Enoch's Watchmen (Vandverse)

Type	New religious movement
Classification	UFO religion
Scripture	Book of
Polity	Hierarchical
Leader	Armand Moreau
Region	Worldwide (primarily Louisiana, Deep South, Midwest)
Founder	Armand Moreau
Origin	1866 Memphis, Tennessee
Temples	143,450
Members	10,105,393 (2019)

Enoch’s Watchmen (Cherokee: ᎤᎢᎾᎩ ᏩᏥᎠᏂᏍᎦᏯ), also known as Bajubism, is an American New religious movement founded in 1866 by Armand Moreau. The religious movement is often described as a prototypical form of the Black Hebrew Israelites movement, with elements of Judaism, Islam, and millenarian, nontriniterean, and gnostic Christianity, however, Enoch’s Watchmen also incorporates elements of Kemetism, Mormonism, Voodoo, Native American religions such as the Ghost Dance faith, and beliefs that classify it additionally as a UFO religion. Enoch’s Watchmen has numerous splinter sects, each with varying beliefs and influences, some of which have been labeled as cults or terrorist organizations by American governments

Generally adherents of Enoch’s Watchmen are Black Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites, despite not being recognized as Jews by the greater Jewish community. Likewise Enoch’s Watchmen claim that Native Americans are also descendants of Israelites, and conversely claim that Enoch’s Watchmen are legally a Native American tribe, which has led to altercations with national governments over claims of independence, akin to the sovereign citizen movement. Despite having a strong emphasis on the African ethnicity, some Watchmen groups allow members of all races.

Denominations

Church name	Organized by	Date	Split from	Headquarters	Members	Notes
Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen	Negusa Universa Solomon-Isaiah’el ben Jah’ovah (Armand Moreau)	1866	N/A	Shiloh, Nebraska	6,540,320
Israelite Messengers of God	Ras ben Jah Muhammad’a Negusa Tulsa (Armand Moreau Jr.)	1889	Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1,540,320
Enoch's Temple of Africa	David Cassius Musa	1896	Israelite Temple of Yahwah’s Knowledge	Monrovia, Liberia	1,284,403
Israelite Temple of Yahwah’s Knowledge	Ras Spenta Wakantanka ben Enoch	1892	Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen	St. Louis, Missouri	810,840
Watchmen Order of Zion	Negus Giger ben Jah Niger (Lazarus Moreau), Mambamawu Sophia Shaka Snake (Jeanne de Fazende)	1880	Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen	Topeka, Kansas	530,111
Zion Temple of Divine Knowledge	Methuselah Ali Niger	1880	Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen	Zebulon, Colorado	498,743
Temple of the Nishnatobra Nation	Nigiste Oprah Obadiah Abuna (Helen Murray)	1880	Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen	Sioux Falls, Dakota	107,840
Church of God and the Prophets	David Solomon Shala	1903	Israelite Temple of Yahwah’s Knowledge	Independence, Missouri	53,910
Cosmic Planeswalkers of Enoch	Jesus Lincoln	1925	Watchmen Order of Zion	Independence, Missouri	25,180
Nishnatobra Tribe of Oklahoma	Taltsuska Muhammad Benjamin	1913	Israelite Messengers of God	Zela, Oklahoma	18,430
Israelite Keeper’s of the Covenant	Armand Jacques Abraham	1899	Israelite Messengers of God	New Orleans, Louisiana	15,499
People’s Watchmen of God	Muhammad Shaka Shewa	1937	N/A		40,000 (1950) 17,430 (2019)	Intervened in the Ethiopian Civil War
Pillars of Ishim	Ooskiah Axum	1958	N/A		5,210 (1980) 430 (2019)	Considered a terrorist organization, responsible for the Benewah Siege
God's People of the Covenant	Muhammad Garvey Selassie	1969	N/A		1,000 (1990) 299 (2019)

History

Exoduster Movement

The late 1800s saw a major migration of African-Americans from the Deep South to the western frontier. The movement has its roots in the Underground Railroad, in which escaped slaves were aided in fleeing to nations in which slavery was illegal, primarily in the north of the continent. In 1858 the nation of Louisiana became one of the first southern nations to outlaw slavery after the brief Louisiana Civil War (1854-1857), which would be a precursor to the American Servile Wars (1868-1883) that occured across slavery-practicing nations of the south. From 1850 to 1870 approximately 10,000 people, primarily former or escaped slaves, traveled from the southern nations across the Mississippi, primarily settling in northern Louisiana.

