shutting down his nightclub. Not only was Club Rameses a big source of income for York, but it also attracted plenty of new recruits for him to con out of their money.

But York had a secret weapon up his sleeve. He knew that if he introduced race into this fray, he, as a black public figure, would instantly gain sympathy. It would be the perfect way to discredit his opponents.

Like he had successfully done in New York to avoid police scrutiny, York once again decided to play the race card, this time against Putnam County.

Eatonton Under Siege

Soon after the nightclub incident, York went on the offensive. He was determined to stoke racial division in Putnam County in order to destroy the police investigation.

Vile flyers began appearing everywhere in Putnam County, branding Sheriff Howard Sills a “race-hater of blacks” and a “Klansman”. A Nuwaubian front group, calling itself the “Concerned Citizens of Eatonton”, began attempting to turn the black and white locals of Putnam County against each other with race-baiting and provocative rhetoric.

The annual Putnam County Dairy Festival also came under assault from the Nuwaubians. A Nuwaubian heckler interrupted the celebration, shouting meaningless slogans against “white devils” and posting provocative, race-baiting flyers screaming “Putnam County Dairy Festival Promotes RACISM!". The Nuwaubian also began screaming at the people dancing at the festival, shrieking “That's the kind of dance they was doing during slavery times!".

But York would go far beyond provocative rhetoric in his attempts to discredit the police investigation into his cult. Howard Sills, Inspector Adams, and numerous other Putnam County officials found themselves the targets of harassment. Sills himself became the target of numerous “common law” liens against his property and several frivolous lawsuits.

The Nuwaubians also began stalking Sills, publishing his address, phone numbers, information about his spouse and relatives, and even posting photos and private information about the sheriff's 8-year-old son. They posted false and degrading allegations that Sills had abused his ex-wife, and began stalking him day in and day out. York additionally hosted long sessions at his compound in which he would lead his group in praying for the death of Sills.

Nuwaubian "marshals" also put out an "arrest warrant" for Sills, and tried to "arrest" him at his home several times. Other Nuwaubians would harass Sills and follow him with video cameras, trying to provoke him into starting a fight.

At one point, Sills was with his wife and young son at the mall when a group of about a dozen Nuwaubian men approached him. Warning his wife to stay in the car with their son, Sills confronted the men, who surrounded and crowded him, cursing and threatening him.
Sills had had enough. He drew a pistol and told the men to back off, which they did.
“They did every fucking thing they could to start an altercation”, Sills would later recall.

County Attorney Dorothy Adams (no relation to inspector Adams) and her husband, Frank Ford, both of whom had been involved in legal action against the Nuwaubians, also became targets of York’s wrath.
Nuwaubian flyers were posted accusing Ford of being a “white devil” and “Klansman”. Dorothy Adams herself returned home one day to find two halves of a hollowed-out carcass of a dog on her driveway. Several months later, two rocks were thrown through the windows of Dorothy Adam’s office, and a man slashed Frank Ford’s car tires. The slasher, Bernard Foster, was a spokesperson for the Nuwaubian Nation.
After these incidents, Dorothy Adams began carrying a pistol in her purse, and she was constantly accompanied by a police escort. Even so, she was constantly followed to and from work by Nuwaubians who yelled vile slogans at her.

Even African-American members of the Putnam County Commission found themselves the targets of York’s divisive campaign. Black commission member Sandra Adams (also no relation to inspector Adams or Dorothy Adams) was branded a “House Nigger”, and a Nuwaubian “WANTED” poster offered a $500 reward for “bombshell” information on her personal life.
Another Nuwaubian pamphlet accused Adams of “[forgetting] she is Negro, and they lynch her kind”. It went on to accuse her daughter of being “half-white” and that Adams herself had had an illicit relationship with a white man, going into salacious detail about the alleged (and nonexistent) affair.

York, of course, always tried to play the victim in this fight. He tried desperately to paint himself as a benevolent black religious leader whose “family” was under assault from the “racist” white establishment. “Please help us!”, said one Nuwaubian flyer. “We smell a Waco in the making!”.

York's aggressive behavior towards Putnam County officials caused great alarm among Eatonton's population.

