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

Are there any criminal gangs that have their own air force and navy?
#crime #organizedcrime #paramilitary #drugcartels #airforce #navy #military #privatearmy #criminals

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

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

@skykiss because it's a #coupdetat carried out by #US #oligarchy and their private #military https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Canopy #nogood #TripleCanopy #blackwater #privatemilitary #privatearmy #mercenaries

How #Militaries Are Transforming #Agricultural Tech Into Deadly #Weapons

By Max Fenton
Sept 26, 2022

"A subsequent U.N. investigation found that one of [#ErikPrince’s] modified planes was due for #Libya, which has been subject to an international arms embargo since the outbreak of its brutal 2011 #civilwar. Known as #ProjectOpus, Prince and his associates attempted to sell the modified crop-dusters to #KhalidHaftar, a Libyan #warlord and one of the key players in the country’s civil conflict and power vacuum since the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi. The plane was thankfully intercepted in Jordan, where authorities demanded its military assets be removed. The plane later made its way to Cyprus, Balkan Insight reports, which is its last known location as of 2021 and where it may be undergoing mechanical servicing.

"Though largely foiled, Prince’s plans are a reminder of how #cropdusting planes are especially risky pieces of military technology when it comes to international law and #HumanRights issues in conflict. Many of the militaries interested in their use are alleged to have committed significant human rights violations in the course of irregular warfare campaigns, and the addition of a highly specialized attack plane to their arsenals may pose grave risks to those caught in the crossfire."

https://slate.com/technology/2022/09/crop-duster-agricultural-tech-military-conflict.html

#PrivateArmy #Xe #Academi #CorporateColonialism #PrivateArmies #WeaponizedCropDusters #AgentOrange

[Full article available via the #InternetArchive]

The #FBI Is Investigating #ErikPrince for Trying to #Weaponize #CropDusters

by Matthew Cole
February 20 2020

"Last May [May 2019], shortly after Congress accused Erik Prince of lying under oath and referred criminal charges to the Justice Department, an associate approached the #Blackwater founder to offer help and commiserate about Prince’s potential legal jeopardy.

"Prince, who once moved to the United Arab Emirates to avoid being caught up in a federal prosecution, immediately dismissed the associate’s concerns. He was untouchable, he bragged, and would face no legal troubles.

"'Not under this guy,' Prince said referring to President Donald #Trump, according to a person with direct knowledge of the exchange.

"That assumption is about to be tested.

"Prince, an heir to a billion-dollar fortune who is widely viewed as a shadow adviser to the president, is under federal investigation for his 2015 attempt to modify two American-made crop-dusting planes into attack aircraft — a violation of arms trafficking regulations — two people familiar with the investigation told The Intercept. The planes became part of private military services Prince proposed to sell or use in mercenary operations in #Africa and #Azerbaijan, as The Intercept has previously reported.

"The investigation into the modified crop dusters is one of several ongoing probes targeting Prince. Another focuses on the allegations that he lied to Congress during the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into #Russia’s 2016 presidential election interference; a third concerns a 2017 armed aviation proposal to the #UAE, according to the Wall Street Journal."

https://theintercept.com/2020/02/20/erik-prince-fbi-investigation-trump-barr/

https://web.archive.org/web/20200414104709/https://theintercept.com/2020/02/20/erik-prince-fbi-investigation-trump-barr/

#PrivateArmy #Xe
#Academi #CorporateColonialism #PrivateArmies #WeaponizedCropDusters

#Blackwater Founder #ErikPrince Indicted for Arms Sales to #Libya

By Miriam Raftery

July 27, 2023 (San Diego) — "The name Erik Prince became familiar to many residents in San Diego’s East County when Blackwater, the private military contracting firm he founded, sought to build a #paramilitary training camp in Potrero.

"Now Austria has indicted Prince for alleged arms trafficking to Libya in violation of a United Nations arms embargo; at least one shipment of explosives reportedly went through #Austria using an Austrian business, BNN reports. Prince is accused of organizing a covert military operation to supply Libyan warlord #KhalifaHafter with war equipment for rebellion against a government backed by the U.S. and the U.N.