Even after the outlawing of slavery, racial violence and “bulldozing” by white supremacist groups, as well as discriminatory laws, propelled a number of southern blacks to migrate westward in greater numbers. In parts of Lower Louisiana the black population outnumbered whites, however, white citizens were far better equipped and armed, and had political support to pass laws targeting blacks. Tensions rose across the Mississippi River, as the “Black Filibusters”, or armed, emancipated slaves who launched unauthorized military expeditions into slave states, hoping to incite a revolution, became common during the 1860s. After the outbreak of the Alabama War, thousands of slaves were freed or aided in escaping westward.

The depression of the 1870s exacerbated racist policies by white merchants and planters, who sought to offset their agricultural losses by increasing prices and interest rates for blacks. This harmed communities in free Louisiana, prompting many to look to the less populated northwest of the nation. In 1870 a local activist in New Orleans named Henry Adams began organizing a network to help black individuals move north. In 1872 a pastor named Benjamin "Pap" Singleton helped to bring the movement from secrecy to a major movement across the nation, nicknamed the “Exodusters”.

Singleton preached a form of Millenarianism, stating that blacks should go on a great exodus to establish their “Promised Land”, in reference to the Jews’ flight from Egypt. The millenarian aspect of the Exodus was most realized in Tennessee, where Benjamin "Pap" Singleton’s boisterous proselytizing found most an enthusiastic black following and a more amenable white audience. Another major figure would be Gaston Diagne, who personally led 5,000 people from Bossier Parish (almost 40% of the parish’s population), after a violent riot destroyed black owned businesses and homes, and Diagne was attacked for his attempted mayoral campaign.

In total approximately 50,000 Exodusters would take part in the migration from 1870 to 1880, primarily settling in Kansas.

Moreau Movement

Armand Moreau (c. 1840-1891) was a black preacher born in Louisiana, who would later become a religious figure swept up in the Exoduster movement. In 1866 he traveled to the city of Memphis to take part in war that broke out in the city, and is said to have survived a divine miracle when he managed to survive a direct artillery barrage near where he was stationed. On 10 May, after being missing in action for a week, Moreau reemerged and began preaching in the city that he had been chosen by God as a prophet. A warrant was issued for Moreau’s arrest for desertion, however, he soon became a minor figure to the opposition as well, as they believed he was increasing the morale of the African army and helping to coordinate them.

Later that year Moreau and a group of 2,000 black followers fled the city for northern Arkansas. His group became caught up in the area’s ongoing racial violence, with some disciples following the lead of other black militant groups in the region and attacking white-owned plantations in the region. Moreau would construct his first temple in the town of Jericho (OTL Jonesboro) in 1867, where his followers easily dwarfed the existing population that only numbered in the hundreds. Here Moreau officially received his largest series of revelations from God, leading to the writing of the Book of Nuzuba, based on texts Moreau said an angel revealed to him at the town’s local hill.

Moreau is often credited as the origin of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, as that year he began preaching that Africans were the true descendants of the ancient Israelites. His doctrine would be influenced by the Exodusters, with Moreau claiming that he would lead the African-American population from Memphis (reminiscent of the Ancient Egyptian city) to the Promised Land. This concept would inspire others as well, either based on Moreau’s teachings or independently authored. In 1880 the Church of the Sacred Pillars of Christ would be founded by Pierre Martin, followed by the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations by Frank Cherry in 1886, and the Church of God and Saints of Christ William Saunders Crowdy in 1886, which were all southern or exoduster, black churches claiming to be a part of the Black Israelite Movement.