On June 26, 1998, York held his annual “Savior’s Day” festival at Tama Re, but this time he opened it up to the media. He was hoping the publicity stunt would garner him sympathy and discredit the police and Howard Sills.
York spent most of the festival lambasting and bashing the police for refusing him his zoning permit. He publicly accused the Putnam County Commission of racism, claiming they had refused him the zoning permit simply because he was black. He accused the police investigation of his group of being part of a racist white conspiracy to subjugate black culture.
York also announced he would be raising money for disabled children, and accused the “racist” Sheriff Sills of embezzling welfare funds for his own purposes.

York received nationwide attention and support from prominent black celebrities. The black reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton attended York’s Savior’s Day Festival, and announced they were standing by him.
Even actor Wesley Snipes joined up with the Nuwaubians. Snipes purchased a plot of land next to Tama Re, and offered to train a paramilitary security group for York, which he called the “Royal Guard of Amen Ra”.

York’s publicity tactic worked. Although York was not granted his building permit, public pressure from African-Americans, spurred on by the media, succeeded in making the police decide to drastically tone down their investigation into the Nuwaubians.

It seemed once again that York had escaped the law, just as he had in New York. It seemed as if York was untouchable, and he relished in the media attention and wave of new recruits he was receiving.

But this time, York’s victims had had enough. The young girls whom he had impregnated and kicked out of his group many years ago had grown into women, and they were ready to take their stories to  the police.

The Letter

On the morning of September 25, 1998, authorities in Putnam County received the following anonymous letter in the mail:

“I read the article ‘Racial, Legal Issues Cloud ‘Egypt’' in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dated Sunday, September 20, 1998, concerning the Dwight York cult.
I am an ex-member whom [sic] questioned the sick-minded and theocratic hold that Dwight has over the thoughts of his followers. Recently, Dwight has been becoming God himself to veteran members, subsequently exercising more divine rule to do whatever he wants to young girls below 16 years of age, young boys of the same age group, and a ‘herd’ of concubines of a wide variety of ages that he ‘stables’ on the property for free sex and labor.”

The letter continued, revealing horrifying allegations:

“These facts, until very recently, were very closely guarded secrets. Even amongst the residents of the compound, few knew how often and with which ‘adopted daughters’ York was having sex. Well, now they are pregnant. Some of the concubines are so young that his sexual perversions have surpassed being criminal. Because they are loyal to him, they may well deny all these things, but science will not tell a lie. Children with children should be tested for paternity. Girls that are now 18 years old that have children more than 5 years old are examples of who Dwight York really is to the compound members: an abuser.”

The letter went on:

“Of course, the young girls who are not pregnant yet should be tested for sexual tampering. Children Services will surely find that they have been penetrated by a full-grown male.
No men on the compound are allowed unsupervised communication with Dwight’s concubines, unless he is the law, an ‘outsider’ that York has to impress or deceive, or a relative of the girls in question.
Strangely enough, many support the abuse and a very skillful line of questioning is necessary to first establish that there was not any prolonged, unsupervised exposure to any other of the compound’s males that York may try to pawn.
His twisted affair will be unmasked. Once, when the GBI went to the compound, he was informed beforehand that they were coming, and busloads of young boys and girls were temporarily shipped to Macon, Georgia, to mask the overcrowding and rape.”

The letter closed:

“Please save these children. My ability has been exhausted from trying to advise some of the girls who have left the organization to speak up.
We are afraid. We feel alone. We need help.”

The Devil Exposed

As soon as Sheriff Sills saw the letter, he knew that York was doing much more than violating zoning laws. He contacted state police and the FBI, and opened an official investigation into the Nuwaubians.

Information started coming in quickly. County official Sheila Layson received an anonymous phone call from a nervous woman, who told her that children at Tama Re were being molested. Layson told her to go to police.

County doctors also reported to police that dozens of pregnant young girls from the cult, some as young as 13 or 14, had come to them for medical treatment. However, the girls rarely had their baby at the hospital, nor did they consent to paternity testing. They would give birth, destroy the afterbirth and disappear.

Other women, kicked out of the cult by York when they were girls, also came to police with stories of their own. One girl said that she was 13 when York, whom she called “Doc”, started having sex with her. When she protested and told other girls of what was happening, York kicked her and her family off the property. The family had given everything to York, including their money, and were penniless when York forced them out.

