#erikprince — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #erikprince, aggregated by home.social.
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@justbob , I came across this and thought of you...
From 2016:#StandingRock Camp Battles Cyber Blockers, Improves Service
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
Sat., Dec. 10, 2016UPDATES -- "Composting toilets save the day. Crews finished installing composting toilets, even some in heated tents, after the port-a-potties were yanked from Oceti Sakowin Camp. And work has been underway to fight back at the cyber blockers. Turns out they don't like being pinged to expose who they are, including cops who use stingrays to imitate cell towers to gain access to your cellphone. On Friday, five semi truckloads of supplies arrived, purchased from Amazon -- by good hearts around the world -- in response to the Last Real Indians wish list. Donors are also helping Last Real Indians purchase pickup trucks and vehicles for camp. The Dine' Camp at Oceti Sakowin is standing strong, with a new hogan. Across the river, Rosebud Camp and Sacred Stone Camp are resilient.
Standing Strong for Standing Rock."
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/12/standing-rock-camp-battles-cyber.html
#StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NeverForgetStandingRock #USGovt #USPol #ErikPrince #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #BigOilAndGas #CorporateCriminals #Oiligarchy
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“ #HellsArmy”: New Film Tracks #Russia’s #WagnerGroup & Rise of #MercenaryArmies
June 12, 2026
"We speak with Oscar-nominated filmmaker #RickRowley about his new documentary, Hell’s Army. The film tracks the Wagner Group, the notorious Russian mercenary army that has fought in #Ukraine and other parts of the world. The group’s founder, #YevgenyPrigozhin, was a confidant to Putin until a failed 2023 mutiny against the government. He died in a suspicious plane crash two months later.
" 'We realized that he could be killed, the leader of this army could be killed, but its model continues,' says Rowley. 'Around the world, #oligarchs are turning to mercenary armies, and it’s a scourge that needs to be stopped.'
"Hell’s Army has its North American premiere Friday in Washington, D.C."
Read / watch / listen:
http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hells_army#PMCWagner #ErikPrince #Mercenaries #Blackwater #Oligarchy #ГруппаВагнера #Prigozhin #CorporateColonialism #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateSecurity
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Yeah, I read rags like "Soldiers Of Fortune" so you don't have to.
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#Blackwater Founder #ErikPrince Talks About Wagner, War, and More
By Greg Chabot, July 24, 2022
"After the success of this program [Blackwater], Prince was approached by officials in Russia asking for his help to start up a PMC. Prince turned down the generous offer that he says could have made him a billionaire. The #PMC nevertheless formed, he says, and is known as the #Wagner Group."
https://sofmag.com/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-talks-about-wagner-group/
#WagnerGroup #PMCWagner
#TrumpIsARussianAsset
#AntiWoke #ChristoFacists #ChristoFascism #Mercernaries #Prigozhin -
#PMCWagner isn't just emulating #ErikPrince, he was asked to found them (more about that in my next post)...
#Putin’s “Erik Prince” is tied to some of #Russia’s riskiest covert operations
By Greg Walters, February 21, 2018
Excerpt: "In #Syria, a mysterious private military firm called PMC Wagner has been tied to #Prigozhin. The firm is sometimes described as the Russian #Blackwater in reference to the U.S. private military contractor founded by Erik Prince, a likeness Prigozhin appears to be emulating, according to Nance."
#WagnerGroup #Putin #TrumpIsARussianAsset #AntiWoke #ChristoFacists #ChristoFascism #Mercernaries
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What do #VanceBoelter and #ErikPrince have in common? Quite a bit! But Prince prefers to farm out #Assassinations to his minions!
#Theocratic #Mercenary Erik Prince and the #ChristianRight
by Mike Kuhlenbeck • 19 June 2018
"Erik Dean Prince was born in Holland, Michigan, on June 6, 1969, the youngest child and only son of Edgar and Elsa Prince, who also had daughters Betsy, Emilie, and Eileen. As documented by author Suzanne Simons in her 2009 book Master of War: #Blackwater USA’s Erik Prince and the Business of War, Prince grew up in a religious household and attended Christian schools; the Princes were members of the Reformed Church in America, a conservative Christian sect that follows the philosophical template of theologian John Calvin.
"Edgar Prince worked as a die caster and then chief engineer for the die cast machine manufacturing outfit Buss Machine Works after serving in the US Air Force. In 1965 he and two co-workers struck out on their own to establish Prince Manufacturing. By the 1970s the company expanded its operations and became financially successful, as did the Prince family. Edgar Prince died of heart failure in 1995, and the company was sold to Johnson Controls for over $1 billion.
"Surrounded by those who share their belief in Christian-based politics, the Prince family has used its fortune to help build the #ConservativeChristian movement. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Richard Nixon’s disgraced former special counsel Charles Colson (who became a born-again Christian after serving seven months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal) were family friends. Edgar and Elsa Prince were major contributors to the Family Research Council and founded the nonprofit Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation in 1979, substantial funds from which have gone toward the effort to abolish the legal wall separating church and state. The Prince family also has deep ties to the Council for National Policy (#CNP) which, according to its vision statement, supports “a united conservative movement to assure, by 2020, policy leadership and governance that restores religious and economic freedom, a strong national defense, and #JudeoChristian values under the Constitution.”
"From Reverend #BillyGraham’s “spiritual counsel” to twelve US presidents, to Reverend #JerryFalwell’s #MoralMajority movement of the 1970s and ’80s, to Marion Gordon #PatRobertson’s #ChristianCoalition (now the #ChristianCoalitionOfAmerica), the movement to push a #fundamentalist “Judeo-Christian” agenda into the public sphere has been an ongoing crusade. Keeping with family tradition, Erik Prince’s sister Betsy married fellow Christian right figure Dick DeVos, whose father is the founder of Amway and the past president of the CNP from 1990-1993. Betsy DeVos served as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and now serves as US Secretary of Education under Donald Trump. The DeVos dynasty, labelled a “family of extremists” by the Center for American Progress, is undoubtedly having an influence on the Trump White House."