By 1869 the city of Jericho had grown to some 10,000 people, leading to both interest and conflict from its neighbors. Moreau’s writings were spread across the south, helping to motivate blacks to flee for his church or to take up arms in the ongoing war in Tennessee and elsewhere. That summer Moreau established the town of Gilgal (OTL Luxora) on the western bank of the Mississippi north of Memphis, as a military-style camp to aid those fleeing Tennessee. Moreau became increasingly convinced of the coming apocalypse and end times, and sought to liberate the south by force in preparation. In October he crossed the Mississippi with a small army, at this point receiving reluctant backing from the formal abolitionists.

Several governments in the south would issue formal declarations that Moreau and his followers were to be eradicated, as to eliminate the threat to the region and to the white-controlled status quo. Known as the Moreauite War, southern nations became increasingly militant against Moreau. In January 1870 a major battle occurred in the city of Nashville between white supremacists under John W. Morton and local blacks, after a Moreauite temple was established in the city. By this time Moreau had fled and taken part in the Cairo Riot of 1870 in neighboring Illinois, but this ended inconclusively.

In February 1870 Moreau was ordered to stand down or be labeled an enemy of the state by the Louisiana legislature. Moreau would refuse to retire, especially after a skirmish near the town of Searcy killed 319 Moreauite supporters later that month. That year Moreau fully endorsed the Exodusters and helped promote the movement, being inspired himself to relocate his congregation to Kansas. By that summer 20,000 Moreauites had migrated to Kansas under Moreau’s direct control. While several other thousand scattered across Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois.

The following year Mouri traveled to St. Louis and toured the Illinois along the Mississippi River, all while under a pseudonym as he was a wanted Illinois criminal. In St. Louis he delivered a sermon to approximately 20,000 black inhabitants, and helped establish a temple in the city. Later he traveled to Nauvoo, one of the epicenters of the Latter Day Saints Movement. Many of Moreau’s main tenets aligned heavily with Mormonism, and he wrote at this time that Joseph Smith was likely correct that the region was to be “Zion”, however, he believed Mormons had been corrupted by evil spirits to worship the antithesis of God, as they discriminated against blacks and natives, who Moreau contended were the true Israelites.

In 1873 Moreau moved his headquarters to Nebraska, after the white population of Kansas became increasingly militant against him. There he founded the city of Shiloh (OTL Lincoln), which would later become one of the largest cities in the region. By 1880 the city’s metropolitan area had approximately 20,000 Moreauites, 6,000 other blacks, and 8,000 people of other races. Moreau would spend much of his time traveling across the region, preaching in Nebraska, Kansas, and beyond. He would primarily tour Exoduster settlements and cities with large black populations, and would help establish a temple in Tulsa in 1874.

Moreau wrote extensively on the idea that Native Americans were related to Africans and also descendants of the Israelites. During the later half of his lifetime he extended his mission toward converting natives as well, and offering them lesser positions in his communities. Moreau viewed natives as having broken God’s covenant throughout history, as an explanation for their current tribulations at the hands of white people, but wrote that during Judgement Day the whites would be ousted from America in turn. Despite this, the “sinful history” of the natives, in regards to their worshipping of idols primarily, led to them still being viewed as lesser compared to blacks. In 1875 Moreau formally claimed that he and his followers were in fact a Native American tribe, known as the Nishnatobra, and that they should be eligible for reparations, legal sovereignty, and reservations.

In 1874 pressure from the Kansas government and white settlers forced Moreau to hold elections in the city of Shiloh, to dissuade the government from thinking there was a theocratic dictatorship taking hold in Kansas. Despite this, Moreau won his election for mayor, beginning the movement’s interest in acquiring political titles through legal means. In 1880 Moreau’s son, Armand Moreau Jr., would be elected mayor of Tulsa, while other descendants of Moreau would go on to hold numerous political offices. This only temporarily placated white settlers, and in 1876 Moreau resigned from office and allowed for new elections to take place.