"If convicted, Prince could face up to five years in prison. However, it is unclear whether or not he will be extradited to Austria; Prince holds residency in both the U.S. and #AbuDhabi. Prince has denied UN allegations of arms peddling to Libya.

"The local #Potrero project drew massive opposition on #environmental grounds as well as the many controversies involving Blackwater, which Prince was CEO and chairman of at the time. The Harris Fire in October 2007 displaced many residents, but that didn’t stop them from showing up to vote and recall all five community planning group members who had voted for the project, which sparked national news headlines.

"The 2007 firestorms scorched Round Potrero Valley, where Blackwater planned to store #ammunition and a bunkhouse with 200 men in the box valley with only one exit.

"Blackwater ultimately dropped plans for the Potrero facility in 2008, ostensibly due to noise mediation requirements, although those had not changed since the project’s inception.

"Prince, a former Navy Seal before founding Blackwater in 2009, is no stranger to controversy. Three Blackwater guards were convicted in 2014 of manslaughter and another of murder in charges stemming from the massacre of civilians in Baghdad’s #NissourSquare in 2007. In March 2009, Prince resigned as Blackwater’s CEO but remained chairman of the board until the company’s sale in late 2010.

"Blackwater’s successor company, #Academi, was accused of #ArmsTrafficking in 2012 dating back to when Prince served as CEO and Chairman. Then in 2020, the #FBI investigated Prince for arms trafficking involving #cropduster planes converted for military use.

"He moved to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in 2010, where he was hired by the crown prince to organize foreign troops for the #UAE and formed a new firm called #ReflectResponses, or R2. He later trained Somalis in anti-piracy operations with UAE funding.

"Prince also leads a private equity firm, #FrontierResourcesGroup and until April 2021, chaired Frontier Services Group Ltd., which had various business dealings in #Africa.

"Prince also drew controversy over revelations that he lied to the House Intelligence Committee in Nov. 2017 about his involvement in the #Trump transition team and was at a Trump Tower meeting that allegedly had backchannel communications with a representative of Russian President Vladimir #Putin. A Special Counsel in 2018 found evidence contradicting Prince, the Washington Post reported. The House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department which announced in 2020 that it had opened an investigation into Prince’s alleged perjury during his testimony.

"Politically well connected, Prince is the sister of #BetsyDevos, former Secretary of Education under President Donald Trump, and has been a major donor to numerous Republican candidates and a Trump-aligned super-pac."

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-indicted-arms-sales-libya

#PrivateArmy #Xe
#CorporateColonialism #PrivateArmies #Fascism
#ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #Blackwater #TigerSwan

ICYMI - 2010: From #DemocracyNow

The Nation: Docs Reveals #Blackwater-Linked Companies Provided Intel & Security to Multinationals Like #Monsanto, #Chevron

September 16, 2010

“Blackwater’s Black Ops” — that’s the title of an explosive new article in The Nation magazine that reveals how entities closely linked with the private security firm Blackwater have provided #security and #intelligence services to a range of powerful #corporations over the past several years. The companies include #Monsanto, #Chevron, #DeutscheBank and others. Blackwater has also provided intelligence and training services to foreign governments, including #Jordan, the Canadian military and the Dutch police. We speak with investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill. [includes rush transcript]

"AMY GOODMAN: “Blackwater’s Black Ops” — that’s the title of an explosive new article in The Nation magazine that reveals how entities closely linked with the private security firm Blackwater have provided security and intelligence services to a range of powerful corporations over the past several years. The companies include Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt #Disney Company, Deutsche Bank, #Barclays and #RoyalCaribbean Cruise Lines.

"Blackwater has also provided intelligence and training services to foreign governments, including the Kingdom of Jordan, the Canadian military and the Dutch police. In 2007, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto worked with Blackwater when she returned to #Pakistan to campaign for the general elections. Bhutto was assassinated in December of 2007.

"The new revelations come from documents obtained by The Nation. They show that Blackwater’s work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies: #TotalIntelligenceSolutions and the #TerrorismResearchCenter. Both companies are owned by Blackwater’s owner and founder, #ErikPrince.

