Anti-Islamic biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites
32 minutes agoAndy Verity, Tom Beal & Will DahlgreenBBC News
BBCThe firm guarding sites where aid is distributed in Gaza has been using members of a US biker gang with a history of hostility to Islam to run its armed security, a BBC investigation has found.
BBC News has confirmed the identities of 10 members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club working in Gaza for UG Solutions – a private contractor providing security at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, where hundreds of civilians seeking food have been killed in scenes of chaos and gunfire.
We can reveal that seven members of the gang are in senior positions overseeing sites at the controversial aid operation backed by Israel and US President Donald Trump.
UG Solutions (UGS) defended its employees’ qualifications for the job, saying it does not screen people out for “personal hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job performance”.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said it has “a zero-tolerance policy for any hateful, discriminatory biases or conduct”.
Infidels MC was set up by US military veterans of the Iraq war in 2006 and members see themselves as modern Crusaders, using the Crusader cross as their symbol – a reference to the medieval Christians who fought Muslims for control of Jerusalem.
The gang is currently hosting anti-Muslim hate speech on its Facebook page and has previously held a pig roast “in defiance of” the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
“Putting the Infidels biker club in charge of delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza is like putting the KKK in charge of delivering humanitarian aid in Sudan. It makes no sense whatsoever,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading Muslim civil rights organisation in the US.
“It’s bound to lead to violence, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen happen in Gaza.”
The gang’s leader, Johnny “Taz” Mulford, is a former sergeant in the US Army who was punished for conspiracy to commit bribery, theft and making false statements to military authorities. He is now the “country team leader” running UG Solutions’ contract in Gaza.
FacebookWe emailed Infidels MC for comment. In response, Mr Mulford instructed fellow leaders of the biker gang not to reply but included the BBC when he clicked “reply all” – inadvertently disclosing email addresses and names of fellow Infidels MC members, some of whom were working in Gaza.
By matching up names with public information about Infidels MC’s leadership, and evidence from UG Solutions insiders who worked with them, we have identified 10 members of Infidels MC who Mr Mulford recruited to work with him in Gaza.
In addition to Mr Mulford, we have identified three leading members of Infidels MC who also have senior roles at UGS’s Gaza operation:
- Larry “J-Rod” Jarrett, who has been publicly named as the Infidels MC vice-president, and is in charge of logistics
- The gang’s national treasurer, Bill “Saint” Siebe, who leads the security team for one of GHF’s four “safe distribution sites”
- One of the gang’s founding members, Richard “A-Tracker” Lofton, a team leader at another distribution site
FacebookConfidential documents, open-source information and former UGS contractors have enabled us to confirm the identities of a further six Infidels bikers hired to work in Gaza. Three of them are leaders or deputy leaders of the firm’s armed security teams.
Mr Jarrett, Mr Siebe and Mr Lofton did not respond to requests for comment.
UGS told the BBC it conducts comprehensive background checks and only deploys vetted individuals. However, news reports indicate Mr Jarrett was arrested two years ago in the US for drunk driving and has a previous charge of driving under the influence from about a decade earlier. It is not known whether either case resulted in a conviction.
The founder and chief executive of UG Solutions, Jameson Govoni, was arrested earlier this year in North Carolina for his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident and for fleeing from police to evade arrest, according to court documents. Mr Govoni, who is based in the US and is not a member of Infidels MC, declined to comment.
Until now Mr Mulford was the only UG Solutions contractor to have been identified as a member of the Infidels. The BBC’s investigation reveals how widespread his hiring of members of the biker gang has been, notably to better-paid jobs leading the UGS armed security teams.
Social media posts show that in May, just two weeks before travelling to Gaza, Mr Mulford sought to recruit US military veterans who follow him on Facebook, inviting anyone who “can still shoot, move and communicate” to apply.
In total, at least 40 of about 320 people hired to work for UG Solutions in Gaza were recruited from Infidels MC, according to an estimate by a former contractor.
