Rizza Islam

Last updated

Rizza Islam
Born
Ronnie Steven Islam

March 17, 1990
Compton, California, U.S.
Occupation Nation of Islam minister
Website intellectualones.org

Ronnie Steven "Rizza" Islam (born March 17, 1990) is an American member of the Nation of Islam and a member of its paramilitary wing the Fruit of Islam. [1] According to the Anti-Defamation League, he is a social media influencer with over 500,000 followers across several platforms, posting antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-vaccine rhetoric, and promoting a range of conspiracy theories". [1]

Contents

Early life

Islam was born on March 17, 1990, in Compton, California. [2] A member of the Nation of Islam (NOI), he attended the local NOI mosque as a child, and also became involved in the Church of Scientology. [1]

Nation of Islam work

Islam took on many roles within the Nation of Islam as a teenager, and later trained Fruit of Islam members while working at the WLC.

Under the guidance of Tony Muhammad, Islam gained prominence within the NOI. He met with Louis Farrakhan on multiple occasions in 2015 and 2016 as part of his work with anti-vaccine activism and promoting peace between rival street gangs in Los Angeles. Islam introduced prominent anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Muhammad and Farrakhan in 2015.

In February 2021, at the NOI's annual Saviours' Day conference, Islam shared the stage with prominent NOI leaders such as Ishmael Muhammad and Ava Muhammad. [1]

World Literacy Crusade

Rizza Islam's mother, Hanan Islam, and his adoptive father, Alfreddie Johnson, were the executive director and founder, respectively, of the World Literacy Crusade, a Scientology-backed nonprofit organization. [1]

Fraud charges

In 2015, Islam, alongside some of his siblings and his mother, were arrested on medical and insurance fraud charges at a Scientology-affiliated Narconon rehabilitation center at WLC offices in Compton, California. [3] [1] [4] In March 2023, the trial's jury selection was again postponed. [5] On June 27, 2023, the case was dismissed.[ citation needed ]

Views

Through his social media channels and live events, Islam has promoted misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, [6] targeting African American communities with messages equating vaccines with eugenics [7] and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. [8] Islam has spoken at meetings of America's Frontline Doctors. [7] He has baselessly claimed that celebrities praising vaccination have been funded by "the medical industry" to promote vaccination, while not being vaccinated themselves. [9]

He has been called one of the "disinformation dozen" responsible for 65% of COVID-19 anti-vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories on the internet and social media, according to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in 2021. [10] [11] Islam's Facebook account has been terminated in February 2021, as part of the platform's efforts to limit the spread of misinformation about COVID-19. [11] [12] Instagram and YouTube later deleted his accounts. [13] [ better source needed ]

Rizza Islam has tweeted that Jewish people control sectors such as banking and the media. [14] In 2020, Islam made multiple anti-Semitic statements during an appearance on TIDAL and Revolt TV, "Drink Champs". [1]

Islam has claimed that nobody is born lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and that LGBTQ identity is foisted upon individuals by "international bankers" and the US government to support population decline. [1] He has also likened LGBTQ rights to rights for pedophiles, which he says the US government supports. [1]

Book

In 2019, Islam self-published the book Message to the Millineals, a 161-page missive promoting racial separation, written to "sound an urgent warning and to propose a solution." [15]

Related Research Articles

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African Americans. It practices a form of Islam that differs considerably from mainstream Islamic traditions. Scholars of religion characterize it as a new religious movement. It operates as a centralized and hierarchical organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Farrakhan</span> American black nationalist religious leader (born 1933)

Louis Farrakhan is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. and for his anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric.

A number of organizations and academics consider the Nation of Islam (NOI) to be antisemitic. The NOI has engaged in Holocaust denial, and exaggerates the role of Jews in the African slave trade; mainstream historians, such as Saul S. Friedman, have said Jews had a negligible role. The NOI has repeatedly rejected charges made against it as false and politically motivated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalid Abdul Muhammad</span> American black nationalist leader (1948–2001)

Khalid Abdul Muhammad was an African-American Muslim minister and activist who became a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam and later the New Black Panther Party. After a racially inflammatory 1993 speech at Kean College, Muhammad was condemned and removed from his position in the Nation of Islam by Louis Farrakhan. He was also censured by both Houses of the United States Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruit of Islam</span> Part of the Nation of Islam (NOI)