A month later, York changed his mind. He allowed the girl and her family back on the property.
When York saw the girl again, he warmly welcomed her back, charming her with gifts and privileges. Then he forced the girl to write him a letter of apology and, of course, pay him more money.

York also forced her to perform sex acts with him, often with several other children watching or participating. York often filmed the encounters with a camera. The girl further stated that she had personally seen York abuse over twenty other children, some as young as eight.

However, it wasn't until late 2001, four years after the business with the nightclub started, that the authorities finally had enough evidence to charge Dwight York with child molestation, child rape, racketeering and conspiracy, fraud, and interstate transportation of minors with sexual purposes.

The police had a question, though. Why had none of these hundreds of children believed to have been molested ever gone to police?

The answer was that Dwight York knew exactly how to maintain an iron grip on all those in his cult. When people joined the Nuwaubians, York forced them to give up everything they had. Their money, property, labor, and material possessions all belonged to him. It was his way of completely cutting them off from the outside world.

York knew that he had total control over his followers. If anyone left the cult, he knew they would be without money, possessions, or an education. He knew the only chance they had to survive was to stay with him, even if he conned them out of their possessions, forced them to live in horrid conditions, beat them, abused them, and raped their children. York repeated again and again how worthless his followers were without him. He told them they could not survive in the outside world, and that he was their best, and only, chance of living a happy life.

York always portrayed himself as a humble man, a man whose entire life was devoted to the welfare and well-being of his followers. But the truth was that Dwight York was no benefactor. He was no savior, no man of God.
He didn’t care about the well-being of others. He cared only about himself and his sadistic, perverted lusts for money, sex and power. He would stop at nothing to get them, not caring who got hurt in the process.

In truth, Dwight York is the true, bona-fide example of a manipulative, narcissistic psychopath.

Downfall

Early on the morning of May 8, 2002, Sheriff Sills gathered a force of police officers from the FBI, ATF, Georgia State Police, GBI, and a posse of Sheriff’s Deputies in preparation to raid Tama Re. York’s time was up. They had prepared arrest warrants charging him with numerous crimes, including child rape, fraud, racketeering, conspiracy, and interstate transportation of children for nefarious purposes.

The plan was to wait for York to leave Tama Re and arrest him away from his followers. Nervous about a potential shootout, police intended to arrest York in a location where he couldn’t order his followers to open fire. While York would be arrested, an FBI SWAT team would raid Tama Re, seize the children, and gather evidence.

Still, the arrest plan almost went awry. A CBS outlet had received word of an FBI SWAT team gathering outside of the compound, and Sills had to quickly urge the news reporters to delay the story.

The arrest team consisted of 80 FBI SWAT team agents, several helicopters, and 300 other officers from different agencies. Accompanying the police would be doctors, physicians, and workers from the Child Protective Services, who would tend to the children in the compound.

After police scouts spotted York leaving Tama Re in his van, Sills gave the go-ahead to arrest the cult leader. York’s car was followed by a helicopter, which kept surveillance on him and planned an arrest.

Fifteen miles south of Eatonton, York’s car was intercepted by an FBI arrest team. The van was pulled over in a supermarket parking lot, and the agents opened the doors, aiming guns at the occupants and yelling at them to get on the ground.

York's van is pulled over in a supermarket parking lot.
By arresting York away from his followers, the FBI ensured he could not order his cultists
to open fire.

York was startled, but gave up without resistance. Handcuffed in the parking lot, along with his wife Kathy Johnson, the cult leader who had evaded the police for nearly thirty years was finally under arrest.

Back at Tama Re, Sills had police set up roadblocks, cordoning off Tama Re from any escape.
Sills used a giant brush hook to cut the phone and power lines to the compound, so that the occupants couldn’t warn York of what was going on.

FBI helicopters hovered over the compound as three armored vehicles charged the gates of Tama Re.
The startled Nuwaubian guards had no time to react. They scattered in different directions as the armored vehicles crashed through the gates into the compound.

