Cult tied to cases of racist violence, kid abuse

Boston Herald/October 29, 2005
By David Wedge

The controversial Black Israelites have been slammed as a dangerous, racist cult with members who have been convicted of torturing and killing whites for sport and abusing children.

In Florida, two members are on trial for manslaughter for allegedly putting their 5-month-old daughter on a strict raw food diet that led to her death from malnutrition.

Founded in the late 1960s, the group members follow the Old Testament and believe they are the true Hebrew race of Israel.

They wear natural fabrics, eat a vegan diet and shun conventional medicine while some leaders preach that whites are evil.

In Boston, members are known to fraternize with the 12 Tribes, another controversial sect with chapters in Dorchester and Plymouth that has been accused of child abuse.

The most disturbing chapter in the group's history occurred in 1992 in Florida, when Black Israelite leader Yahweh ben Yahweh and six disciples were convicted of conspiracy for the murders of 14 white drifters and blacks who disagreed with their teachings.

One victim was beheaded with a machete while many had their ears sliced off per Yahweh's orders. Yahweh is serving 18 years in federal prison.

In 1986, member Yesher Israel and others were convicted of child abuse for torturing children and pouring hot sauce on their wounds.

Two years earlier, three members were convicted of beating a 12-year-old Michigan boy to death for failing to do his chores.

In 2002, several members were charged with brutally beating a white New Jersey man in Manhattan.

The group made national headlines in 1998, when then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani banned them from spewing anti-white slogans in Times Square.

With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, the group successfully sued the city and won a $59,000 settlement.