After resigning as mayor, Moreau decided to take up arms and come to the aid of the Sioux, after the outbreak of the Great Sioux War of 1876. Paramilitary groups such as the Slayers of Goliath were formed, with Moreau adopting the dress of the plains natives for several of his companies. In Moreau’s absence his military raids in the north caused increased violence against his followers in Louisiana.

1880 Succession Crisis

On 1 July 1880 Moreau chartered a boat to Omaha down the Missouri River, expecting to hold a sermon in the city. However, upon arrival his followers were attacked by an armed white mob. Moreau was reportedly shot but managed to escape, with his health declining over the course of the next few days. Moreau appeared in public, claiming he was invincible from death naturally, but that he would sacrifice his life for the sins of the world. Despite this he secretly became too frail to talk or move. Likely already near death from his injuries, which at this time were infected, Moreau had himself crucified on Golgotha Hill outside Shiloh.

This incident attracted hundreds of onlookers, including several white settlers, who were subsequently accused of being the ones actually carrying out the crucifixion. A skirmish broke out, as some white settlers attempted to take Moreau down from his cross, viewing the act as blasphemous. In turn black Moreauites fired upon the white settlers. Over the course of the next few days widespread violence broke out, with Moreauites and white settlers breaking into open battle. Approximately 340 white settlers and 100 black settlers would be killed in the battle, before a Kansas army detachment arrived in the city. The Kansans opened fire on black citizens in the city, killing some 800 additional people and arresting countless others.

Moreau’s oldest son and expected successor, Mayor Armand Moreau Jr. of Tulsa, feared for his life and hesitated to travel to Shiloh. Instead he proclaimed his son, who was about one year old and in Shiloh at the time, to be the second prophet-king, after learning that he was miraculously saved from the battle. It was argued that the son was actually Armand Moreau’s half-brother, because he was the son of God as well. This son was secretly crowned Negus Jesus David II in Shiloh by his mother Mary Farabi Zion, after finding a text from the late Moreau that all kings would be crowned there or in a small number of select locations. The new king’s grandmother, Nigiste Sarah bint Zaphkiel (born Marie Martin), is said to have opposed the coronation, but she died around the same time, possibly at the hands of the Kansan militia, which David II’s supporters called a divine act.

This coronation was not without its detractors, as one of the most influential priestesses in Kansas, Armand Moreau Jr.’s second wife, Mambamawu Sophia Shaka Snake (born Jeanne de Fazende), later claimed it was impossible that David II was correctly crowned, as the city was on military lockdown and he was hastily escorted out of the city. She would help form a new temple in Topeka with Moreau’s son Negus Giger ben Jah Niger (born Lazarus Moreau) as its prophet-king.

One of the highest elders at this time, Methuselah Ali Niger, who was married to one of Moreau’s daughters, argued that he had the authority to elect such a leader. He claimed that Moreau had whispered to him divine knowledge on the crucifixion, and he appointed himself temporary successor and acting prophet. Niger broke off with a large portion of the Moreauites in the Shiloh area, and began a migration westward, as he was wanted by the law for his role in the Battle of Shiloh. Niger would establish a successful temple in Colorado, eventually outnumbering the white American settlers that founded Colorado under Zebulon Pike.

There was also another wife of Moreau, Nigiste Oprah Obadiah Abuna (born Helen Murray), who led a group of Moreauites into Dakota, with the help of several other descendants of Moreau.

Cherokee Watchmen

Armand Moreau Jr., now known by the name “Ras ben Jah Muhammad’a Negusa Tulsa”, assumed the position of regent for his son David II, becoming the de facto leader of one of the largest post-Moreau factions among the Enoch’s Watchmen.