An armored police van charges the gates of Tama Re during the FBI raid

FBI SWAT agents from the elite Hostage Rescue Team descended from the helicopters with ropes. At Biga Village, the agents smashed the windows and fired tear gas into the trailer homes, flushing out the occupants. Nine different arrest teams swarmed the compound, clearing every single building and structure. The entire raid was captured on live TV by a Fox News chopper.

Guarded by FBI agents, cult children sit in the grass
following the raid on Tama Re

It was all over in less than three minutes. 65 adults were taken into custody. Dozens of children sat in the grass of the compound, as agents and doctors tended to them. Four of the children later tested positive for STDs.

Heavily armed police officers and FBI agents establish a perimeter around Tama Re

Officers raided York’s mansion at Tama Re, finding the Pink Panther doll and numerous videos of child pornography, as well as a cache of weapons.

No shots were fired during the raid except for some breaching rounds to open locked doors. The only injury sustained that day was an agent who suffered from heatstroke and required medical hydration.

In addition to the raid at Tama Re, officers raided York’s mansion in Athens, Georgia, where they found more video evidence of the sex abuse children had endured at York’s hand.

Dwight York had finally been busted. And the authorities intended to send him to prison for the rest of his life.

York appeared at a bail hearing several days later, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit. For once, he remained silent, saying nothing during the entire proceeding. He listened as he was charged with over 200 counts of child molestation. Prosecutors had enough evidence to charge him with over 1,000 counts of rape, and believed he had fathered at least 100-200 children, but they thought a jury would never believe that a man could be such a prolific sexual abuser.

York's mugshot, taken following his 2002 arrest.

York was denied bail, and was sent to prison to await trial in federal court.

The Devil Incarcerated: Legal Wrangling and the End of York’s Empire

It would be two years before Dwight York would finally go to trial. Charged with over 200 counts of child molestation, York denied all involvement. Insisting that he be referred to as “Reverend York” in court proceedings, he accused the charges of being fabrications; plots by the "white devils" to slander a black religious leader.

In 2004, York went on trial in federal court for child molestation, rape, racketeering, conspiracy, and interstate transportation of minors for sexual purposes.

For several days, the court heard the arguments from York’s defense. York himself was arrogant and uncooperative, claiming the court had no jurisdiction to try him, as he was a “Moor” and not a US Citizen. York claimed the only trial he could receive was by a jury of his peers, in this case by members of his cult. York also began claiming that he was a "secured party" and that anyone who spoke his name in court would have to be fined because he had "trademarked" his own name.

Dwight York waves to supporters during his 2004 trial

The prosecution had dozens of witnesses, girls who had been abused by York, bystanders who had information regarding York’s crimes, and even York’s own wife, Kathy Johnson, who agreed to testify against him in exchange for a lesser sentence.
Dozens of women testified in great, disturbing detail of York’s grooming and sexual abuse of young children. Pornographic videos, testimony from victims and the medical examiner, and accounts by former cult members, including York’s estranged son, painted the picture of a vile, manipulative con man with a disturbing sexual interest in children.

As York realized the scope of the evidence against him, he ultimately decided to plead guilty to all of the charges. As part of the deal, York would receive a sentence of only 15 years in prison.

The attorney general was outraged. How could a man guilty of such horrible crimes receive such a light sentence? The attorney general contested the plea deal, and the judge gave York a choice: He could keep his plea of guilty, and receive a sentence longer than 15 years, or he could change his plea back to innocent and exercise his right to trial.

York, of course, turned the whole ordeal into another bizarre publicity stunt. “I’m a sovereign. I’m a Native American. I’m a Moorish Cherokee”, he said, “and I cannot get a fair trial if I’m being tried by settlers or Confederates.”

The judge ordered York to make a decision, or he would be found in contempt of court. Despite the threat, York went on to proclaim himself “Chief Black Eagle Thunderbird” and continued to play games with the court.

Fed up with York’s arrogant behavior, the judge decided to talk to York’s lawyers instead.
At that moment, York spoke up. He would change his plea back to not guilty.

The trial would continue.

In their closing arguments, York’s attorneys attempted to discredit the prosecution by showing the alleged outlandishness of the government’s allegations. The defense attorney claimed that, if York had, indeed, abused 12,000 children as the government alleged, it would have meant he would have had to abuse more than 5 children every day for seven years. How could a middle-aged man be capable of such sexual prowess?