UG Solutions is paying each contractor $980 (£720) per day including expenses, rising to $1,580 (£1,160) per day for team leaders at GHF’s “safe distribution sites”, documents seen by the BBC show.
One leader of a team in Gaza overseeing site security, Josh Miller, posted a photo of a group of contractors in Gaza with a banner reading “Make Gaza Great Again”.
FacebookThe banner advertises the logo of a company he owns which sells T-shirts and other clothing, including one which has the slogan “embrace violence” and another which says: “Surf all day, rockets all night. Gaza summer 25.”
His company also posted a video online showing scenes of gun violence and advocating the shooting of criminals, with the caption: “Remember, always shoot until they’re no longer a threat!”
Mr Miller has the word “Crusader” tattooed across his fingers and “1095” on his thumbs. This is the year when the leader of the Catholic church, Pope Urban II, launched the first crusade, attacking Muslims as a “vile race”. Mr Miller did not respond to requests for comment.
A post on the Infidels MC Facebook page selling “1095” hats says it signifies the start of the Crusades, “a military campaign by western European forces to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control”. The “Holy Land” refers to the area mostly covered by modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories.
FacebookJohnny Mulford, who in addition to leading the gang is listed as the registered agent of a Florida company called Infidels MC, has the date 1095 tattooed across his chest. He has a Crusader cross tattooed on his right forearm and another on his left upper arm along with the word “Infidels”.
“When you see anti-Muslim bigots today celebrating 1095, celebrating the Crusades, they are celebrating the wholesale massacre of Muslims – the erasure of Muslims and Jews from the holy city of Jerusalem,” said Mr Mitchell from the US Muslim civil rights organisation CAIR.
He said the gang had the hallmarks of anti-Muslim hate groups which for decades have used the name “Infidels”.
FacebookAnti-Islamic views expressed by the gang include a flyer for the pig roast during Ramadan, which the BBC found on an archived web page. It says: “In defiance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan… we invite you to attend the Infidels MC Colorado Springs Chapter open bike party & pig roast.”
The flyer also shows a woman wearing a burka that has been torn off from the neck down, exposing her chest.
The Infidels MC Facebook page has hosted clearly Islamophobic discussions. In 2020 the club shared a link to a false, satirical article claiming four US Democratic politicians, two of them Muslim, wanted the Bible to be deemed hate speech.
Comments from members of the Facebook group included: “Filling my magazine to the max. Would not be the first time we were at odds with muslims”; “Deport these pathetic skanks to a pathetic third world crap hole where they won’t be offended by the Holy Bible”; and a comment dismissing “them and their Mohammad” with an expletive.
As of Wednesday, the comments remain on the Infidels MC Facebook page.
Internet ArchiveThe Infidels MC website also used to show the skull logo of the violent Marvel comic book character Punisher, a symbol appropriated by white supremacist groups, inscribed with “kafir” in Arabic script – which translates as “unbeliever” (or “infidel”).
Scenes of chaos and danger have been common at the aid distribution sites in Gaza since they opened at the end of May. Up to 2 September, 1,135 children, women and men were killed near GHF sites while seeking food, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The UN has said most of the killings appear to have been carried out by Israeli security forces. Incidents where civilians were harmed while seeking aid are “under review by the competent authorities in the IDF”, the Israeli military said.
FacebookUGS has denied allegations that its security contractors also fired on civilians and that it put people seeking food in danger due to incompetent leadership. However, the company has admitted that warning shots have been used to disperse crowds.
In a statement, UG Solutions, based in North Carolina, said Johnny Mulford is a “trusted and respected figure” with more than 30 years’ experience supporting the US and its allies globally. “We stand by his reputation, record, and his contributions to the success of complex missions,” the company said.
Getty Images“We do not screen for personal hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job performance or security standards. Every team member undergoes comprehensive background checks, and only qualified, vetted individuals are deployed on UG Solutions operations,” UGS said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it relies on “people from all backgrounds” to provide aid in Gaza and to build trust with Gazans.
“The team providing aid at the Foundation’s sites is diverse – and it is successful for that reason,” the GHF said.