Yahweh ben Yahweh, born as Hulon Mitchell Jr. in 1935, was the leader of a religious group known as the Nation of Yahweh. He established the Nation of Yahweh in the 1970s in Florida, promoting a blend of black nationalism, Hebrew Israelite theology, and black separatism. The group advocated for self-sufficiency, economic empowerment, and adherence to a strict moral code.
Under Yahweh ben Yahweh's leadership, the Nation of Yahweh grew rapidly, acquiring real estate properties, businesses, and a significant following, particularly in the African American community. However, the group's success was marred by allegations of criminal activity and violence.
In the late 1980s, Yahweh ben Yahweh and several of his followers were implicated in a series of crimes, including murder, arson, and extortion. Witnesses testified that Yahweh ben Yahweh had ordered the killings of individuals who disobeyed him or posed a threat to the group. The most notorious incident was the murder of a dissident member named Aston Green, whose ears were reportedly severed as proof of his death.
In 1990, Yahweh ben Yahweh was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, and other offenses. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming that he was being persecuted for his religious beliefs. Nevertheless, he was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.
While in prison, Yahweh ben Yahweh continued to exert influence over his followers, issuing teachings and directives through letters and phone calls. He was released on parole in 2001 after serving approximately 11 years of his sentence. After his release, he lived a relatively low-profile life until his death in 2007.
The Yahweh ben Yahweh story remains a complex and controversial chapter in the history of American religious movements. While some view him as a charismatic leader who provided a sense of identity and purpose to his followers, others see him as a manipulative cult leader responsible for heinous crimes. Regardless of one's perspective, his legacy serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked authority and fanaticism within religious organizations.
Yahweh ben Yahweh had founded the Nation of Yahweh, a religious movement with its headquarters in Florida and thousands of black Americans as members at its peak. Because of his assertions that Jesus was black and that white devil’s occasionally rule over black people, he was charged with inciting racism.
Yahweh ben Yahweh had legal issues by the 1990s, yet his followers stuck by him. Along with many other Nation of Yahweh members, he was found guilty in 1990 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and given an eighteen-year prison term. In the years from 1990 and 2001, he served for eleven of them. Robert Rozier, a former NFL player and devotee of Mitchell, admits to seven of these murders.
Investigators in West Dade found Aston Green’s headless corpse as part of his murdering spree, which horrified Florida. The Nation of Yahweh was where the 26-year-old mechanic had previously belonged. Law authorities eventually thought that Yahweh’s disciples had murdered Green in revenge for her decision to leave the cult. That very hypothesis was confirmed by Khalil Amani, who had also fled The Nation of Yahweh in the middle of the 1980s.
Amani spoke with the Miami FBI and discussed the alleged attack that took place before to Green’s horrific murder. Amani stated that while he was working as a security guard, Green returned to the cult’s facilities. The head of security for The Nation of Yahweh, flanked by perhaps a dozen other followers, brought Green to a back room. Amani heard thumping sounds as soon as they entered the room. Amani saw the group trample on Green’s body and beat him with things, including the wooden staffs they carried for defense, as he broke open the door to observe what was happening.
A little while afterwards, the Yahweh believers left the room carrying a Green who was unconscious and covered in a piece of carpet taped together. Green was carted away from the compound in the trunk of a car after one Yahweh member had taken a machete. Green was subsequently transported to the Everglades and executed there on the command of Yahweh ben Yahweh.
Only a murder conspiracy conviction was at stake for Ben Yahweh. After being granted parole in 2001, he was allowed to return to Miami, but his freedom of movement was limited up until a few months before his death. He couldn’t visit his previous congregation again. For this reason, he was forbidden from using the Internet, telephone, computer, radio, or television to communicate with any Nation of Yahweh members.