York (center, in black suit) watches as his defense attorney addresses the court during his 2004 federal trial

The prosecution countered with chemical evidence. They stated that police had found evidence that York had been taking large doses of the male hormone testosterone, making him physically able to have sex much more frequently than normal. Additionally, they pointed out that York’s abuse of children took place over 30 years, not seven as the defense contended. That left plenty of time for York to abuse that number of children. Besides, they added, York was only being charged with 200 counts, not 12,000. The prosecutor asked the jury to discredit the defense’s “conspiracy theories” and focus on the graphic testimony of York’s victims.

In his closing argument, the prosecutor addressed the jury, telling them to look beyond York's lies and to see who he really was. Dwight York was not an alien savior from Planet Rizq. He was not a Prophet of Islam. He was not a divine God sent to earth to save the black race. He was not a benevolent religious leader nor was he the innocent target of a racist conspiracy.
“He is Dwight York”, the prosecutor said, “a con man from Brooklyn, New York.”

The evidence against York was overwhelming. On January 23, 2004, the jury found Dwight York guilty on all counts. At long last, the cult leader who had hurt so many people, and had evaded the law for so many years, was finally convicted.

The next time York would appear in court, he would be a guilty man. On April 22, 2004, he appeared in a federal courtroom in Macon, Georgia, to be sentenced.

York was allowed to make a statement before his sentencing.
As usual, York went into another self-pitying tirade. He whined about being targeted for his religious beliefs and his race. “This is a religious case, not a child molestation case”, he said. He claimed he, as a black leader, was being targeted by white people, who had framed him on false charges.

In a last attempt to avoid justice, York tried to play a final, outrageous defense. He claimed he was actually a Liberian government agent, and that he had diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

After being sentenced to 135 years in prison, York is led
from the federal courthouse in Macon, Georgia

But it was too late for Dwight York. He was finished. His time was up. His lies were powerless to save him from justice.

The judge didn’t buy York’s lies, either. He promptly sentenced Dwight D. York to 135 years in federal prison.

York was led from the courthouse, clothed in an orange prison suit, wrists and legs chained, head bowed, and his face in his hands.

The Race Card, Political Correctness, and How Dwight York Avoided Justice for Decades

Dwight York is locked away for good, but there are some very important lessons to be learned from his story, particularly around the issues of race-baiting and political correctness.

The United States has always had racial problems. Race is a touchy subject in America, full of controversy, disagreement, and painful memories. Racism is a real problem. It has always been and it always will be, and we will always have to be vigilant in the fight against racial injustice and bigotry.

But we must be careful when we go around labeling people “racists”. Too often, social media is abuzz in manufactured controversy over meaningless subjects with regard to race. I am not denying that blacks have suffered from systemic oppression due to a history of white supremacy. It would be ridiculous to say otherwise. But the answer to racism is not more racism.

Many times, I have tried to point out that racism can come from and target all races. Every time I do this, however, I am branded a “racist” by my politically correct friends.

When a group of Ku Klux Klansmen makes racist, hateful statements about black people, we all get upset, as we should. But when a black supremacist group, such as the Nuwaubians, makes equally hateful comments towards white people, we are less quick to condemn it.

My more liberal friends have, on occasion, even tried to deny that racism against whites is a thing. They claim that racism against white people cannot exist, as racism, they claim, is “prejudice plus power”. Because white people, they say, have all the power, there is no such thing as anti-white racism.

This claim is demonstrably false. Racism is any kind of prejudice towards any race in the belief that one race is superior to another. Black people can, in fact, be racist against white people, and all forms of racism must be condemned. Denying the existence of racism against white people is as ridiculous and wrong as denying the existence of racism against blacks, Asians, Hispanics, or any other race.
Racism comes from the same primal hatred of those who are a different color, race, or ethnicity, regardless of who is being racist and who is the target of racism.

Black supremacists know that anti-white racism is far less likely to be condemned by the media and by the general population. They know many people will either ignore it or, worse, try and make excuses to justify anti-white bigotry. But if anyone dares to call them out on their hatred, they will not hesitate to try and brand the other person a "bigot" or "racist".

