"But when it became politically expedient to do so, someone threw me under the bus. Prince moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater Worldwide in 1997. Erik assumed control of daily operations at Prince Machine Corporation for a year until 1996 when his mother sold the company for $1.35 billion in cash to Johnson Controls. Prince hired Colombians and nationals of other countries thousands of miles away to fill his ranks for two reasons. On this new enterprise, Prince said it “is not a patriotic endeavor,” rather, it is intended “to build a great business and make some money doing it.”. Uyghurs are routinely targeted by the state due to continuous attempts by some to break away from China and form an independent state. He was, after all, America’s foremost mercenary executive. Although Prince characterized a second meeting between him and Dmitriev in a hotel bar as a chance encounter of no consequence, the meeting was actually pre-arranged after Prince had learned from calls back home that Russia had moved an aircraft carrier off Libya and he wanted to convey that the United States would not accept any Russian involvement in Libya. “The project will include an integrated solution of air-land-sea logistics capabilities and advanced security management.”. for possible prosecution", "DOJ reviews allegation that Erik Prince misled Congress in Russia probe", "AP Exclusive: Trump ally may have broken Venezuela sanctions", "Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups", "Project Veritas Video Was A Coordinated Disinformation Campaign,' Researchers Say", "Erik Prince recruited former spies to infiltrate Democratic campaigns and liberal groups: report", "Erik Prince Set Up Intel Training For Project Veritas, James O'Keefe Report", "James O'Keefe Donor Flees Over Failure To Disclose Criminal Record", "Blackwater founder Erik Prince goes to war against a former business partner", "Blackwater's Erik Prince Moves to Abu Dhabi", "Testimony Lifts Veil on Blackwater Boss", "Grilled Blackwater chairman a major GOP donor", "History of Family Research Council: Rolling Up the Sleeves", "Blackwater Founder Erik Prince, Who Got Rich Off Of Iraq, Now Backs 'Anti-War' Donald Trump", "Individual Contributions Arranged By Type, Giver, Then Recipient", "Freiheit Foundation - Nonprofit Explorer", "Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie", "Father of Koch Brothers Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says", Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, "Scandal: Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy", "Blackwater founder takes aim at his critics in memoir", "Notorious Mercenary Erik Prince Is Advising Trump from the Shadows", "Blackwater founder cutting ties with company", Detailed public records of Prince's campaign contributions, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erik_Prince&oldid=1008052933, American expatriates in the United Arab Emirates, Private equity and venture capital investors, People associated with Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia pending changes protected pages, Pages using infobox military person with embed, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 21 February 2021, at 09:23. [63] Prince has been referred to the United States Treasury Department for possible violations of sanctions against the Maduro government. In recent years, Prince has participated in the creation of Reflex Responses, a private army founded in August 2010. Erik Prince’s Blackwater provided services to the United States government valued at about US$2 billion dollars during the war in Iraq, but was involved in the deaths of 18 people there. [21], In 2012 Blackwater's successor company paid a combined $49.5 million to settle charges of arms trafficking violations dating back to the period Prince was CEO and chairman of the company. The halted refinery project was reported to be supported personally by the country's president, Salva Kiir Mayardit. The Washington Post found that “executives were concerned that the company might be skirting U.S. law — known as International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) — requiring Americans to obtain special permits before defense-related technology can be transferred to foreign countries.”. [56], The Mueller report later found that Nader had represented Prince to Dmitriev as "designated by Steve [Bannon] to meet you! His list of close allies including Steve Bannon, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist. The most famous … You have to act. Prince was part of a CIA task force created to engage in targeted killings of suspected terrorists, possibly in violation of domestic and international law. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Wagner Group is a notorious private military company from Russia. [88][b], Prince's first wife, Joan Nicole,[91][92] died of cancer in 2003 at age 36. Opus Dei was founded in Spain in 1928 by Catholic priest Josemaria Escriva, canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II as a saint. Prince surmised that Muslims could not be trusted to kill other Muslims. “When you want logistics done in Africa, you call DHL,” said Sean McFate, a former military contractor in Africa and current expert on mercenaries at the Atlantic Council. Prince’s meeting with Rodríguez represents a surprising twist for a businessman with long experience of trying to privatize warfare. FSG’s public focus is on providing security and logistical help to eastern African countries such as South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, and the DRC. [45] One of the modified crop-dusters was delivered to Salva Kiir Mayardit's forces in South Sudan shortly before a contract with Frontier Services Group was cancelled. [61][62], On December 30, 2019, it was reported that Prince had traveled to Venezuela to meet with a top aide of Nicolas Maduro. “We have brought together strong international business leaders to team-up with talented Somali entrepreneurs to make development in South West Somalia a reality,” an FSG statement reads. [14][15], Prince moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater Worldwide in 1997. Prince was born on June 6, 1969, in Holland, Michigan to Edgar D. Prince and Elsa Broekhuizen, the youngest of four children. [95] Prince and Houck married in 2004. He worked to oversee the effort and recruit troops, among others from Executive Outcomes, a former South African mercenary firm hired by several African governments during the 1990s to defeat violent rebellions in addition to