Tulsa focused his efforts on converting the Cherokee people of Oklahoma, as he claimed that the Cherokee and the Moreauites were two parts of a similar native tribe. In 1880 a large group of preachers was sent to Lower Louisiana to preach across the region, and a convert named Shemaiah Menelik Seth was attached to a delegation to act as an ambassador to the national government. Seth attempted unsuccessfully to argue for the creation of a reservation in Oklahoma for the Enoch’s Watchmen, and when that failed, for parts of the Cherokee reservation to be sold to them. In the meantime Tulsa promoted buying Cherokee land and settling in it regardless, as he taught that his followers were equally entitled to Cherokee lands.

The town of Penuel (OTL New Ponco) would be founded by Enoch’s Watchmen at this time in the Cherokee Strip, as were several other settlements. The town of Zela (OTL Oklahoma City) was founded in 1882, initially loosely settled and intended as the site of a grand mausoleum for the patriarchs of the Enoch’s Watchmen. The site would later become one of the largest cities in Oklahoma, after the region was opened to general settlement.

The building of a temple complex in Zela proved to be costly for Tulsa, as he was unable to finance the ambitious project and find the resources to build such a project in an isolated area. Additionally the construction was protested by and occasionally attacked by natives in the area. A large number of outlaws, who were hiding in the territory to avoid law enforcement, were attracted to the Enoch’s Watchmen and contracted as workers or hired guards.

In the 1880s the Louisiana government formally allowed settlement by non-native people in the Oklahoma region, leading to an increase in people joining Tulsa's temple, but moreover causing an even greater increase in those opposed to the temple. In 1886 Tulsa attempted to argue to that Oklahoma Panhandle was the legal reservation of his people, but he lost a court case in Louisiana, and instead this territory was declared free for settlement by any group.

Parliament of the World's Religions

In 1893 the city of Chicago hosted the first ever Parliament of the World's Religions, inviting groups from across the world to come to the city and have an interreligious dialogue. Although primarily known for bringing attention to eastern religions in America, the conference also became the site of a formal agreement between the various temples of the Enoch's Watchmen movement. By this time there were approximately five major sects of the religion active across the continent; the group centered in Nebraska and Kansas under David II, the group centered in Oklahoma under Negusa Tulsa, the group centered in the Dakota territory, the temple in St. Louis, Missouri, and the temple in Colorado. During this conference general doctrine of the movement was codified and recorded, although differences among the various sects began to emerge. It was after this event that the name "Enoch's Watchmen" would be formally accepted as the overarching name for the movement.

Coal Rebellion

At the time of the Coal Rebellion’s outbreak in 1901, Enoch’s Watchmen were a prominent percentage of the population in the rebellion’s epicenter, Colorado. Ras Moses Melek ben Ezekiel (born Moses Moreau), who had founded a temple in the city of Zebulon (OTL Denver) in 1889, became highly entwined in the largely socialist rebellion brewing in the city. As the rebellion grew from Colorado, Enoch’s Watchmen served in the rebel army in Kansas and Nebraska as well.

Liberia

In 1895 a descendant of Moreau named Ras Jesus Jacques Dessalines led a small contingent of about 100 practitioners to the country of Liberia. Initially settling in the city of Monrovia, Dessalines founded a temple in the city and attempted to appeal to the Americo-Liberian elite of the city, which had mixed results. By the turn of the century the city had approximately 8,000 people, of which 4,000 were Americo-Liberian, and some 500 were followers of Dessalines. The teachings of Dessalines largely remained similar to mainstream Enoch's Watchmen, and he only focused on Americo-Liberians due to the belief that only they were the direct descendants of the Israelites, like himself.

