Thread by @arapaho415

@modernhomesla Well, @modernhomesla you've discovered a really confusing (to me at least🥴) story, which leads directly to the doorstep of...GEO Group😮!
1/ '[T]wo men said in separate legal filings the Cabazon-Wackenhut partnership was forged to sell weapons to the Contras. (more...)

@modernhomesla 2/ "People claiming CIA ties wanted the venture to develop machine guns at a 'top secret' tribal facility for distribution to Nicaragua🇳🇮, said a second man, weapons manufacturer Robert Booth Nichols (no relation to John Philip Nichols).(con't)

@modernhomesla 3/ ...In civil court filings, he said he pulled out because Wackenhut didn't provide State Department approval."
GEO Group:
"Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (WCC) was formed as a division of the Wackenhut Corporation... (con't)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEO_Group

@modernhomesla 4/ ...now a subsidiary of G4S Secure Solutions) in 1984 after George Zoley presented the idea of a separate prison management company to Wackenhut founder George Wackenhut. It was incorporated as a Wackenhut subsidiary in 1988. (more...)

@modernhomesla 5/ ...In July 1994, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.
In 2003, WCC management raised funds to repurchase all common stock held by G4S.
In 2004, the company changed its name to The 👉GEO Group, Inc👈." (more...)

@modernhomesla 6/ Background on original company, which is now a subsidiary of GEO Group. (Man this corporate stuff really confuses me, but it's no doubt deliberate on their part.)
"G4S Secure Solutions (USA) is an American/British🇬🇧-based security services company, and a subsidiary of G4S plc.

@modernhomesla 7/ ...It was founded as The Wackenhut Corporation in 1954, in Coral Gables, Florida, by George Wackenhut and 3 partners (all are former FBI agents). In 2002, the company was acquired for $570 million by Danish🇩🇰 corporation Group 4 Falck... (con't)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G4S_Secur…

@modernhomesla 8/ ... (itself then merged to form British company G4S in 2004). In 2010, G4S Wackenhut changed its name to G4S Secure Solutions (USA) to reflect the new business model.
The G4S Americas Region headquarters is in Jupiter, Florida. (more...)

@modernhomesla 9/ You're gonna love this part, @modernhomesla
"After early struggles (including a fistfight between George Wackenhut and one of his partners), Wackenhut took sole control of his company in 1958, then naming it after himself. (more...🥁)

@modernhomesla 10/ "By 1964, he [Wackenhut] had contracts to guard the Kennedy Space Center and the 👉U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear test site in Nevada👈. The following year, he took his company public." (more...)

@modernhomesla 11/ And ties to Pulse Nightclub shooting😬...
"On Jun 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, who worked at G4S from 2007 until his death, committed one of the largest mass shootings in US history. Though Mateen's employment as an armed guard only slightly facilitated his access to firearms...

@modernhomesla 12/ ...and the firearms refresher courses he took each four years at G4S suggested more substantial training on his own, the company's inability to detect prior warning signals brought it under widespread scrutiny." (more...)

@modernhomesla 13/ G4S had a contract w/CBP (Customs/Border Patrol) but based on a lawsuit filed this year, think most recent award went elsewhere.
2007:
"CBP will continue to use Wackenhut Corporation’s 'guard and transportation' services for the Southwest border..."
web.archive.org/web/2010030810…

@modernhomesla 14/ G4S caught a break with the 2019 US govt shutdown.
Jan 24, 2019:
US CBP "will award a $50 million contract to a British private security firm without first shopping around for a better price, as would normally be done. (con't)
qz.com/1531702/the-us…

@modernhomesla 15/ ...The reasons, according to the agency: the government shutdown and immigrant caravans.
This week, CBP said in a government filing it plans to give G4S, which is headquartered in the UK, a 6-month contract starting March 4 [2019] for security guards, medical services...

@modernhomesla 16/ ...and transportation at the border. The filing explains that although there are several large companies that could perform those services, G4S is the only vendor that can meet its deadline." (more...)

@modernhomesla 17/ Apparently CBP awarded most recent southwest transport contract to ISS Action.
Filed under seal: Dec 17, 2019, unsealed on Jan 3, 2020.
G4S post-award bid protest vs ISS Action, Inc for CBP security & transportation along the US southwest border. /end
ecf.cofc.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_p…