Lmst

[Podcast] The return of Erik Prince - The comeback of America’s most infamous mercenary

Nov 1st 2025

"Erik Prince, America’s most infamous mercenary, is back.

"Mr Prince rose to prominence during the war on terror as the founder of #Blackwater, a private military company. The firm earned over a billion dollars providing armed personnel to various branches of the US government before becoming implicated in a number of scandals. In 2007 its contractors killed 14 Iraqi civilians, including a nine-year-old child. The massacre made Mr Prince the face of the Iraq fiasco. He sold the company and disappeared from the public eye.

"But in recent months Mr Prince has reemerged. He has popped up in some of the most dangerous, contested places in the world, from Ukraine to Haiti to the DRC. They are places the Trump administration is interested in too.

"For the Weekend Intelligence the Economist’s Africa Correspondent, Tom Gardner, flew to Cape Town to meet with Prince, the mercenary in CEO’s clothing. Prince is defiant after his years in the political wilderness. And he’s spying some big opportunities. The global mercenary business is on the brink of a new boom. States, across Africa and beyond, are fracturing. The international system is fraying. With UN peacekeepers drawing down, from Mali to Congo to Lebanon, mercenaries of different stripes can expect to fill the void."

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/YYhBY

#Blackwater
#ErikPrinceColonialism
#SilencingDissent
#USPol #Project2025 #CriminalizingActivism
#ClimateActivists #NoDAPL #Crapitalism
#Fascism #Trump #ChristoFascist
#CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists #Activists #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent
#CrackdownOnProtests #AntiProtestLaws #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #TripleCanopy #SilencingDissent #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal

@PaxtonOrglot #ErikPrince and #KillerDrones. What could possibly go wrong?!!

#ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #Blackwater #TripleCanopy #Tigerswan

@bouriquet How I feel when I'm putting together all the interconnections between #ErikPrince and pretty much every despot (including Trump, Bibi and Putin).

#ErikPrinceColonialism #PepeSilvia #ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia

A man with a beard, holding a cigarette, and excitedly pointing at papers tacked on a large wall board, with lots of red lines going from one piece of paper to another.

HT @wendysiegelman

"Trump EO 'Project Homecoming' says after 60 days #DHS will add 'no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily' - double the 10,000 agents Erik Prince had in his $25Bil proposal"

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/establishing-project-homecoming/

#Trump #TrumpEO #USPol #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #PrivatePrisons #Gestapo #ProjectHomecoming

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."

https://www.mlive.com/politics/2025/04/michigan-native-erik-prince-proposes-deportation-plan-to-el-salvador-report-says.html

#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, 2025

Excerpt: "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

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

#SupremeCourt blocks order requiring #Trump administration to reinstate workers

By Mark Sherman, April 8, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — "The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked an order for the Trump administration to return to work thousands of federal employees who were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government.

"The justices acted in the administration’s emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didn’t follow federal law.

"The effect of the high court’s order will keep employees in six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for now. Justices #SoniaSotomayor and #KetanjiBrownJackson said they would have kept the judge’s order in place.

"It’s the third time in less than a week that the justices have sided with the administration in its fight against federal judges whose orders have slowed President Donald Trump’s agenda. The court also paused an order restoring grants for teacher training and lifted an order that froze deportations under an 18th century wartime law."

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-mass-firings-02e218d2b7ee59925ddcb597b6b0a4fe
#USPol #SCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #ImpeachClarenceThomas #ImpeachSamuelAlito #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Fascism #Authoritarianism

HT @wendysiegelman

#Venezuela accuses US of plotting ‘false flag attack’ on Guyana oil platform

Venezuela’s VP said US Sect of State Marco Rubio and #Blackwater founder Erik Prince were behind alleged attack plan to blame Caracas for an attack on oil giant #ExxonMobil in neighboring #Guyana

#ErikPrince #MarcoRubio #Venezuela #FalseFlag #ErikPrinceColonialism #Oiligarchy

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3305449/venezuela-accuses-us-plotting-false-flag-attack-guyana-oil-platform

Trump allies circulate #MassDeportation plan calling for ‘processing camps’ and a private citizen ‘#army’

The group, led by #Blackwater veteran #ErikPrince, has close #Trump ties.