#ChristoFascists #ChristoFascism #Mercenaries #PrivateSecurity #MAGA #MAGADeathCult #RightWing #ViolentExtremists
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@PaxtonOrglot #ErikPrince and #KillerDrones. What could possibly go wrong?!!
#ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #Blackwater #TripleCanopy #Tigerswan
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Michigan native #ErikPrince proposes #deportation plan to #ElSalvador, report says
By Justin Engel, Apr. 14, 2025
"Erik Prince, the former CEO of #Blackwater USA and a Michigan native, is among a group of defense contractors proposing to expand plans for deporting #immigrants to a prison in El Salvador, Politico reported.
"The pitch would attempt to avoid #legal challenges by designating part of the El Salvador prison system as #AmericanTerritory, the report stated.
" 'It’s unclear how seriously the White House is considering the plan by Prince, who has drawn scrutiny for his firm’s role in a deadly massacre in Iraq two decades ago,' the Politico report stated. 'But it would give Prince’s group an unprecedented and potentially highly lucrative role in an expanded version of a transnational operation that has elicited its own web of controversies, in part because it has swept up immigrants who do not have criminal records in the United States.'
"The report coincides with President Donald Trump’s plans to host #NayibBukele, the president of El Salvador, at the White House on Monday, April 14.
"Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the U.S. more than 200 #Venezuelan immigrants — whom officials with President Donald Trump’s administration have accused of gang activity and violent crimes — and placed them inside the country’s notorious maximum-security gang prison. It is also holding a Maryland man who the administration admits was wrongly deported but has not been returned to the U.S., despite court orders to do so.
"Trump has ties to the family of Prince, an automotive supplier heir from Holland. Prince is the brother of #BetsyDeVos, the secretary of education during the first Trump administration.
"Prince, a major Republican donor, has been accused of acting as a back channel on behalf of Trump. As Trump was preparing to take office in 2017, Prince met with a official close to Russian President Vladimir #Putin in the #Seychelles, islands off the coast of east Africa. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his Russia investigation said the meeting was set up ahead of time with the knowledge of former White House aide #StephenBannon.
"Prince soared to notoriety after Blackwater USA employees in 2007 shot and killed #Iraqi #civilians in Baghdad’s #NisourSquare during the Iraq war, casting a light on the role played by private contractors in U.S. military operations overseas.
"In the wake of the scandal the company’s name was changed and Prince sold his shares to a private equity fund."
#ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #TripleCanopy #PrivateArmy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas #Project2025 #TigerSwan #Fascism
#Authoritarianism -
Exclusive- #Trump supporter #ErikPrince reaches deal with #Congo to help secure [steal] mineral wealth
Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley
Thu, April 17, 2025Excerpt: "Democratic Republic of Congo has vast reserves of #copper, #cobalt, #lithium and #coltan - a mineral used widely in smartphones, computers and electric vehicles - but has been plagued for decades by violence in its eastern region.
"The agreement between Congo and Prince initially involved a plan to deploy contractors to Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and the largest city in eastern Congo. But Goma is now under M23 control and that plan has been put on hold. M23 controls tracts of mineral-rich territory.
"A source close to the Congolese government told Reuters an initial deployment of Prince's advisers was expected to start in the south, far from the area controlled by #M23 and its allies.
" 'If you just look at Katanga, if you look at Kolwezi down just off the Zambian-Congo border, they claim that there's like $40 million a month in lost revenue of what's going out and what's coming in,' the source said.
"A diplomatic source also told Reuters the first stage of Prince's effort in Congo would focus on securing mines and tax revenues in copper-producing Katanga province.
"One of the sources close to Prince said advisers were expected to deploy with technical experts from a company specialised in testing and inspecting commodities. The advisers would initially target larger mines and expand as revenue collection improved.
"The source did not provide details on how the advisers would tackle corruption in the sector that has long drained revenue that would otherwise flow to the state.
"A source in the office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said an agreement in principle had been signed with Prince, but the details on where and how many advisers would be deployed remained to be established."
https://www.aol.com/news/exclusive-trump-supporter-prince-reaches-142935924.html
#ErikPrinceColonialism
#PrivateArmy #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal
#TripleCanopy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas
#Project2025 #TigerSwan #Fascism #Authoritarianism #Colonialism #Mining #Pollution #Genocide #Corruption #CopperMining #MiningPollution #CorporateColonialism -
#ErikPrince: Private sector can help with #MassDeportations
Leland Vittert
Tue, February 25, 2025"Erik Prince, founder of the former security contractor #Blackwater, denied proposing a 'private army' for mass deportations and instead described a logistics plan to help the #Trump administration fulfill its immigration goals.
" 'This is not some idea of a private army,' Prince said Tuesday on NewsNation’s On Balance. 'It was a memo generated to describe how to achieve the logistics necessary to move the millions of people that they intend to deport.'
"Prince pushed back against a Politico report that described a plan circulated among Trump allies calling for 'processing camps' and a private citizen force to carry out deportations.
"He said that the memo outlines how to accomplish mass deportations 'in a #legal, #ethical manner” with necessary #DueProcess. [WHAT A JOKE!!!]
" 'If people think it’s a huge number, think about how we’ve been invaded. We’ve had millions of people float into the country illegally, actually paying the cartels to smuggle them in,' Prince said.
"According to the Politico report, Prince and other contractors submitted a 26-page proposal before Trump’s inauguration that included using private aircraft, 'processing camps' on military bases, and deputizing private citizens to make arrests.
