Dwight York: Difference between revisions

Dwight D. York

York and the Nuwaubians came under scrutiny in the early 1990s, after they built Tama-Re, an Egyptian-themed "city" for about a hundred of his followers, in rural Putnam County, Georgia. Before York's trial, the community had been joined directly and in the area by hundreds of other followers from out of state, while alienating both black and white local residents. The community was intensively investigated after numerous reports that York had molested numerous children of his followers.

York was arrested in May 2002. In 2004 he was convicted on federal charges of transporting minors across state lines for the purposes of sexual molestation, as well as racketeering and financial reporting violations. York's case was reported as the largest prosecution for child molestation ever directed at a single person in the history of the United States, both in terms of number of victims and number of incidents.

Biography

Early life

According to a birth certificate issued in the United States, Dwight D. York was born in

The women of the Ansaaru Allah Community focus on memorizing history as their

Qur'an. They participate in the compilation of the various texts produced by the community and also work in the recording studio owned by the community. Other than this work, the women's main source of income comes from US government public assistance and monies earned by the men in various enterprises such as food shops, jewelry and merchandise stores, and street vending.^[13]

The New York Press reported on York:

He was based in

Catskills, around 1991, then to Georgia in 1993.^[15]

The community in Brooklyn, reported as identifying as the "Holy Tabernacle of the Most High" and also as the "Children of Abraham," was said to be led by Rabboni Y'shua Bar El Haady. They practiced a mixture of Judaism and Islam. They were reported as numbering about 300 persons and in 1994 the group reportedly still owned nine apartment buildings, of which five were in tax arrears. Local politicians were concerned that the abandoned buildings would become centers of uses that would damage the neighborhood. Anecdotal reports were that some of the group went to Monroe County, New York, and others to Georgia.^[16]

Musical productions

In the early 1980s, York had performed as vocalist with his own groups, known as Jackie and the Starlights, the Students, and Passion.

He launched his own record label, named Passion Productions, recording as the solo artist "Dr. York." His debut release was the single "Only a Dream" (later included in the album New York, Hot Melt Records UK, 1985). "Dr. York" and Passion Productions were advertised in the May 4, 1985 issue of Billboard magazine.^[17]

Background vocals were by Ted Mills of the group Blue Magic.^[18] York said he performed popular music in order to "reach a mass majority of my people through my music."^[19]

Ministry and fraternal orders

York's groups had a variety of names and functions: quasi-religious, fraternal, and tribal. They were called "Holy Tabernacle Ministries", "Egiptian [sic] Church of Karast," "Holy Seed Baptist Synagogue", "Ancient Mystic Order of Melchizedek", "Ancient Egiptian [sic] Order", "All Eyez on Egypt", "United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors", "Yamassee Native American Tribe", "Washitaw Tribe", and "Lodge 19 of the Ancient and Mystic Order of Malachizodok."^[20] While drawing from various religious and historical themes, Malachi York continued to focus on Nubia. He promoted a design featuring an ankh in the middle of a six-pointed star of Judaism and Islamic crescent, a symbol used by the Ansarullah Community. The ankh is associated with pre-Islamic Sudan, Nubia.

Dwight York changed his name legally in 1990 to "Issa al Haadi al Mahdi" when he was still living in Brooklyn.^[21] He changed it again in 1993 to "Malachi York,"^[5] but also adopted a number of titles and pseudonyms, including "The Supreme Grand Master Dr. Malachi Z. York," "Nayya Malachizodoq-El," and "Chief Black Eagle."

By 1985 York had added miracle-performance to his repertoire. He claimed to

In 1988 York was convicted of obtaining a passport with a false birth certificate.^[23]

Move to Georgia and construction of Tama-Re (1993–2002)

York left Brooklyn with an estimated 300 followers about 1990. Some settled in upstate New York. He later moved with numerous followers to Georgia. Others joined them from such cities as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Hartford, New York and Washington, D.C.^[4] According to former follower Robert J. Rohan, who later wrote a book about the movement, York moved in order to avoid criminal investigations and other charges in New York.^[24]

Perhaps to avoid scrutiny from the international

At York's direction, the community purchased land and built Tama-Re, an Egyptian-themed complex built on 476 acres (1.93 km²) of land near Eatonton, Georgia. It was built over a period of years and completed in 1993.