This eventually caused a schism in the temple, as one minor priest in Monrovia, David Cassius Musa, left and began preaching to the native population of Liberia. Musa began teaching that the Americo-Liberians had been corrupted, as they came to Africa to enslave the natives just like the white population of America did to blacks. Thus he believed the natives were truer Israelites, and encouraged them to rise up and replace the government of Monrovia. For this action Musa was eventually excommunicated, but later he also became an outlaw in the eyes of the law as well. Although lacking the resources of Dessalines or the Monrovian government, Musa gained a much larger following relatively quickly. He also sought to build schools and teach English, build hospitals, and other pieces of infrastructure, making him appealing to natives and the world at large. This became apparent during the 1903 elections, when Musa received hundreds of votes for the office of president, but thousands more unofficial votes from locals.

In the early 1910s the country of Liberia began to receive widespread attention from the Enoch's Watchmen movement at large. A second wave of colonization and proselytization began in the nation, encouraged by the Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen. Enoch's Watchmen made use of Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line at the end of the decade, and were also inspired afterword to form their own ship system to reach the region. By the 1920s the Enoch's Watchmen had become a major force in Liberian politics, with an Enoch's Watchmen candidate coming in second to Charles D. B. King in 1927 for the presidency. King was accused of rigging the vote, and in combination with additional scandals and pressure from the Enoch's Watchmen, was eventually forced to resign.

Spiritual Duels

In 1900 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam challenged John Alexander Dowie of the Zionist movement to a spiritual duel. Both men claimed to be the messiah or Jesus Christ incarnate, and elected to settle this dispute through spiritual battle. The challenge attracted some media attention across America and was advertised by a number of American newspapers at the time, which portrayed the contest as one between two eccentric religious figures. This event would late prompt members of the Enoch's Watchmen movement to challenge other religious figures to spiritual duels. One such preacher would be Malachi Khshathra Jesus, who traveled across the Midwest in the early 1900s performing miracles and acts of magic.

War in Ethiopia

On 12 September 1974, Haile Selassie and his government were overthrown by the Derg, a non-ideological committee of low-ranking officers and enlisted men in the Ethiopian Army who became as the ruling military junta. On 21 March 1975, the Derg abolished the monarchy and adopted Marxist-Leninist communism as their official ideology, establishing themselves as a provisional government for the process of building a socialist state in Ethiopia. The Crown Prince went into exile in London, where several other members of the House of Solomon lived, while other members who were in Ethiopia at the time of the revolution were imprisoned. Haile Selassie, his daughter by his first marriage Princess Ijigayehu, his sister Princess Tenagnework, and many of his nephews, nieces, close relatives, and in-laws were among those detained. On 27 August 1975, Haile Selassie died under mysterious circumstances in detention at the Jubilee Palace in Addis Ababa. That year, most industries and private urban real-estate holdings were nationalized by the Derg.

Immediately following the deposition of Haile Selassie, Solomon Muhammad of the Israelite Keeper’s of the Covenant declared his support for the Ethiopian royalty. His temple began collecting goods and money to support the war effort against the communist government in Ethiopia, with Muhammad calling for his followers to donate all their possessions and money if needed. In 1977 Muhammad proposed traveling to Ethiopia directly with volunteers to fight in the war directly.

Conversely, the People’s Watchmen of God under Muhammad Shaka Shewa preached support for the Derg movement, and matched Muhammad's anti-communist support. In 1978 Shewa sent supplies and missionaries to Ethiopia for the first time. Soon after Shewa and his organization began to be investigated by American governments, as he sought ties with the Cuban government and possible domestic terrorist groups. In 1980 Shewa traveled to Ethiopia himself, and by the end of the year his contingent had grown to approximately 2,000 guerrilla fighters across the country.

Beliefs

Beliefs among the Enoch's Watchmen vary greatly, with different sects preaching different and sometimes contradictory doctrine. The overall doctrine of the movement shared among most branches dates to the original theology proposed by Armand Moreau and his immediate descendants.