"The plan reportedly carries a $25 billion price tag to deport 12 million people before the 2026 midterms.
"Prince suggested the government would eventually need the private sector to help achieve Trump’s immigration goals, noting that deportation flights 'for years, even when other administrations are doing it, were largely contractor managed and operated.'
Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/erik-prince-private-sector-help-044932521.html#ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateArmy #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #TripleCanopy #PrivateArmy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas #Project2025 #TigerSwan #Fascism #Authoritarianism #PrivateSecurity
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Very often, I find myself wondering, "Is there an #ErikPrince connection to x, y or z?" And very often, I am right!
#ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #TripleCanopy #PrivateArmy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas #Project2025 #TigerSwan -
#StandingRock Chair: #EnergyTransfer's Lawsuit Against #Greenpeace: 'Frivolous,'
Seeks to Silence #Tribe and #Allies"The #DakotaAccessPipeline, referred to in our prophecy as the #BlackSnake, has come to harm our land, our water and our people." -- Standing Rock Chairwoman #JanetAlkire
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, March 4, 2025
STANDING ROCK NATION, #NorthDakota -- "In the case now before the district court in North Dakota, Energy Transfer versus Greenpeace, Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire blasted Energy
Transfer with the facts and made it clear that the #StandingRockNation led the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline."Chairwoman Alkire said Dakota Access Pipeline destroyed #BurialGrounds, brought in #SecurityForces and #LawEnforcement that brutalized peaceful #protesters, and has already had a spill at Standing Rock -- while the pipeline is concealing its devastating safety records.
"'From the beginning, Energy Transfer has engaged in a security battle, secrecy battle and #propaganda battle against our Tribe,' Alkire said.
"'It promotes lies and propaganda to discredit our Tribe and our good faith concerns with DAPL’s impacts on our Reservation environment, and the global climate. Part of the attack on our Tribe is to attack our allies.'
"'Today, Energy Transfer is taking Greenpeace to court, frivolously alleging defamation and seeking money damages, designed to shut down all voice supporting Standing Rock.'"
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03/standing-rock-chair-energy-transfers.html
#ReaderSupportedNews #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince -
I listened to a very informative YouTube video today (and looked up some stuff). Oh boy...! A LOT to unpack. We all have some decisions to make soon. Life or death stuff (unless the courts or congress does the right thing). After what I've heard and read today, I am convinced that #Trump is a #Putin asset, as is #TulsiGabbard and #ErikPrince. And their goal is to suppress the #Resistance. And it seems that #BillClinton, #BarackObama and #JoeBiden did NOTHING to prevent what Trump is attempting to do, even though they could have... (And don't get me started as to why they didn't codify #RoeVsWade or #EqualRights or a number of other things when they had the chance...) Anyhow, I'll try to remember to use #USPol, but I might forget. But yeah... Wow... Where to even begin... (Maybe I'll start with the YouTube video)
#Fascism #AuthoritarianRule #Oligarchy #CorporateColonialism #VeryBad! -
Follow the #BloodMoney -- to #ErikPrince!
American billionaire Erik Prince seeks #Israeli investments -- Founder of #Blackwater to visit Israel in July.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
JUNE 16, 2019"American billionaire Erik Prince, a former US Navy Seal and founder of controversial military contractor Blackwater, will visit Israel next month to search for new investment opportunities.
"Prince, who also co-founded Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group (FSG) in 2014, will meet with start-ups and companies in fields including defense technology, intelligence and foodtech.
"Drone-maker BlueBird Aero Systems, off-road vehicle developer Tomcar, artificial intelligence defense solutions provider Axon Vision and satellite rescue firm Magnus are among the companies Prince is due to meet during his visit.
[...]
"Particularly of interest to Prince are the young alumni of elite #IDF intelligence unit 8200, who have established a reputation for developing innovative hi-tech start-ups after their release from the army."
#BibiIsAWarCriminal #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #OffLeash #Academi #TigerSwan
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#EnergyTransfer's $300 Million Lawsuit Against #Greenpeace for #StandingRock #Resistance Delayed
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
July 29, 2024STANDING ROCK, #NorthDakota -- "Energy Transfer's $300 million #SLAPP lawsuit against Greenpeace and Standing Rock #WaterProtectors for the resistance to #DakotaAccessPipeline has been delayed until February, due to a 'massive document dump' by Energy Transfer, Greenpeace told Censored News today.
"Originally, our trial was set for July 29th, 2024 – but due to a massive document dump by Energy Transfer in June, Greenpeace filed a request to have the trial date pushed back. The judge agreed, and moved our trial to February 24, 2025 through March 28, 2025," Lindsay Bigda, communication director, Democracy Resilience Program at Greenpeace USA told Censored News today.
Responding to questions, Greenpeace said #RedWarriorSociety and other water protectors are named in the lawsuit."'Red Warrior Society is still named in the lawsuit and last week our lawyers presented arguments for why it shouldn’t be (because it is not the sort of entity that can be sued). The two individuals, #CodyHall and #KrystalTwoBulls, are also still named, but were never served. (Greenpeace entities are the only ones that were served and are actively litigating),' Bigda told Censored News.
"'Very few jurisdictions have made steps to prevent the corporate legal warfare waged in SLAPPs to #SilenceDissent and freedom of expression. The United States has long failed to uphold #HumanRights and #Indigenous leaders have had no choice but to leave their precious homelands; and use international diplomacy to implore all those who will listen for an end to the #extractive industry violence.'
"'Europe played a key role in the #colonization of the planet. Now let's see if she, her people, and jurisdictions, can help in undoing and healing that historic wound. #IndigenousPeoples must continue to engage with Europe to seek justice and #corporate accountability.'