The Nuwaubians believed that white people were animals, lepers, dogs, half-breeds, and degenerates cursed with wickedness and inferior to the “great Nubian race”. Dwight York himself stated “White people are the devil, always was, always will be”.

But York was not hesitant to play the race card in his defense. He knew that in America’s racially charged atmosphere, all he had to do was shout “racist!” at his opponents, and people would flock to his side. He knew that bad press and bad publicity would make police back away from his group.
He knew that any authorities trying to investigate his crimes could easily be portrayed as racists and Klansmen targeting an innocent black man, and that people would believe it.

And, unfortunately, York was right. Famous black icons and celebrities like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Kanye West, Jaz-O, MF Doom, Jay-Z, and Wesley Snipes flocked to York’s cause as soon as he played the race card.
While many of these people, including Sharpton and Jackson, later distanced themself from York after the trial, others, such as Jay-Z and Juliana Huxtable (the latter of which has repeatedly called herself a "Nuwaubian Princess"), still promote Nuwaubian-style beliefs to this day.

Rev. Jesse Jackson (left) was one of many prominent
 black celebrities who supported York

When York played the race card in New York, he earned praise from local officials for “making the streets safe”. People praised him as a "black community leader" and police were forced to withdraw their investigations of him to avoid controversy.

Playing the race card and using political correctness as a shield enabled York to abuse, rape, con, and possibly even murder people for over 30 years.

And even though the law finally caught up with York, it was too late for people like Horace Green. It was too late for all of the families who got caught up in the Ansaru Allah Community and the Nuwaubian Nation, who had lost literally everything, even their children, to Dwight York. York tore families apart, stole people’s money, abused boys and girls, and engaged in fraud, all the while discrediting his critics with slanderous accusations of racism.

Georgia State Rep. Tyrone Brooks wrote an impassioned column defending the Nuwaubians against what he claimed was a "culture of harassment". York's incessant race-baiting enabled him to garner prominent supporters among the African-American community and shield him from law enforcement scrutiny.

The damage York has done is by no means over, either. Numerous Nuwaubians have been implicated in a wide range of violent crimes.

Several years ago, in New York City, a young black man named Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot and killed two NYPD officers before taking his own life. Brinsley was one of the Nuwaubians apprehended at Tama Re in 2002, and he had been a devout follower of York for his entire life.

Another Nuwaubian, Calvin McIntosh, who worked at Tama Re’s bookstore, was later arrested in 2014 for abducting, sexually abusing, and starving a young black teenager for several years, to the point where she weighed just 59 pounds. According to the prosecution, McIntosh, who still awaits trial, also starved and beat to death an infant for disobedience. Police found Nuwaubian literature in his apartment when he and his daughter, Najlaa, were arrested.

In addition to individual crimes, followers of York have even engaged in terrorist plots. In 2007, seven Nuwaubians were arrested in Miami for plotting to blow up the Sears Tower and the FBI's Miami office as part of a plot to wage war against the US government.

Gavin Long, the young man who died in a shootout with police after killing three Baton Rouge policemen in a shootout in July, 2016, also professed Nuwaubian-style beliefs, such as "Moorish sovereignty" ideologies, UFO conspiracy theories, and anti-white hatred.

Micah Johnson, the ex-military sniper who died after killing five policemen in a protracted, deadly firefight in Dallas, Texas, that same month, also professed beliefs closely resembling Nuwaubian ideology, and had subscribed to a Nuwaubian offshoot group on his Facebook page.

And, most recently, in February, 2018, a young black man named Tierre Guthrie killed one police officer and wounded two others in a shootout in Locust Grove, Georgia, before being killed by return fire. Guthrie was a black supremacist who supported the Nuwaubian Nation and professed many of their bizarre beliefs, such as "Moorish sovereignty" ideologies, anti-white racism, and conspiracy theories about UFOs.

These crimes barely made a splash in the media, because they were committed by black supremacists, not white supremacists. If so-called "social justice warriors" truly want to fight for social justice and equality for all people, they must call out all forms of racism, be it anti-white or anti-black. Doing otherwise will only drive white people away from the cause of social justice, and into the arms of manipulative hate groups like the Klan or the Aryan Nations.