protecting oil and diamond reserves. Also present at that meeting were Nader and Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the state-owned Russian Direct Investment Fund, who is close to Vladimir Putin. His suggestions include: greater accountability of costs, using appropriate equipment for each job, reduction of overhead, and operational and procurement reform. This has freed Prince to deal more closely with the Chinese. Prince is allied with Steve Bannon and has intriguing ties to Russia. [68], In April 2020, the Intercept reported that Prince has offered his services as a subcontractor to Russian Wagner group's activities in Mozambique and Libya, suggesting to provide aerial surveillance platforms and a ground force. Erik Prince who is the former CEO of black-water a private military company has been accused of violating UN arm embargo in Libya. In documents obtained by the New York Times, the mission of this privately commissioned battalion included “intelligence gathering, urban combat, the securing of nuclear and radioactive materials, humanitarian missions and special operations ‘to destroy enemy personnel and equipment,’ and crowd-control. [77] He has also donated to the Family Research Council,[78] a beneficiary of the Prince and DeVos families since the 1980s,[77][79] which the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as a hate group that "makes false claims about the LGBTQ community based on discredited research and junk science. The planes were meant to be outfitted with state-of-the-art surveillance technology and were supposedly able to fire missiles. Efforts from the spies included attempting to copy private files of the organization, and recording private conversations of group members without permission to do so.Michigan law is complicated when it comes to recording conversations, but the suit is a civil matter.. Azerbaijan called on Eric Prince and FSG to help it keep watch on the Nagorno-Karabakh region, also called the Republic of Artsakh. Some think that government can solve society's problems. [36] In October 2014, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority denied Kijipwa Aviation an aviation license renewal. Erik Prince, this report continues, was the founder, in 1997, of the private American military company known as Blackwater USA (that changed its name to XE Services than Academi) and was a covert member of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) task force designated to assassinate radical Islamic terror leaders. "[80], In 2016 Prince contributed $250,000 to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and $100,000 to Make America Number 1, a Trump-aligned super PAC helmed by Rebekah Mercer. Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, a business partner to Eric Prince, Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, signed up for the cause in order to destroy any creeping Iranian influence in the war-torn nation. Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, Links between Trump associates and Russian officials, Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections (July 2016 – election day), Timeline of post-election transition following Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (July–December 2017), Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (January–June 2018), Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (2019), "Profile: Blackwater's Restless Erik Prince", "Blackwater's Prince Has GOP, Christian Group Ties", "Betsy DeVos' brother, Blackwater founder Erik Prince, sparks headlines", "Blackwater Chief at Nexus of Military and Business", "Hillsdale.net - Hillsdale, MI - Hillsdale.net", "Protests outside, cheers inside as Blackwater founder Erik Prince speaks in Holland", "Obama spares Blackwater on Sudan violations", "Prince's business covertly won U.S.contracts", "Blackwater founder to sell up as criticism takes its toll", U.S. Jury convicts Blackwater guards in 2007 killings of Iraqi civilians, "Ex-Blackwater Contractor Sentenced To Life For Deaths Of 14 Iraqi Civilians", "January 2010: Adam Ciralsky on Blackwater", "US Official: Erik Prince Proposed Private Spy Network To Trump Administration", "Firm Formerly Known As Blackwater Fined $7.5 Million", "Trump Ally Erik Prince Reportedly Under Investigation By FBI For 'Converting Crop Dusters Into Military Aircraft, "Blackwater Founder in Deal to Sell Company", "Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater's Founder. Human Rights Watch accused the Chinese government of “deploying a predictive policing program,” using massive surveillance technology and a web of high-tech surveillance cameras and compulsory data collection. He credits the SEALs for being an outlet for his entrepreneurial spirit. Breaking News: Erik Prince, the security contractor close to the Trump administration, recruited former … [2] Prince and his father toured the world together, visiting the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, divided Berlin, and the battlefields of Normandy. Prince wanted to show the government two crop duster planes meant for agricultural use but refitted for military purposes. Your email address will not be published. [1] He graduated from Holland Christian High School. Find Out More > 55,315 [71][81], Other Republican politicians that Prince has contributed to include Ron Paul, Walter Jones, Joe Miller, Todd Tiarht, Mike Pence, Dana Rohrabacher, Oliver North, Pat Buchanan, Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn, Duncan L. Hunter, Ted Poe, Jon Kyl, Pete Hoekstra, and Mitt Romney. [citation needed], Between 1998 and 2007, Prince donated more than $200,000 to Republican and third-party causes. Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater USA, now called Academi. Erik Prince — founder of the private military company Blackwater, financial backer of President Donald Trump, brother to the new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and frequent Breitbart radio guest of White House power broker Stephen Bannon — has been offering his military expertise to support Chinese government objectives and setting up two Blackwater … What is the U.S. military’s least well known special force team? The name "Blackwater" comes from the peat-colored bogs in which the school is located. In January 2011, several Arab countries contracted Erik Prince to help train a private army of 2,000 Somali recruits. In 2011, Eric Prince was appointed by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to make a secret, private army.

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