"Today also marks the third anniversary of the #NisourSquare massacre, when Blackwater guards gunned down seventeen #Iraqi civilians and wounded twenty in a fifteen-minute shooting spree in #Baghdad.

"For more, we’re joined now from New York by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill. He’s a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute. He’s a Democracy Now! correspondent and author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful #MercenaryArmy. His new article in online at thenation.com."

Listen / Read more:
https://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/16/the_nation__docs_reveals_blackwater

#PrivateArmy #Netherlands #Canada #Xe #Academi #CorporateColonialism #PrivateArmies #Fascism #AuthoritarianRule #Oligarchy

Footing the $15 Million Bill for the #DakotaAccessPipeline's #PrivateArmy

Sen. John Hoeven added monies to the Department of Justice’s budget for FY 2017 to reimburse #NorthDakota for incurred costs.

By Ruth Hopkins ,
IndianCountryTodayMediaNetwork

Published: May 23, 2017

“Last fall, the eyes of the world were fixated on #StandingRock.

“Among the images burned into the brains of so many abroad were those of Morton County sheriff’s department, joined by law enforcement officers from across the country, bedecked in military gear and armed to the teeth, brutalizing defenseless water protectors for expressing their first amendment rights and freedom of religion. Eyes were opened when mercs sicced vicious attack dogs on women and children guarding sacred burial grounds with their lives. Folks thousands of miles away watched in horror as they witnessed concussion grenades being thrown into crowds and elders being maced in the midst of sweat lodge raids. People will never forget live stream video picked up by mainstream media, showing hundreds of civilians being shot with water cannons in subzero temperatures by a corporate police state army. Some photos of injuries were judged too graphic to post by social media, as they revealed a young woman with a near severed limb and another who’d been blinded in one eye.

“This was not Iraq or Afghanistan. There was no foreign enemy invading our shores. These events occurred in the middle of the United States, on Lakota treaty lands; and the only thing these innocent people had done was dare to stand in the way of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the same one Bismarck, North Dakota residents rejected due to fears it would contaminate their water supply. This war zone created by Dakota Access and Morton County was meant to subdue Standing Rock residents and water protectors and force them to accept an unwarranted risk to their fresh water and the desecration of ancestral graves, under the barrel of a gun.

“Here in the states, hundreds of Native Nations and the American public sided with Standing Rock. Scores came to camp along the shores of the Mni Sosa (Missouri River). Others rallied in the local cities, signed petitions, and called the White House. Millions were outraged by the injustice.

“Yet who is paying for the corporate police state brutality I just mentioned? You are.

“Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), who accepted money from Energy Transfer Partners (the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline) and has been vocal in his support of both the Dakota Access Pipeline as well as the Keystone XL pipeline, has announced that North Dakota will receive $15 million in federal funds to reimburse the state for costs incurred as a result of militarizing Barney Fife and company while they pushed the pipeline through for ETP and engaged in the violent, forced removal of water protectors. Hoeven slid said monies into the Department of Justice’s budget as part of Fiscal 2017 funding legislation.

“By the way, Hoeven sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee and is now the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Welcome to Custer’s wet dream.

“The distinguished Senator from North Dakota would have us believe his state was alone in its mission to extinguish #NoDAPL. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“When Morton County requested backup, law enforcement officials from across the nation came to North Dakota via the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). The Sheriff’s Association also showed up in full force.

“New York Daily News writer Shaun King obtained audio where #EnergyTransferPartners freely admitted that they worked closely with the Sheriff’s Association, and wow, did they ever. They became one and the same.

“#WaterProtectors who lived at camp can attest to #ETP and law enforcement’s collusion and fraternization, but the record speaks for itself.

“The Sheriffs’ Association has a $3.46 million budget, according to tax forms. Some of this funding comes from corporate sources, like TigerSwan. TigerSwan maintains offices in Iraq and Afghanistan. TigerSwan’s CEO is a former adviser to the multinational private security firm, Blackwater. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, a Trump campaign donor and the brother of Betsy DeVos, the US Secretary of Education. Besides funding the Sheriff’s Association, TigerSwan is in charge of Dakota Access intelligence and supervising overall security for the company. Tigerswan works for Dakota Access, while funding and partnering with the Sheriffs’ Association.