"Standing Rock water protectors have been served subpoenas in the case from Energy Transfer, as it seeks out information. #UnicornRiot fought the subpoena in #Minnesota and won its case to protect its internal media files. However, Energy Transfer has now asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to reconsider its case.
"Greenpeace clarified the reason for the subpoenas that water protectors and Unicorn Riot media were served with.
'Unicorn riot was never named in the lawsuit. They received a third party subpoena, along with many other activist groups and individuals (these folks are not parties to the case; rather, they are third parties that Energy Transfer wants info from in its case against Greenpeace,)' Bigda told Censored News."Mercenaries #TigerSwan Spied without a License, Provided Info to Law Enforcement
"Red Warrior Camp was a focus of the mercenaries hired by Energy Transfer at Standing Rock in September of 2016, as revealed in the court-ordered spy documents released.
TigerSwan was found working in North Dakota without a license from 2016 through 2017. As a result, the North Dakota regulatory board ordered that TigerSwan's spy files be released. The Intercept now has over 50,000 of TigerSwan's spy documents at Standing Rock, as a result of a lengthy court battle. Energy Transfer, employer of TigerSwan, fought the release of documents in North Dakota court, but the North Dakota Supreme Court upheld the decision to release TigerSwan's documents in 2022."The TigerSwan aerial photos included #OcetiSakowin Camp, Red Warrior Camp, and the other camps. The spy documents reveal that a U.S. Border Patrol drone was included in the aerial #surveillance and #infiltrators were placed in the water protector camps at Standing Rock and elsewhere.
"Meanwhile, after Standing Rock, TigerSwan's CEO formed a new company. Syria says they are stealing #Syria's oil. CNN reported about the secretive contract and the new company.
#Palestinians Targeted for Surveillance by TigerSwan at Standing Rock
"As soon as a single #Palestinian activist showed up at an anti-Dakota Access Pipeline camp on the edge of the Standing Rock reservation in 2016, intelligence analysts for the mercenary security firm TigerSwan were on alert," by Alleen Brown, Drilled and co-published with the Center for Media and Democracy."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/07/energy-transfers-300-million-lawsuit.html#ReaderSupportedNews #StandWithStandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #CorporateColonialism #EarthDefenders #CriminalizingDissent #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #Blackwater
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#JulianAssange extradition appeal: what you need to know before the #UK high court’s ruling
#WikiLeaks founder to learn on Tuesday if he can appeal against his extradition to the #UnitedStates
by Rafqa Touma
Mon 25 Mar 2024 22.03 EDT"Fitzgerald said Assange and WikiLeaks 'were responsible for the exposure of criminality on the part of the #USGovernment on an unprecedented scale,' including #torture, rendition, #extrajudicial killings and #WarCrimes.
"He alleged '#StateRetaliation' motivated the US prosecution and so was unlawful. Fitzgerald also warned that if Assange was extradited there was 'a real risk that he’ll suffer a flagrant denial of justice'.
"#MarkSummers KC, also for Assange, raised the issue of #CIA officials under former US president Donald #Trump reportedly discussing abducting and even #assassinating Assange."
#FreeAssange #Whistleblowers #whistleblower #USImperialism #Corporatocracy #ErikPrince #TigerSwan #Blackwater
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OpEd: Why #MAGA Loves #Russia and Hates #Ukraine
Feb. 8, 2024
By David French"In 2021, The American Conservative’s Rod Dreher praised a #Putin speech condemning the West and said that Putin and #Hungary’s #ViktorOrban were 'completely clear and completely correct on the society-destroying nature of #wokeness and postliberal leftism.' (It should be noted that Dreher has nonetheless unequivocally condemned Putin’s invasion.) A 2022 exchange between Steve Bannon and #ErikPrince, the founder of private military contractor #Blackwater, was even more illustrative. Bannon hosted Prince on his podcast shortly after Putin’s invasion and proclaimed Putin 'anti-woke.' Prince replied supportively that the people of Russia 'still know which bathroom to use.' And Bannon kept the thought alive, asking, 'How many genders are there in Russia?'"
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/opinion/why-maga-loves-russia-and-hates-ukraine.html
#Transphobia #ChristoFascism #ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #Fascism #TigerSwan #NoDAPL #HumanRights #EnvironmentalJustice #LGBTQ
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#Blackwater Founder #ErikPrince Indicted for Arms Sales to #Libya
By Miriam Raftery
July 27, 2023 (San Diego) — "The name Erik Prince became familiar to many residents in San Diego’s East County when Blackwater, the private military contracting firm he founded, sought to build a #paramilitary training camp in Potrero.
"Now Austria has indicted Prince for alleged arms trafficking to Libya in violation of a United Nations arms embargo; at least one shipment of explosives reportedly went through #Austria using an Austrian business, BNN reports. Prince is accused of organizing a covert military operation to supply Libyan warlord #KhalifaHafter with war equipment for rebellion against a government backed by the U.S. and the U.N.
"If convicted, Prince could face up to five years in prison. However, it is unclear whether or not he will be extradited to Austria; Prince holds residency in both the U.S. and #AbuDhabi. Prince has denied UN allegations of arms peddling to Libya.
"The local #Potrero project drew massive opposition on #environmental grounds as well as the many controversies involving Blackwater, which Prince was CEO and chairman of at the time. The Harris Fire in October 2007 displaced many residents, but that didn’t stop them from showing up to vote and recall all five community planning group members who had voted for the project, which sparked national news headlines.
"The 2007 firestorms scorched Round Potrero Valley, where Blackwater planned to store #ammunition and a bunkhouse with 200 men in the box valley with only one exit.
"Blackwater ultimately dropped plans for the Potrero facility in 2008, ostensibly due to noise mediation requirements, although those had not changed since the project’s inception.