The Fruit of Islam (FOI) is the security and disciplinary wing of the Nation of Islam (NOI). It has also been described as its paramilitary wing. The Fruit of Islam wear distinctive blue, brown, or white uniforms and caps and have units at all NOI temples. Louis Farrakhan, as head of the Nation of Islam, is commander-in-chief of the Fruit of Islam, and his son, Mustapha Farrakhan Sr., is second in command as the Supreme Captain. The women's counterpart to the Fruit of Islam is Muslim Girls Training (MGT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Mercola</span> American alternative medicine proponent and purveyor of anti-vaccination misinformation

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World Literacy Crusade (WLC) was a non-profit organisation formed in 1992 by the Rev. Alfreddie Johnson to fight illiteracy, and supported by the Church of Scientology. The group uses "study technologies" and "drug rehabilitation technologies" developed by L. Ron Hubbard, the Church's founder. It has been characterized as a "Scientology front group", and has been promoted by celebrity Scientologists such as Isaac Hayes and Anne Archer.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is a British non-profit organisation with offices in London and Washington, DC. It campaigns for big tech firms to stop providing services to individuals who may promote hate and misinformation, including neo-Nazis and anti-vaccine advocates, and campaigns to restrict media organisations such as The Daily Wire from advertising. CCDH is a member of the Stop Hate For Profit coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientology and religious groups</span>

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LifeSiteNews is a Canadian Catholic conservative anti-abortion advocacy website and news publication. LifeSiteNews has published misleading information and conspiracy theories, and in 2021, was banned from some social media platforms for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

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Ty Bollinger is an American misinformation marketer and conspiracy theorist who promotes alternative medicine treatments for cancer and vaccine-preventable diseases. Bollinger has no medical training and has a history of disseminating misinformation about cancer treatments, anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, promoting ineffective or unproven cures, and other conspiracy theories on social media platforms. With his wife Charlene, he runs the website The Truth About Cancer and its associated social media accounts, where they sell books, videos, and nutritional supplements based on these ideas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Muhammad</span> Nation of Islam Minister and anti-vaccination activist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erin Elizabeth</span> American alternative medicine proponent and purveyor of anti-vaccination misinformation

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Kevin D. Jenkins is an American social media influencer and the CEO of Urban Global Health Alliance. He has been identified as a major promoter of misinformation about vaccines, especially targeting the African-American population.

This timeline includes entries on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. This includes investigations into the origin of COVID-19, and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 which is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Social media apps and platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube, have contributed to the spread of misinformation. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) reported that conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 began on "day one". CAHN reported on March 16, 2020, that far-right groups in Canada were taking advantage of the climate of anxiety and fear surrounding COVID, to recycle variations of conspiracies from the 1990s, that people had shared over shortwave radio. COVID-19 disinformation is intentional and seeks to create uncertainty and confusion. But most of the misinformation is shared online unintentionally by enthusiastic participants who are politically active.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Rizza Islam". Anti-Defamation League . Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  2. ↑ Islam, Rizza. "About Rizza". Rizza Islam. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  3. ↑ Ortega, Tony (January 14, 2021). "Hanan and Rizza Islam get trial date for $4 million Medi-Cal fraud at Scientology rehab". The Underground Bunker. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Defendants in Scientology Narconon fraud bound over for trial". KABC-TV. 2019.
  5. ↑ Ortega, Tony (March 1, 2023). "Rizza Islam trial likely to be delayed". The Underground Bunker. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  6. ↑ Parks, Miles (April 15, 2021). "The Most Popular J&J Vaccine Story On Facebook? A Conspiracy Theorist Posted It". NPR. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Gilbert, David (December 19, 2020). "Trump's Favorite Doctors Are Pushing a Conspiracy to Stop Black People From Getting the COVID Vaccine". Vice. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  8. ↑ Contreras, Russell (January 15, 2021). "Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines". Axios. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021.
  9. ↑ Mason, Jacquelyn (February 18, 2021). "The Nation of Islam and anti-vaccine rhetoric". First Draft News . Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  10. ↑ Salam, Erum (July 17, 2021). "Majority of Covid misinformation came from 12 people, report finds". The Guardian. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  11. 1 2 "The Disinformation Dozen" (PDF). Center for Countering Digital Hate (PDF). 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Covid vaccine: Social media urged to remove these 12 anti-vaxxers dubbed as 'Disinformation Dozen'". Hindustan Times . March 27, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  13. ↑ Muhammad, Charlene (March 30, 2021). "Attacking voices of concern and dissent on Covid-19 vaccines". Final Call News . Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  14. ↑ Harpin, Lee (April 29, 2021). "Leading anti-vaxx influencers promote Jew-hate to hundreds of thousands". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  15. ↑ ISNOINews (November 12, 2019). "Book review of "Message to the Millineals" by Rizza Islam".

Further reading

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