Views on Race

Enoch's Watchmen believe that the original peoples of the world were black, whereas white people were specifically created by God as a curse and a plague, or in some cases additionally created by evil spirits, deities, or man-made machinations to continually pollute the holy, black population of the world. Armand Moreau wrote that the Mark of Cain described in the Bible (Genesis 4:11-16) was God causing Cain's skin to turn white. Additionally he pointed to the line, "When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you" as proof, as he claimed white people created black slavery in the agricultural industry to get around this weakness. The line, "You will be a restless wanderer on the earth...anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over," was said to allude to the white colonization or "wandering" of the world, whereas settled, black communities did not kill the white men for fear of this proclamation from God.

Moreau believed that this truth had been well known, but the Christian Church, European elites, and secret societies had all conspired across the centuries to censor this fact (among other secrets) as part of their white agenda. Moreau pointed to the fact that the original text does not call Cain black, but rather later churches made this connection to justify the Atlantic Slave Trade. Moreau was also influenced by Mormonism and believed that Mormon teachings were coming to the same conclusions he was, however, thought Mormonism was written from the opposite, bias source, i.e. incorrectly justifying white dominance over blacks when it should be the other way around.

Similar to Mormonism, Moreau taught that the lost tribes of Israel came to the Americas some time around 600 BC, but said this group was soon split into the modern day Africans and various tribes. Moreau generally identified all native Americans as being the same as Africans. American slavery and the oppression of the native population was given as two examples of the modern day Israelites being oppressed and enslaved similar to the Bible.

Moreau's views would later be elaborated by subsequent leaders of the Enoch's Watchmen. Negus Jesus David II believed that the native population of Europe, like much of the world, was originally black, but that white Europeans had committed genocide and forced eugenics to create the modern day Europe. David II warned that this process would continue around the world, and pointed to the Americas and Africa as the next targets for European destruction. The movement's official stance would be that blacks are genetically superior, but unable to thrive under white political supremacy. Although some Enoch's Watchmen sects are against interracial marriage, mainstream views are that the black genes will over power the white genes.

Beginning with Moreau many Enoch's Watchmen would claim native American status. Moreau claimed that his followers were the Nishnatobra tribe, and unsuccessfully sought legal recognition, sovereignty, and reparations. Enoch's Watchmen would often support native movements for independence across the continent, and sometimes married into native families. To this day the Enoch's Watchmen continue to claim native status, with many sects specifically focusing on elements of native religion and culture.

Antisemitism

Many sects of the Enoch's Watchmen have extreme views toward mainstream Judaism. Armand Moreau's writings do not mention Jews specifically, but seem to indicate that he was not in favor of the mainstream Jewish people. As a result for much of the movement's history they were highly anti-Jewish. Specifically they believed that Jews were either imposters or Israelites that had broken the covenant and become misguided, for following doctrine unlike the Enoch's Watchmen. During the early days of the movement after Moreau's death, the idea that Jews had been responsible for the death of Christ were prevalent, especially due to Moreau being crucified himself. Jews were often seen as synonymous for white people, but at the same time more dangerous due to their heretical claims to be the true Israelites. Exceptions to this existed, as black Jews in Africa were tolerated for example. David II at one time preached that claimed Jewish messiahs such as Jacob Frank had actually been a black messiah in Europe.

During the early 1900s Enoch's Watchmen were drawn to fascism and anti-Semitic movements. There was a split among Enoch's Watchmen sects, as some supported movements such as the Nazis for their strong stance against Jews, while others saw Nazism as a form of white-led genocide against their people as well. Enoch's Watchmen were killed during the Holocaust in small numbers. In the 1970s the largest group of Enoch's Watchmen, the Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen, moved away from antisemitism and instead focused on the movement's own persecution. Other sects of the movement only saw their antisemitism become more extreme, with Jesus Jordan Sudan famously claiming that the Jews were correctly punished in the Holocaust for their heretical and traitorous ways, and saying that, "your Holocaust was nothing compared to the ours", referring to the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Extraterrestrials

Moreau's initial teachings did not focus on UFOs or extraterrestrials, although later proponents would point to open-ended passages in his writings that seemed to indicate a belief that higher powers were beings from another world. Moreau also described angels as coming down from the heavens to aid the first African civilizations. Later this would be elaborated to mean that God and other beings were actually alien in nature, who visited Earth in ancient times to help build such wonders as the pyramids. Passages within the Book of Ezekiel and Book of Revelations are often quoted as evidence of spacecrafts existing in biblical times. The influential leader Malachi Khshathra Jesus would claim to be able to communicate telepathically with alien species, after discovering the ability accidentally while attempting to pray to God.