"Prince, a former Navy Seal before founding Blackwater in 2009, is no stranger to controversy. Three Blackwater guards were convicted in 2014 of manslaughter and another of murder in charges stemming from the massacre of civilians in Baghdad’s #NissourSquare in 2007. In March 2009, Prince resigned as Blackwater’s CEO but remained chairman of the board until the company’s sale in late 2010.
"Blackwater’s successor company, #Academi, was accused of #ArmsTrafficking in 2012 dating back to when Prince served as CEO and Chairman. Then in 2020, the #FBI investigated Prince for arms trafficking involving #cropduster planes converted for military use.
"He moved to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in 2010, where he was hired by the crown prince to organize foreign troops for the #UAE and formed a new firm called #ReflectResponses, or R2. He later trained Somalis in anti-piracy operations with UAE funding.
"Prince also leads a private equity firm, #FrontierResourcesGroup and until April 2021, chaired Frontier Services Group Ltd., which had various business dealings in #Africa.
"Prince also drew controversy over revelations that he lied to the House Intelligence Committee in Nov. 2017 about his involvement in the #Trump transition team and was at a Trump Tower meeting that allegedly had backchannel communications with a representative of Russian President Vladimir #Putin. A Special Counsel in 2018 found evidence contradicting Prince, the Washington Post reported. The House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department which announced in 2020 that it had opened an investigation into Prince’s alleged perjury during his testimony.
"Politically well connected, Prince is the sister of #BetsyDevos, former Secretary of Education under President Donald Trump, and has been a major donor to numerous Republican candidates and a Trump-aligned super-pac."
https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-indicted-arms-sales-libya
#PrivateArmy #Xe
#CorporateColonialism #PrivateArmies #Fascism
#ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #Blackwater #TigerSwan -
Footing the $15 Million Bill for the #DakotaAccessPipeline's #PrivateArmy
Sen. John Hoeven added monies to the Department of Justice’s budget for FY 2017 to reimburse #NorthDakota for incurred costs.
By Ruth Hopkins ,
IndianCountryTodayMediaNetworkPublished: May 23, 2017
“Last fall, the eyes of the world were fixated on #StandingRock.
“Among the images burned into the brains of so many abroad were those of Morton County sheriff’s department, joined by law enforcement officers from across the country, bedecked in military gear and armed to the teeth, brutalizing defenseless water protectors for expressing their first amendment rights and freedom of religion. Eyes were opened when mercs sicced vicious attack dogs on women and children guarding sacred burial grounds with their lives. Folks thousands of miles away watched in horror as they witnessed concussion grenades being thrown into crowds and elders being maced in the midst of sweat lodge raids. People will never forget live stream video picked up by mainstream media, showing hundreds of civilians being shot with water cannons in subzero temperatures by a corporate police state army. Some photos of injuries were judged too graphic to post by social media, as they revealed a young woman with a near severed limb and another who’d been blinded in one eye.
“This was not Iraq or Afghanistan. There was no foreign enemy invading our shores. These events occurred in the middle of the United States, on Lakota treaty lands; and the only thing these innocent people had done was dare to stand in the way of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the same one Bismarck, North Dakota residents rejected due to fears it would contaminate their water supply. This war zone created by Dakota Access and Morton County was meant to subdue Standing Rock residents and water protectors and force them to accept an unwarranted risk to their fresh water and the desecration of ancestral graves, under the barrel of a gun.
“Here in the states, hundreds of Native Nations and the American public sided with Standing Rock. Scores came to camp along the shores of the Mni Sosa (Missouri River). Others rallied in the local cities, signed petitions, and called the White House. Millions were outraged by the injustice.
“Yet who is paying for the corporate police state brutality I just mentioned? You are.
“Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), who accepted money from Energy Transfer Partners (the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline) and has been vocal in his support of both the Dakota Access Pipeline as well as the Keystone XL pipeline, has announced that North Dakota will receive $15 million in federal funds to reimburse the state for costs incurred as a result of militarizing Barney Fife and company while they pushed the pipeline through for ETP and engaged in the violent, forced removal of water protectors. Hoeven slid said monies into the Department of Justice’s budget as part of Fiscal 2017 funding legislation.
“By the way, Hoeven sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee and is now the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Welcome to Custer’s wet dream.
“The distinguished Senator from North Dakota would have us believe his state was alone in its mission to extinguish #NoDAPL. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“When Morton County requested backup, law enforcement officials from across the nation came to North Dakota via the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). The Sheriff’s Association also showed up in full force.
“New York Daily News writer Shaun King obtained audio where #EnergyTransferPartners freely admitted that they worked closely with the Sheriff’s Association, and wow, did they ever. They became one and the same.
“#WaterProtectors who lived at camp can attest to #ETP and law enforcement’s collusion and fraternization, but the record speaks for itself.
“The Sheriffs’ Association has a $3.46 million budget, according to tax forms. Some of this funding comes from corporate sources, like TigerSwan. TigerSwan maintains offices in Iraq and Afghanistan. TigerSwan’s CEO is a former adviser to the multinational private security firm, Blackwater. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, a Trump campaign donor and the brother of Betsy DeVos, the US Secretary of Education. Besides funding the Sheriff’s Association, TigerSwan is in charge of Dakota Access intelligence and supervising overall security for the company. Tigerswan works for Dakota Access, while funding and partnering with the Sheriffs’ Association.
“The Sheriff’s Association purchased military gear from the US Department’s Defense Logistics Agency thanks to the Defense Department’s 1033 program. Think corporate welfare for the defense industry.
“Wait, there’s more. #EnergyTransferPartners CEO #KelcyWarren offered to reimburse North Dakota and Morton County for costs due to defending the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“So why are US taxpayers forking over $15 million to North Dakota?