“The Sheriff’s Association purchased military gear from the US Department’s Defense Logistics Agency thanks to the Defense Department’s 1033 program. Think corporate welfare for the defense industry.

“Wait, there’s more. #EnergyTransferPartners CEO #KelcyWarren offered to reimburse North Dakota and Morton County for costs due to defending the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“So why are US taxpayers forking over $15 million to North Dakota?

“Despite the fossil fuel industry’s wishes, America is not an oil company with an army. We should not be bankrolling our own oppression.”

https://truthout.org/articles/footing-the-15-million-bill-for-the-dakota-access-pipeline-s-private-army/

#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#colonialism #Genocide #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux #TigerSwan #ErikPrince #Blackwater #DAPL #ACAB #ErikPrinceColonialism

#crypto #currency #russia #moneylaundering #northkorea #putin #estonia #fraud #war #wagnergroup #privatearmy #followthemoney #corruption #criminals #globalcrime #ransomware #sanctions https://vsquare.org/tales-from-the-crypto-money-laundering-fraud-sanctions-estonia-lithuania-russia/

#estonia #crypto #currency #moneylaundering #russia #sanctions #baltic #privatearmy #wagnergroup https://kyivindependent.com/investigation-baltic-registered-crypto-firms-service-payments-for-russian-private-army-allow-sanctions-evasion/

Ron #DeFascist.
#DeSantis #Fascism #puddingfingers #authoritarianism #Florida #unamerican #evil #dictator #privatearmy #gestapo

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/15/ron-desantis-florida-state-guard-militia-veterans-quit

Ron #DeFascist.
#DeSantis #Fascism #puddingfingers #authoritarianism #Florida #unamerican #evil #dictator #privatearmy #gestapo

https://youtu.be/I3ViDuTQsLg

DeSatan's Praetorian Guard was advertised as a disaster response force, but is in fact a #military force and an illegal arrogation of the Federal executive branch's power to enforce immigration policy.

Just a small preview of the kind of deception, militarization, and abuse of authority we could expect from a DeSatan presidency.

#NeverTrump #NeverDeSantis #Florida #StateGuard #fascism #NationalGuard #Federalism #privateArmy

(No paywall)

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/15/us/florida-state-guard-desantis.html?unlocked_article_code=cQeNiRHWW3DzvoKEtHXYf26BtgLETIz4xqYTZpiRngbC17svy9quHeapUB8GQanl9rpGgVEtuXPTUxqYc-6eOzAgB6TPR2_6UyX9LroG4eYtTzlARZbFjgsmOKm3sn4ZmXU-1ZSW5JvE_ZMkQdobppqkAf_qnZ1Q8aP-yr9GJfc7lZQyQ_3HLuSQTHrvqlwuq4UahvstviUmuHhKaoqC-AOEgWBM9yth0zmDT1CeFTqU_6ibSUkNfj9Gw5cGFnO0Z6QH9HaXFoC9sawhNkleguiYoyZ4-tClVauD_N9DFlqXkQ7MmEMPagCdfqgcYowuwjGaCbdeZpeY-XpEncjFos4&smid=url-share

From the archives:

Britain is the world centre for private military contractors – and it's almost impossible to find out what they're up to.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/britain-is-world-centre-for-private-military-contractors/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=newsie_social

#mercenary #privatearmy #UK

The battle between armed security guard at the two hotels in #LagunaBeach apparently is a result of a dispute between between two real estate investors "both parties hiring armed security and attempting to force the other from the businesses". Apparently that dispute included a "20-person physical altercation" between the "security guards" #crime #privatearmy https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/civil-disputes-at-hotel-laguna-and-14-west-prompt-forced-closure-by-city/

Pip’s nighttime plan to “enlist for India as a private soldier” in Charles Dickens’s “Great Expectations” (1861). #111Words #Pip #GreatExpectations #CharlesDickens #India #EastIndiaCompany #PrivateSoldier #PrivateArmy https://andrewjshields.blogspot.com/2023/04/pips-nighttime-plan-to-enlist-for-india.html