You know the guy who stands behind Trump at Trump rallies holding a “Blacks for Trump” sign?
His name is Michael. Reporter @MooneyMichaelJ visited Michael at his mansion in Florida and their conversation was, to put it mildly, very weird. (Thread.) bit.ly/31sdPfS
His name is Michael. Reporter @MooneyMichaelJ visited Michael at his mansion in Florida and their conversation was, to put it mildly, very weird. (Thread.) bit.ly/31sdPfS
@MooneyMichaelJ 2/ Michael has gone by the names Maurice Woodside, Michael Symonette, and Mikael Israel, but now he prefers to be called Michael the Black Man. He’s a part-time musician and club promoter and has several websites promoting various religious and political conspiracy theories.
@MooneyMichaelJ 3/ He’s friendly with Republican leaders in Florida. A video on his site shows Sen. Rick Scott, back when he was still governor, telling Michael, “I saw you on TV with Trump. You did a good job.” He is also pictured with Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Rep. Allen West.
@MooneyMichaelJ 4/ The president has singled Michael out at rallies to thank him. At a 2016 campaign event in Miami, Trump pointed to Michael from the stage. “I love that sign,” he said into the microphone. “‘Blacks for Trump,’ I love that sign. Thank you!”
@MooneyMichaelJ 5/ Decades ago, Michael joined the Temple of Love in Miami, led by a man who called himself Yahweh Ben Yahweh (Hebrew for “God, son of God”).
This is where his story starts to get strange. bit.ly/2RYQr6F
This is where his story starts to get strange. bit.ly/2RYQr6F
@MooneyMichaelJ 6/ The group has been linked to extortion schemes, fire bombings, and more than a dozen murders. Yahweh Ben Yahweh believed, among many other things, that “the Democrats were the slave masters, and they were the murderers of our people.”
@MooneyMichaelJ 7/ Dissidents of the sect lived in fear. One former member was found dead and dismembered at the edge of the Everglades. Another member told police he killed six people at the behest of Yahweh Ben Yahweh.
@MooneyMichaelJ 8/ Michael’s brother, Ricardo, who was also a member of the Temple of Love, testified against him in court, saying that Michael stabbed a man through the eye with a stick and participated in the beating of the man who ended up headless in the Everglades.
@MooneyMichaelJ 9/ Michael says the eye-stabbing “never happened” and that the victim was seen with his eye weeks after the alleged murder. (The victim is presumed dead, and his body has never been found.)
@MooneyMichaelJ 10/ After a prolonged trial, Yahweh Ben Yahweh was convicted in 1992 on 14 charges of murder conspiracy and spent 11 years in prison. He died of prostate cancer in 2007. Michael was found not guilty.
@MooneyMichaelJ 11/ Michael has been arrested at least five times since his murder trial, on charges ranging from grand theft auto to attempting to carry a gun onto a plane, but he was never convicted. Michael said that each incident was a misunderstanding or a mistake by officers.
@MooneyMichaelJ 12/ As the election cycle gears up, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of “Michael the Black Man.” (Look out for him the next time you watch a Trump rally.)