“Despite the fossil fuel industry’s wishes, America is not an oil company with an army. We should not be bankrolling our own oppression.”
#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#colonialism #Genocide #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux #TigerSwan #ErikPrince #Blackwater #DAPL #ACAB #ErikPrinceColonialism -
As Military Contractors Face Scrutiny; A Look at Erik Prince's Controversial 'Blackwater Worldwide'
Story by Rishitha Boddu, December 2, 2023
"Erik Prince is an American businessman and former US Navy SEAL whose net worth is estimated at a substantial $2 billion dollars. He is known for founding and owning the military contractor XE, widely recognized as #BlackwaterWorldwide, a company that engaged in #covert government operations. However, this enterprise faced intense scrutiny for #HumanRights violations in 2007, leading to Erik's decision to step down as its leader in 2009. But even before Blackwater, a significant portion of Prince's wealth is derived from his family's automotive accessory empire, established by his father.
"Established in 1997, Blackwater holds the distinction of being the largest private military company globally. Notably, it has been awarded more than $1.6 billion in federal contracts. Moreover, the company is reported to have secured classified contracts from the Central Intelligence Agency (#CIA) amounting to a staggering $600 million since 2001. Following Erik's departure, Blackwater underwent a change in ownership, with a group of investors acquiring it in 2010, before rebranding it as Academi in 2011. In 2013, Erik Prince authored the book 'Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror,' shedding light on the company's inner workings.
"Blackwater, a private military and security company founded by Erik Prince in 1997, emerged as a major player during the #IraqWar. The company secured contracts to provide security services to various U.S. government agencies, making it an essential part of the U.S. military presence in Iraq. Blackwater's involvement in the Iraq war, including the killing of civilians, brought it to the forefront of public scrutiny and controversy.
"Blackwater and Erik Prince faced numerous allegations of war crimes and misconduct during the Iraq war. The most infamous incident was the #NisourSquare massacre in 2007, where Blackwater personnel were involved in a shooting that resulted in the deaths of seventeen Iraqi civilians.
"The Nisour Square incident was a turning point, as it raised questions about the behavior of private military contractors in a war zone. It prompted further investigations into the conduct of Blackwater and its personnel, ultimately contributing to a tarnished reputation.
"Amid mounting legal challenges and heightened scrutiny, Erik Prince chose to step down from his role as the CEO of Blackwater in 2009. The controversy surrounding Blackwater's activities in Iraq and its reputation became increasingly untenable, and Prince sold the company.
"Prince's resignation was seen as a strategic move to distance himself from the crimes at Blackwater. While it marked his exit from the company he founded, it did not shield him from ongoing legal battles and public attention.
"In sworn statements submitted as part of the case, former Blackwater employees made explosive allegations, including claims that Prince may have been involved in the murder of individuals cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company.
"These individuals also alleged that Blackwater was engaged in smuggling weapons into Iraq and that Erik Prince, in their view, perceived himself as a '#ChristianCrusader' with a mission to eliminate Muslims and Islam. These allegations fueled the already raging controversy surrounding Prince and his companies.
"The fraud case and the allegations against Erik Prince and Blackwater have continued to generate public and legal scrutiny. This ongoing legal battle has kept the controversies alive, ensuring that Prince remains a figure of interest and concern."
https://marketrealist.com/blackwater-and-erik-prince/
#ErikPrince #Blackwater #Academi #Xe #NoDAPL #ClimateProtestors #TigerSwan #WaterProtectors #WarCrimes #IraqiCivilians #Warmonger #BigOilAndGas #BetsyDevos #Amway #ChristianRight #Fascism
#ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #USPol #WorldPol -
#TigerSwan Former Delta Operator sought to incite violence at the #DakotaAccessPipeline
by Jack Murphy Feb 26, 2018“’Everyone just saw #oil and saw dollar signs,' a security contractor who worked on the #DAPL project told SOFREP before commenting that Reese, 'wants to be the next #ErikPrince.' At one point, TigerSwan was making a million dollars in profit per month while working on DAPL. No one at the company wanted to see that spigot turn off so some employees provoked the protesters in order to prolong the conflict. ETP was unaware of this as their director of security, Eric Lyons, was inexperienced and took whatever TigerSwan said at face value.
“Another incident took place when Porter ordered several ex-Rangers to do penetration tests of the protester camps by driving a pickup truck right through their perimeter lines. The former Rangers blasted into Camp 3 where many of the more radical #NativeAmericans were known to be and made a loop through the camp. As protesters moved their vehicles to close off the entrance and trap them, the Rangers drove over a snow bank and escaped. Next, they drove down to Camp 1 and repeated the same tactic. This time the Native Americans drove after them and they got into a high-speed pursuit down the road.
“This action resulted in the women and children vacating the camps, while those remaining went up to 100% security and prepared for law enforcement and security contractors to come clear the camps, which was never going to happen. The #protesters simply burned through resources and the native American tribe was not in a position to help them since they had spent the water protector donations to the tune of 3.2 million dollars in order to settle their casino debts.
“‘I know for a fact that the money went into a lot of people’s pockets,' said Eddie Stormcloud who was a leader in one of the #WaterProtector camps and attended many closed-door sessions with the tribal council. Stormcloud also told SOFREP that the true amount of money was closer to nine million dollars rather than the 3.2 reported. At the end of the day, it seemed that everyone was cashing in on the situation at #StandingRock.
“‘Porter’s real goal was to keep this thing going as long as possible,' a former TigerSwan employee told SOFREP. 'Some of the protesters wanted to do big actions because they would get more media coverage and more funding. TigerSwan wanted it to happened because their contract would be prolonged. Meanwhile, ETP had no idea.'
