Breaking (thread):
CW: death, cult abuse

At least one person is dead after a hostage situation at a house occupied by members of "Black Hammer Party", the current name being used by the Black Hammer Cult

Local Atlanta news shared earlier today that there was a hostage situation at a house in Fayettville, a suburb of Atlanta. A person called 911 and said they were being held hostage. The call was traced to the house in the Woodbyne Subdivision.
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/neighbors-told-stay-inside-homes-fayetteville-police-investigate-active-scene/2ANEG6GLARD55LOSODAVOB4IKQ/

Several members of the group were in the house, as well as numerous firearms the group owned. It sounds like one person refused to exit the house. At 2 pm SWAT entered the house and found one person with a gunshot wound to the head.

We do not know how the person died and will not share any info related to their identity. The police have not mentioned how the person died at this time. It's possible the wound was self inflicted, it's possible it came from law enforcement.

Before we continue this thread: If you mock the victims of the cult, you will be getting a block.

Around noon, the charismatic leader of the group Gazi Kodzo (real name Augustus Romain Jr) posted a video from outside the house, where several members were being held, not handcuffed. Kodzo claimed there was someone the group had taken in who was acting belligerently...

and had a knife and that the group was trying to remove from the house, but that the group did not call the police.

Kodzo is prone to lying and everything from their mouth should be taken with that in mind.

Law enforcement vehicles from multiple agencies were around. The background matches the Woodbyne subdivision.

Kodzo talked about how they were ready to meet Jesus and how all the media was here, that it would be a great opportunity for Black Hammer to spread their message.

This story is still developing. There is a lot that could be said about the history of Kodzo and Black Hammer, this will be an extremely short version.

Kodzo was born Augustus Romain, Jr in the late 80s/early 90s. In the early 2010s Kodzo operated a YouTube channel as Smiletone with little to no political content.

Around the mid 2010s Kodzo's videos took a turn with more incendiary comments.

Kodzo was taken under the wing of Omali Yeshitela, heads of the cult-like group "African People's Solidarity Movement" in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Gazi adopted communist ideology and African Internationalism.

Kodzo rose in the ranks of the group, but eventually learned the group, which claimed to be for Black liberation, was a front group controlled by the mostly white "Uhuru Solidarity Movement".

(Proud Boys picked up saying "Uhuru" from Kodzo)

Kodzo and others left the group and decided to form their own group in early 2019, the Black Hammer Organization. The group was to be a democratic centralist, communist, African Internationalist group.

Kodzo, as described by former members of the group, is a "clout demon", with an obsession regarding fame and attention. While other founding members seemed truly dedicated to the cause, to Kodzo the fame and attention was the most important thing.

The group, which was at first accepted in leftist spaces, caused their first outrage when they intentionally caused a media fire storm by beginning a campaign in early 2020 calling Anne Frank a "Becky" and a "Karen".

According to documents supposedly from inside the group, this was part of their "Operation Storm of White Tears", a plan to gain attention with incendiary comments and to cause other Communist groups to attack each other.

The group grew, with chapters popping up around the country and in Africa. Allegedly, Kodzo used false pedophilia and sexual assault allegations to attack ex-members, dictated who in the group could date, encouraged white people to claim Indigenous ancestry to join the group, and

remained entirely in control despite a claimed platform of democratic centralism by controlling the "generals" and "ministers" of the group.

There are other allegations that deserve to be aired out but it is not our place to do so.

The group gained more attention as they fundraised for their "Hammer City", a planned utopian settlement run by the group in Colorado.

Here's an in-depth article on what happened with Hammer City
https://coloradosun.com/2022/02/08/black-hammer-utopia-norwood-colorado/

The group claimed to purchase land in a subdivision in the Rockies. Before the land deal went through, members camped out on the parcel, and there was an armed altercation with one of the neighbors.

One of the members failed to sign key documents for the deal, and after info came out about the armed altercation, the seller pulled out of the deal.

Around this time and due to this, numerous chapters separated themselves from Kodzo.

The group gained more attention around this time due to a bizarre video of Kodzo in joker make up. The background of the media is that there was a trained Yoruba practitioner in the group. Kodzo wanted to record a video of Kodzo channeling "Esu", a Yoruba diety for a video.

The member found this disrespectful to their religion. Kodzo did it anyway and recorded then posted the video.

*Eshu *diety

After the Hammer City plan collapsed, along with the several chapters separating, Kodzo and other members relocated to a rental house near Atlanta, Georgia. Kodzo grew up in Stone Mountain, outside of Atlanta.

Around this time, the group also adopted more elements of the extreme right. Kodzo talked about loving Trump, went on a livestream with Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, claimed the vaccine was a hoax (but COVID was real) and attacked Fauci.

The group again gained attention for demonstrating outside the CDC and calling themselves Nicki Minaj fans.

Kodzo grew more and more paranoid against state repression and internal dissent. The abuse ramped out, and Kodzo allegedly was consuming a cocktail of drugs daily. The group was also heavily armed. Attacks against ex-members continued.

The group engaged in aggressive fundraising around Atlanta, especially on Georgia State and Georgia Tech campuses, claiming to raise money for the homeless. Presumably some money did that, but most was used to fund Kodzo and the group's rent and living expenses.

Quick note on ideology:
For Kodzo, the ideology was always second to the attention, to being able to control members. That's why the group switched up the ideology so much. The ideology was never the point, the control was.

Back to fundraising. The group would follow students, shouting at them, and demanding donations. The group followed and filmed a Georgia State professor who called the group out, meaning to intimidate the professor. The group waited in front of the Masquerade before shows, walked

the Beltline, appeared all over the city asking for money.

The group appears to have moved, at different times, between at least three different rented houses, which served as their base. Members lived in deprivation, were guarded by armed "security", and spent all day, every day serving Kodzo and the group.

The group took in unhoused individuals, offering them a place to stay. Many of these individuals had no idea about the group. The group attempted to recruit unhoused individuals to fundraise for them, saying whoever raised the most would get a place to live.

Kodzo claimed he adopted a 16 year old child who was brought into the group and given guns. The child was eventually taken into custody.

Around early 2022, Kodzo rebranded their weekly sessions in Woodruff Park as a church meeting. Kodzo, of course, was to be the pastor. The group took on an evangelical turn. Again, the ideology was not the point, attention and control were.

According to the warrants for Kodzo's arrest, Kodzo allegedly instructed AP and Keno to point guns at two individuals to compel them to go to a different part of the house where they were locked in. Kodzo then allegedly forced an individual to engage them in anal sex.