In short, the story of Dwight York shows that political correctness is a very, very dangerous idea. It doesn't prevent racism, it enables it to be used by black supremacists without fear of retribution or condemnation. It may have had good intentions in the past, but it has also been used by criminals like Dwight York to hide from the law and defame people who criticize their hateful vitriol.

Innocent people have been slandered and hurt by false accusations of racism, and we must stop being so quick to invoke race in a discussion which doesn’t even involve it. There are real consequences, and real people have been and will be hurt.

Afterword

Today, Dwight D. York is incarcerated at ADX Florence, a maximum security federal prison in Colorado, where the worst of the worst federal offenders are housed in solitary confinement. Once the head of a massive criminal empire, today York’s everyday routine is controlled by the state. The only domain York controls is a small, soundproof, 7 x 12 foot prison cell, with a single, two-inch window, an electric light, a concrete bed, desk and stool, a sink, toilet, and water fountain combined into one unit, and a small shower with a timer to prevent flooding.

A typical cell at the ADX Florence federal supermax prison, where York is serving his 135-year sentence.

York may possess a radio in his cell or, on rare occasions, a small black-and-white television which broadcasts prison-approved educational, religious, and recreational programs.

York is confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, seven days a week, having no contact with other inmates. Like all supermax prisoners, York is allowed five hours of exercise a week in an 8 x 10 foot cage enclosed in wire mesh, but he must be strip-searched and escorted by guards every time he leaves his cell. Every week, York may rent books from the prison library, which comes around the cell block on a cart, or he may purchase a limited number of items, such as soap, food, and legal paper from a prison-approved canteen list.

Occasionally, York writes letters to his followers from prison. His letters must be scrutinized, inspected, and approved by prison authorities before they can be mailed. He is also permitted to make several phone calls a week, which are monitored on a tapped phone line, but rarely does so.

Dwight York is no longer a god in the flesh. He is no longer a “Master Teacher”. He is no longer a savior or pharaoh. To the state, he is just Prisoner #17911-054.

Under the federal prison system, York has no chance of parole. His projected date of release is June 7, 2122, when he will be almost 177 years old. All of his appeals and requests for clemency have been denied.

As for Tama Re, York's "Egypt of the West", it was acquired by the government in 2004 through asset forfeiture. The land was sold to a property developer who condemned the entire compound.
Sheriff Sills himself used a bulldozer to tear down the gates, and, by the end of 2005, York's Egyptian pyramids, structures, and mansion were all torn away and hauled to the dump.

Sheriff Howard Sills uses a bulldozer to tear down the gates of Tama Re.

404 Shady Dale Road is now the location of a farm plantation. Aside from some faint indentations in the earth where buildings used to stand, absolutely no trace remains of the compound that once housed York's bizarre criminal empire.

To this day, Sheriff Sills considers the takedown of the Nuwaubians to be one of the proudest moments of his career. As a memento, Sills still keeps one of the Nuwaubian's plastic dolls of York at his desk. The doll, dressed in Nuwaubian clothing and a fez, wears a pair of plastic handcuffs.

Sheriff Howard Sills kept one of the Nuwaubians' toy dolls of Dwight York following the raid that shut down the cult.
The doll, wearing a pair of plastic handcuffs, still sits on Sills' desk.

Although the Nuwaubian Nation still remains active today, it is a shadow of its former self, torn apart by squabbling factions, infighting, lack of funds, and bad publicity. Its headquarters are in the same building that once housed the Ansaru Allah Community, a black and gold blockhouse which has been converted into a bookstore called All Eyes on Egypt. The Nuwaubians have lost nearly all of their original members, and the cult's influence continues to wane as money dries up and former allies distance themselves from the group.

Like its evil, depraved leader, the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors is not yet dead, but it has all but faded into obscurity, condemned to die a slow, lonely death.




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(A special thanks to author Bill Osinski, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Oxford American, whose investigations into the Nuwaubian Nation provided excellent information for this piece.
Additionally, I would like to thank Chuck Morgan, who made the brave decision to leave the Nuwaubian Nation and publish a website, nuwaupianism.com, to expose Dwight York as the liar he is.)