“One of the first contractors on the ground at #DAPL told SOFREP that, 'when TigerSwan came on that was when the shit show started. They came in with this military ideology when it was a police operation. They were almost willing to go in and do things that RGT [Russel Group] would never do because you can’t by law. So the oil company looked to TigerSwan as the authority and a lot of guys went over to them.'
“The security contractor continued, saying that TigerSwan had an attitude of, 'we are going to walk into a room with a bunch of thugs and will be the biggest thug in the room.'
“‘They are trying to prolong this as a cash cow,' another contractor lamented.
“TigerSwan sent an unsigned and undated document from a nameless e-mail address to SOFREP denying the contents of this article. It reads in part, 'The claims you make have no basis in reality and are completely made up.' The document goes on to state, 'At no time were there any approved operations outside of the scope of the contract. Just like any dynamic organization, the client’s enterprise team for DAPL would come up with creative ideas to do their jobs differently, but nothing outside the scope of the contract was ever approved.'
"A legacy brought home from #Iraq and #Afghanistan: The conflict at Standing Rock created a number of precedents for the future of #protests and #counterprotest actions. While companies like #Blackwater were private military companies operating abroad, TigerSwan brought the tactics that contractors and soldiers use in Baghdad to American soil for the first time.
“'Someone is going to get shot, and then a bunch of people are going to get shot, and then we are going to have a #WoundedKnee III. That’s going to reflect badly on the national guard, on law enforcement, and certainly on private security contractors,' Landon Steele said. 'Guys need to be really leery and really careful and ask the really hard questions when a contract holder calls them and says we have a contract here in the US.'
“Today, TigerSwan employs contractors running static and roving security patrols for the #MarinerEast2 #ME2 pipeline being built in #Pennsylvania by #ETP. The company also has eyes on the Atlantic pipeline and would like to bid on upcoming security contracts that will need to be fulfilled for the project.
“TigerSwan’s internal security assessments anticipate protests when the Atlantic pipeline is run through North Carolina and West Virginia.”
Full article:
https://sofrep.com/news/tigerswan-former-delta-operator-sought-to-incite-violence-at-the-dakota-access-pipeline/#WaterIsLife #BigOil #OilAndGasIndustry #NoDAPL #HumanRights #Covert #Corporatism #Corporatocracy #Corruption #Capitalism #Colonialism #ACAB #Activism #ClimateChange
#EnvironmentalJustice
#ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #Blackwater #TigerSwan -
Security Firm Running #DakotaAccessPipeline Intelligence Has Ties to U.S. Military Work in #Iraq and #Afghanistan
By Steve Horn
Oct 28, 2016"#TigerSwan is one of several security firms under investigation for its work guarding the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota while potentially without a permit. Besides this recent work on the #StandingRockSioux protests in #NorthDakota, this company has offices in Iraq and Afghanistan and is run by a special forces Army veteran.
"According to a summary of the investigation, TigerSwan 'is in charge of Dakota Access intelligence and supervises the overall security.'
"The Morton County, North Dakota, Sheriff’s Department also recently concluded that another security company, Frost Kennels, operated in the state while unlicensed to do so and could face criminal charges. The firm’s attack dogs bit #protesters at a heated Labor Day weekend protest.
"Law enforcement and private security at the North Dakota pipeline protests have faced criticism for maintaining a militarized presence in the area. The American Civil Liberties Union (#ACLU) and National Lawyer’s Guild have filed multiple open records requests to learn more about the extent of this #militarization, and over 133,000 citizens have signed a petition calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene and quell the backlash.
"The Federal Aviation Administration has also implemented a no-fly zone, which bars anyone but law enforcement from flying within a 4-mile radius and 3500 feet above the ground in the protest area. #DallasGoldtooth, an organizer on the scenes in North Dakota with the #IndigenousEnvironmentalNetwork, said on Facebook that '#DAPL private security planes and choppers were flying all day' within the designated no-fly zone.
"Donnell Hushka, the designated public information officer for the North Dakota Tactical Operation Center, which is tasked with overseeing the no-fly zone, did not respond to repeated queries about designated private entities allowed to fly in no-fly zone airspace.
"What is TigerSwan?
"TigerSwan has offices in Iraq, Afghanistan, #Jordan, #SaudiArabia, #India, and #LatinAmerica and has headquarters in North Carolina. In the past year, TigerSwan won two U.S. Department of State contracts worth over $7 million to operate in Afghanistan, according to USASpending.gov.
"TigerSwan, however, claims on its website that the contract is worth $25 million, and said in a press release that the State Department contract called for the company to 'monitor, assess, and advise current and future nation building and stability initiatives in Afghanistan.' Since 2008, TigerSwan has won about $57.7 million worth of U.S. government contracts and subcontracts for security services.
"Company founder and CEO James Reese, a veteran of the elite Army Delta Force, served as the 'lead advisor for Special Operations to the Director of the CIA for planning, operations and integration for the invasion of Afghanistan and Operation Enduring Freedom' in Iraq, according to his company biography. Army Delta partakes in mostly covert and high-stakes missions and is part of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the latter well known for killing Osama Bin Laden.
"One of TigerSwan’s advisory board members, Charles Pittman, has direct ties to the #OilAndGasIndustry. Pittman “served as President of #Amoco Egypt Oil Company, Amoco Eurasia Petroleum Company, and Regional President BP Amoco plc. (covering the #MiddleEast, the Caspian Sea region, Egypt, and India),' according to his company biography.
'Sad, But Not Surprising'
"Investigative journalist #JeremyScahill told #DemocracyNow! in a 2009 interview that TigerSwan did some covert operations work with #Blackwater USA, dubbed the 'world’s most powerful #mercenary army' in his book by the same name. Blackwater has also guarded #OilPipelines in central #Asia, according to Scahill’s book.
