Tony Alamo
Tony Alamo (accent on the second syllable), known also by other names such as Bernie LaZar Hoffman, Mark Hoffman, and Marcus Abad , is an American cult leader and figure of the Christian right. Alamo and his followers are known for leaving their literature, much of which is anti-Catholic and anti-American government, on car windshields across America.
Contents |
[edit] Crime and Punishment
Alamo has been incarcerated on several occasions, including a weapons-related offense in the 1960's and a tax related charge in 1994, for which he served a six year federal sentence. Besides the crimes for which he has been imprisoned, Alamo has been accused of multitudes of other offenses. He has been accused of rape by dozens of former members of his "congregation", and former members have reported that he has as many as seven "wives", whom he married when they were still children. Alamo claims that women are the property of men, and that once a girl reaches puberty she needs to marry and begin having children. Like all cult leaders before him, he justifies this behavior by claiming that his god has talked to him and instructed him to do what he does.
Alamo's cult compound was raided by Federal agents in September 2008 after reports of child sexual abuse. A few days later Alamo himself was arrested and being charged with multiple crimes involving child sexual abuse and transporting minors across state lines for those purposes.[1] Alamo's response has simply been to declare that it happened in the bible so it is okay by him: "In the Bible it happened. But girls today, I don't marry 'em if they want to at 14-15 years old. We won't do it, even though I believe it's OK." Alamo also proudly declared that the age of consent is puberty.[1]
He is presently serving a Life sentence, under his birth name "Bernie LaZar Hoffman", at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.[2]
[edit] Alamo's "Campus" and Other Bullshit That He's Spewed
Alamo and his congregation live in a compound (although he wants us to call it a "campus" or his "seminary") in rural Crawford County, Arkansas. Alamo is known for finding people on the streets, such as drug addicts, and bringing them to his "campus" to work for his "ministry" for little more than room and board. This is effectively modern day slavery.
Alamo is also known for being both vehemently anti-Catholic and anti-American government. In 1985 said of Ronald Reagan and the pope:
“”Did you know that the Pope and Ronald Reagan are a couple of Anti-Christ Devils and that they are selling us all down the drain?
|
Like other far right wing Christian fundamentalists, Alamo is steeped in conspiracy theories, such as the famous ones dealing with September 11, as well as less famous ones, like the American government being responsible for Pearl Harbor. Alamo has also been accused of collecting money, supposedly for charity, that later got funneled back to Alamo himself.
[edit] His wife
In 1982, his wife Susan Alamo (née Edith Opal Horn) died of cancer. Convinced he could raise her from the dead, her embalmed body was kept on display for six months with members of his "church" praying around it.[3] Her body was finally placed in a heart shaped mausoleum, but it was found to be missing when the government seized the property in 1991.[4] Her estranged daughter Christhiaon Coie sued Tony for stealing the body, and her stepfather obtained court order to have the body returned and finally entombed in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[5]
[edit] External links
- Wikipedia
- Website
- Village Voice article about Alamo
- Tony Alamo on Unsolved Mysteries - part 1 and part 2
- Tony and Susan Alamo TV Programs (via Archive.org) If you really want to see what there people were like.
- Susan Alamo Speaks Out - Videos of a TV show featuring Tony's wife.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Evangelist Alamo faces charges in child sex probe
- ↑ Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator
- ↑ http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20085245,00.html
- ↑ http://www.religionnewsblog.com/8505/body-of-cult-leaders-wife-stolen-from-mausoleum
- ↑ http://www.rickross.com/reference/alamo/alamo2.html