Acts of Terrorism

Benewah Siege

In 2013, Christian Allen Kerodin and associates began construction of a walled compound in Benewah County, Idaho "for Three Percenters", designed to house 7,000 people following a major disaster. On 1 August 2014 a group of approximately eight armed Watchmen attacked the compound, opening fire on Kerodin, before attacking other homes in Benewah County where Three Percenters and Posse Comitatus members were believed to be living. The Watchmen would kill a total of 71 people and injure 189 others.

Three of the Watchmen were killed in the process, while two others were arrested immediately after the event. One of the group’s leaders, Jesus ben Solomoni, would be arrested on 7 October 2017 but allegedly committed suicide while in custody one week later. Another member of the plot, Isaiah Shaka Freeman, would be killed in a shootout with police on 20 January 2019, along with four others and two police officers. The remaining three members of the plot, especially alleged ringleader Ras Hammadi Selassie, are considered three of the most wanted individuals in America. On 1 September 2019 another member of the plot, David Ali Snake, was spotted in Kinshasa, Congo, but reportedly evaded capture.

The Temple of God and Enoch’s Watchmen, followed by several other Watchmen branches, issues an official statement on 5 August 2014 formally condemning the act and excommunicating the eight Watchmen responsible. Conversely the Pillars of Ishim issues a statement supporting the incident. On 9 March 2015 a leading member of the Pillars of Ishim, Methuselah ben Buddha Algeria, was arrested due to possible connections with the Benewah incident by Deseret police.

Family Tree of the Patriarchs

• Negusa Universa Solomon-Isaiah’el ben Jah’ovah (Armand Moreau) (c. 1840-1880) - High Prophet (1867), High Patriarch (1869), Mayor of Shiloh, Kansas (1874-1876)
• --Nigiste Sarah bint Zaphkiel (Marie Martin) (1842-1880)
  • Ras ben Jah Muhammad’a Negusa Tulsa (Armand Moreau Jr.) (1860-1900) - Patriarch of Tulsa (1875-1900), Mayor of Tulsa, Kansas (1880-1896)
  • --Mary Farabi Zion (Julia Smith) (1862)
    • Negus Jesus David II ben Frank (1879-1900)
    • James Jah Shaka Jacques (1882-1890)
  • --Mambamawu Sophia Shaka Snake (Jeanne de Fazende) (1861 - 1940)
    • Joseph Muhammad Lincoln ben Tulsa (1876)
    • Naamah bint Buddha Golgotha (1878)
    • Malachi Khshathra Jesus (1878)
  • Ras Spenta Wakantanka ben Enoch (1861-1910) - Patriarch of St. Louis (1889-1910)
    • Ras Menelik Ali (1880)
  • Negus Giger ben Jah Niger (Lazarus Moreau) (1863-1899) - Mayor of Topeka, Kansas (1896-1899)
    • Abraham Azaz'el Ali (1882)
  • Sarah Nat James (1864)
  • --Methuselah Ali Nigeria (1855)
• ---Nigiste Dinah Maria (Anna Turner) (1845-1870)
  • Ras Moses Melek ben Ezekiel (Moses Moreau) (1862) - Patriarch of Zebulon (1889)
  • Dinqinesh Rebekah (1869)
  • Shamsiel Manhattan (1870)
  • Ras Jesus Jacques Dessalines (1873)
  • Nigiste Naomi Jophiel (1875)
• --Nigiste Oprah Obadiah Abuna (Helen Murray) (1860-1915)
  • Ras Abraham Douglass Nachmanides (1880)