"Reese advised Blackwater and took a leave of absence from TigerSwan in 2008 in the aftermath of the #NisourSquareMassacre, a shooting in Iraq conducted by Blackwater officers which saw 17 Iraqi civilians killed. TigerSwan has a business relationship with Babylon Eagles Security Company, a private security firm headquartered in Iraq which also has had business ties with Blackwater.
"'It is sad, but not surprising, that this firm has ties to the US interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq,' Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the women-led peace group #CODEPINK and the co-founder of the human rights group #GlobalExchange, told DeSmog. 'It is another terrifying example of how our violent interventions abroad come home to haunt us in the form of repression and violation of our civil rights.'
"The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Private Investigation and Security Board are also conducting parallel investigations to the one recently completed by Morton County. TigerSwan did not comment on questions posed about their contract."
https://www.desmog.com/2016/10/28/private-security-firm-dakota-access-iraq-afghanistan-blackwater/
#TigerSwan #BigOil #NoDAPL #Blackwater #HumanRights #Covert #Corporatism #CIA #Corporatocracy #Corruption #Capitalism #Colonialism #ACAB #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism
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Extent of #Blackwater and #CIA Collaboration Uncovered
By Yana Kunichoff
Published December 11, 2009"New details of Blackwater participation in clandestine CIA raids detail the extent to which private security contractors were involved in covert government antiterror operations.
"According to former employees and current and former American intelligence officials, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions, Blackwater security guards participated in clandestine raids to capture or kill suspected insurgents in #Iraq and #Afghanistan and in transportation of detainees on CIA flights.
"The raids against suspects were said to occur almost nightly between 2004 and 2006, the height of the Iraqi insurgency. Several of the former Blackwater employees said the lines dividing the government-sanctioned agencies (the CIA and the military) and Blackwater began to blur.
"This information highlights a more extensive relationship between the CIA and Blackwater, now re-named Xe Services, than government investigation had previously acknowledged.
"This was confirmed recently by an article about #ErikPrince, the founder of Blackwater, published in Vanity Fair. In it, Prince spoke about the extent of his involvement with the CIA, which ranged from putting together, funding and executing operations to bring personnel into 'denied areas' to targeting specific people for #assassination who were deemed enemies by the #USGovernment.
"Though Prince alleged that he participated as a private citizen and used his personal funds to carry out operations, the Blackwater employees interviewed by The New York Times confirmed both their full knowledge of and participation in the raids.
"#Xe spokesman Mark Corallo, however, continued to deny this."
Full article:
https://truthout.org/articles/extent-of-blackwater-and-cia-collaboration-uncovered/#TigerSwan #BigOil #HumanRights #Covert #Corporatism #Corporatocracy #Corruption #Capitalism #Colonialism
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The Intercept and Grist begin release of 50 #TigerSwan documents
by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 14, 2023
"The #Intercept and #Grist began releasing new TigerSwan spy documents in new coverage of the mercenaries hired by the #DakotaAccess Pipeline. They now have 50,000 TigerSwan documents, and another 9,000 are held up in the court battle for now. The documents reveal TigerSwan spying on #WaterProtectors at #StandingRock in #NorthDakota, Bold Iowa, and at other locations.
"[Murdered] #Pauite #journalist, drone #activist and filmmaker #MyronDewey was among those that TigerSwan spied on and stalked at Standing Rock..."
#WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #IndigenousNews #Blackwater #ErikPrinceRead more: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-intercept-after-spying-on-standing.html
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2016 via #DemocracyNow: #TigerSwan Security, Linked to #Blackwater, Now Coordinates Intel for #DakotaAccess
"We speak with Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill, who has spent years reporting on private security contractors such as the private security firm TigerSwan, which has links to the now-defunct mercenary firm Blackwater and is in charge of coordinating intelligence for the Dakota Access pipeline company. He discusses the company’s track record as more than 100 #NativeAmericans and allies fighting the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline have been injured by police in North Dakota. Many were attacked with rubber bullets, tear gas, mace canisters and water cannons in freezing temperatures. The attack began after the water protectors attempted to clear access to a public bridge, which has been blocked by authorities using military equipment chained to concrete barriers."
#NoDAPL #ErikPrinceListen: https://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/21/jeremy_scahill_tigerswan_security_linked_to
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#ErikPrince on #Blackwater’s Secret #CIA Past
by Eli Lake
Updated Jul. 12, 2017 12:00AM ET / Published Mar. 14, 2013"During [a 2008 raid], the ATF seized 17 Romanian AK-47s and 17 Bushmaster AR-13 rifles the bureau claimed were purchased illegally through the sheriff’s office in Camden County, North Carolina. It also alleged that Blackwater illegally shortened the barrels of rifles and then exported them to other countries in violation of federal gun laws. Meanwhile, in the process of trying to account for Blackwater’s guns, the ATF discovered that the rifles and pistols presented in 2005 to King Abdullah and his brothers were registered to Blackwater employees. Prosecutors would subsequently allege that Gary Jackson—the former president of Blackwater and one of the two people who would eventually plead guilty to a misdemeanor—had instructed employees to falsely claim on ATF forms that the guns were their own personal property and not in the possession of Jordanian royalty.
"In all of these instances—the purchase of the rifles through the Camden County sheriff, the shipment of the guns to other countries, and the gifts to Abdullah—Blackwater argued that it was acting on behalf of the U.S. government and the CIA. All of these arguments, obviously, were very much in Blackwater’s legal interest. That said, it provided the court with classified emails, memoranda, contracts, and photos. It also obtained sealed depositions from top CIA executives from the Directorate of Operations, testifying that Blackwater provided training and weapons for agency operations. (A CIA spokesman declined to comment for this story.)"
Read more:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/exclusive-erik-prince-on-blackwaters-secret-cia-past#ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #Blackwater #TigerSwan