By Dasha Burns and Myah Ward
02/25/2025 05:55 AM EST

"Prince declined to comment, and the other contractors and former immigration officials listed as key personnel in the document also declined to comment or could not be reached.

"The founders of the new special entity called #2USV have a long history with the U.S. government. Blackwater was formed by Prince in 1996 to provide training services to law enforcement, military personnel and other government agencies. It gained widespread attention for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing security services for U.S. officials and military personnel, with critics viewing its rise as a result of the U.S. military’s overextension in the Middle East.

The military contractor came under scrutiny in 2007 following the #NisourSquareMassacre, when #Blackwater contractors opened fire and killed 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 others — raising questions about oversight and accountability of private contractors. Several contractors were charged with manslaughter, and four were convicted in 2014. Trump pardoned them at the end of his first term in December 2020.

"Trump’s pardon was just one example of the influence of Prince’s family during the first Trump administration. #BetsyDeVos, Prince’s sister, served as the president’s #Education secretary, while Prince used his Trump connections as he chased business ventures in the U.S. and abroad.

"In 2018, he reportedly helped raise money for an effort to spy on progressives and Democratic organizations opposed to Trump." [As well as #DAPL #WaterProtectors!]
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/25/documents-military-contractors-mass-deportations-022648
#Blackwater
#ErikPrinceColonialism
#SilencingDissent
#USPol #Project2025 #CriminalizingActivism
#ClimateActivists #NoDAPL #Crapitalism
#Fascism #Trump #ChristoFascist
#CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists #Activists #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent
#CrackdownOnProtests #AntiProtestLaws #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #TripleCanopy #SilencingDissent #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal

'Cuz, it would piss off #Putin!

'No Chance' #Ukraine Gets Back Russia-Annexed Lands — #Blackwater Founder

Published Nov 24, 2024

"Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, #ErikPrince, the founder and former CEO of private military company Blackwater, warned on Sunday that Kyiv should give up on any hopes of reclaiming its annexed territories from Moscow if it wants an end to the conflict."

https://www.newsweek.com/blackwater-founder-ukraine-russia-annexed-lands-1990812
#ErikPrinceColonialism #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #RussianAsset

Sez the #fascists!

#ErikPrince Told Russian Banker That #Trump and #Putin Should Be Like Roosevelt and #Stalin

Published Dec 06, 2017

"Prince said he went to the hotel bar and used his phone to find a picture of the man. They met and discussed oil and commodity prices and trade between #Russia and the United States, he testified. They also talked about 'how the United States and Russia should be working together to defeat Islamic terrorism,' according to Prince. 'I remember telling him that if Franklin Roosevelt could work with Joseph Stalin to defeat fascism, certainly the United States could work with Vladimir Putin to defeat Islamic fascism.''"

https://www.newsweek.com/erik-prince-testimony-house-intelligence-committee-meeting-740572
#ErikPrinceColonialism #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #RussianAsset

Ummmm... From #wikipedia:

The #WagnerGroup (Russian: #ГруппаВагнера, romanized: Gruppa Vagnera), officially known as PMC Wagner (ЧВК «Вагнер»), is a #Russian state-funded private military company (#PMC) controlled until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir #Putin, and since then by Pavel Prigozhin. The Wagner Group has used infrastructure of the Russian Armed Forces. Evidence suggests that Wagner has been used as a proxy by the Russian government, allowing it to have plausible deniability for military operations abroad, and hiding the true casualties of Russia's foreign interventions.