Tensions with county authorities increased in 1998, when the county sought an injunction against construction and uses that violated zoning. At the same time, the Nuwaubian community increased its leafletting of Eatonton and surrounding areas, charging white officials with racial discrimination and striving to increase opposition to them. Threats mounted and an eviscerated dog carcass was left at the home of the county attorney.^[4]

Within Putnam County, the Nuwaubians lost black support, in part by trying to take over the NAACP chapter. But outside, they appealed to activists, claiming to be persecuted in the county. During this period, the group maintained Holy Tabernacle stores "in more than a dozen cities in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Trinidad."^[4] And York purchased a $557,000 mansion in Athens, Georgia, about 60 miles away, the base of the University of Georgia.^[4]

In July 1999,

In 2005 federal government officials acquired the property of Tama-Re through asset forfeiture after York was convicted and sentenced to prison for 135 years. He owed money for violating financial laws. After the property was sold, new owners demolished the buildings and monuments.

Arrest and conviction of child molestation (2002-present)

Beginning in Brooklyn, York had established strict sexual practices within the community, reserving for himself sexual access to many women and girls, including wives and children of followers.

Theodore Gabriel wrote about these practices:

[W]hile extolling the virtues and importance of family life and the conjugal relationship, he [York] denies such relationships to his followers except at strictly controlled intervals. He urges his female followers to pattern themselves on the Islamic paradigms of the wife and the mother, apparently desiring the creation of stable family units. But in reality the husbands and wives are segregated in dormitories, separated also from their children. York permits spouses to cohabit only once every three months. They are permitted to meet in the "Green Room" by prior appointment only.^[26]

Anonymous letters were sent to Putnam County officials alleging child molestation at the Nuwaubian community. The FBI, which had started investigating the group in 1993, assigned a major task force to it. In 2002 York was arrested and charged with more than 100 counts of sexually molesting dozens of children, some as young as four years old. According to Bill Osinski, who wrote a 2007 book about York and the case: "When he [York] was finally indicted, state prosecutors literally had to cut back the number of counts listed — from well beyond a thousand to slightly more than 200 — because they feared a jury simply wouldn’t believe the magnitude of York's evil.… [It] is believed to be the nation's largest child molestation prosecution ever directed at a single person, in terms of number of victims and number of alleged criminal acts."^[27]

In early 2003 York's lawyer had him evaluated by a

"Your Honor, with all due respects to your government, your nation, and your court, we the indigenous people of this land have our own rights, accepted sovereign, our own governments. We are a sovereign people,

Native American Creeks, Seminole, Washitaw Mound Builders. And all I'm asking is that the Court recognize that I am an indigenous person. Your court does not have jurisdiction over me. I should be transferred to the Moors Cherokee Council Court in which I will get a trial by juries of my peers. I cannot get a fair trial, Your Honor, if I'm being tried by the settlers or the confederates. I have to be tried by Native Americans as a Native American. That's my inalienable rights, and it's on record."^[29]

Early in 2004, York was convicted in federal court by a jury of multiple RICO, child molestation, and financial reporting charges. He was sentenced to 135 years in prison.^[31]

His case was appealed to the

York believes that his betrayal, arrest, trial and imprisonment (and eventual release) were foretold in chapter 10 of Zecharia Sitchin's The Wars of the Gods and the Men, with York being represented by Mar-duq in that story.^[34]

Imprisonment

As of 2014^[update] Dwight York is serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado as Inmate # 17911-054. His projected release date is April 7, 2122, effectively a life sentence.^[35]

York's followers have said that since 1999 York has been a Consul General of

York has had a variety of stories about his ancestry and birth, including that he was born in Omdurman, Sudan. This has not been documented. His parents of record are Mary C. York (née Williams), now also known as Faatimah Maryam, and her husband David Piper York.^[4] York has claimed that his biological father was Al Haadi Abdur Rahman Al Mahdi, whom his mother ostensibly met while studying as a student in the Sudan.^[37] This is not supported by any documentary sources.

York claims that the name he was given at birth was "Isa Al Haadi Al Mahdi" and that he was not given the name "York" (without a first name) until a month later when he and his mother returned to Boston.^[38] David and Mary York had four other children together: David, Dale, Debra and Dennis.^[37] York has claimed, without documentation being found, that his father was descended from "Ben" York, an enslaved African American who took part in the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806).^[37]

He claims a paternal Sudanese grandfather, As Sayyid Abdur Rahman Al Mahdi, making York a descendant of the Muslim leader Muhammad Ahmad.^[39] There is no documentation to support this.

On his mother's side, York described his maternal grandfather, Clarence Daniel "Bobby" Williams, as "an Egyptian Moor named Salah Hailak Al Ghala, a merchant seaman from a little village called Beluwla, in Nubia of Ancient Egypt."^[40] Another genealogical tree shows Bobby Williams' father as unknown and his mother as "Madam Decontee" of the Bassa tribe of Liberia.^[37] These claims have not been documented.

Aliases

York has been known by a multitude of aliases over the years, many of which he used simultaneously. They include the following:

(Note: there is no documentation for completing formal degrees that support his use of the title Doctor or Dr.)

See also

• Black supremacy

References