"The group emerged during the war in #Donbas, where it helped Russian separatist forces in #Ukraine from 2014 to 2015. Wagner played a significant role in the later full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, for which it recruited Russian prison #inmates for frontline combat. By the end of 2022, its strength in Ukraine had grown from 1,000 to between 20,000 and 50,000. It was reportedly Russia's main assault force in the Battle of Bakhmut. Wagner has also supported regimes friendly with Russia, including in the civil wars in #Syria, #Libya, the #CentralAfricanRepublic, and #Mali. In Africa, it has offered regimes security in exchange for the transfer of diamond and gold mining contracts to Russian companies. Wagner operatives have been accused of #WarCrimes including #murder, #torture, #rape and #robbery of #civilians, as well as #torturing and killing accused #Deserters.

[...]

"Early in 2020, #ErikPrince, founder of the #Blackwater private military company, sought to provide military services to the Wagner Group in its operations in Libya and #Mozambique, according to The Intercept. By March 2021, Wagner PMCs were reportedly also deployed in #Zimbabwe, #Angola, #Guinea, #GuineaBissau, and possibly the #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group
#ErikPrinceColonialism #PutinsArmy #CorporateColonialism #Oligarchy

So yeah. We're up against #ErikPrince and his forces now. You know, the folks who weaponize #cropdusters, attack #protestors, and want to spy on everyone! YIKES!
#BigBrother is #BigOilAndGas and #Oligarchy
#ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #CorporateFascism #ChristoFascism #Brownshirts

Dammit! I hate to say, "I told you so," but I TOLD YOU SO!

#Trump allies circulate mass deportation plan calling for ‘processing camps’ and a private citizen ‘army’

The group, led by #Blackwater veteran #ErikPrince, has close Trump ties.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/25/documents-military-contractors-mass-deportations-022648
#ErikPrinceColonialism #SilencingDissent #PrivateArmy #Russia #Spetsnaz #NightWolves #authoritarianism #NoDAPL #PutinsArmy #Fascism #Academi #TripleCanopy #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #CorporateColonialism #CorporateInterests #WaterIsLife #WaterDefenders #StandWithStandingRock #LandDefenders #BigOilAndGas

Yup! I knew that was coming! @FinchHaven @NinaBernstein1
#ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #SilencingDissent #Fascism

@LetsRoc The same ones. But I'm reminding folks of what #ErikPrinceColonialism looks like!

And of course there's a #Blackwater connection!!!

HT @cdarwin

The armed individual who blocked senators from entering federal property bears the insignia of "Triple Canopy", which merged with Blackwater in 2014.

This is a mercenary paramilitary guard for Musk and his minions. *Anyone wearing this insignia should be considered extremely dangerous.
https://bsky.app/profile/spartacus-nemik.bsky.social/post/3lhown2hn4225
#ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #TripleCanopy #SilencingDissent #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal

HT @rmblaber1956

Britain leads the world in cracking down on climate activism, study finds

Research shows UK police arrest environmental and climate protesters at three times the average global rate

Damien Gayle
Wed 11 Dec 2024 01.00 EST

"British police arrest environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average rate, research has found, revealing the country as a world leader in the legal crackdown on climate activism.

"Only Australia arrested climate and environmental protesters at a higher rate than UK police. One in five Australian eco-protests led to arrests, compared with about 17% in the UK. The global average rate is 6.7%."

Original article:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/11/britain-leads-the-world-in-cracking-down-on-climate-activism-study-finds

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/ukkvZ

#CriminalizingDissent
#ACAB #Autocracy #Corporatocracy
#Fascism #CriminalizingDissentIsAutocracy
#ClimateCrisis #GlobalBurning
#CorporateFascism #HumanRights #CivilLiberties #ClimateActivists
#Blackwater #NoDAPL #StandWithStandingRock
#ClimateAction #PipelineProtests #WaterProtectors #BigOilAndGas #AntiProtestLaws #SLAPPs #ErikPrinceColonialism #Article20 #2023PublicOrderAct
#Project2025 #HR9495 #GlobalWitness #AntiTerrorLaws

#ErikPrinceColonialism

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