Aide to California state attorney accused of running an occult police force claiming to be 3,000 years old

(AP/Damian Dovarganes) California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D).
One of California Attorney General Kamala Harris' (D) staffers was arrested last week and "accused of operating a rogue police force that claimed to exist for more than 3,000 years," The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Brandon Kiel, deputy director of community affairs at the California Department of Justice, and two others — David Henry and Tonette Hayes — reportedly face charges for their roles in the Masonic Fraternal Police Department.

"Suspicions about the Masonic Fraternal Police Department — whose members trace their origins to the Knights Templar — were aroused when various police chiefs in Southern California received a letter in late January that announced new leadership for the group," the Times' Matt Hamilton wrote.

"Following an investigation, officials said, sheriff’s investigators searched two sites in Santa Clarita and found badges, weapons, uniforms and law enforcement paraphernalia."

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department said in a statement that the Masonic Fraternal Police Department was not a legitimate police force and that Kiel, Henry, and Hayes were arrested for allegedly impersonating police officers.

"Detectives conducted a thorough investigation in collaboration with several law enforcement agencies and determined MFPD was not a legitimate police agency," the sheriff's department said in a statement, according to NBC News.

The Times called attention to a website purporting to represent the Masonic department. The site claims the police department is widely respected and operates in 33 states.

"The Masonic Fraternal Organization is the oldest and most respected organization in the 'World.' Grand Masters around the various states are facing serious safety concerns for their Jurisdictions and their family members. The first Police Department was created by the 'Knights Templar's' back in 1100 B.C.," the site says. "When asked what is the difference between The Masonic Fraternal Police Department and other Police Departments the answer is simple for us. We were here first!"

Harris is the Democratic front-runner to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) in 2016. Her office declined to comment to the Times but said Kiel had been placed on administrative leave.

Three people claiming to be members of the “Masonic Fraternal Police Department” were arrested in California under suspicion of impersonating police officers.

Police arrested Brandon Kiel, 36, David Henry, 46, and Tonette Hayes, 56, last week on charges of perjury and impersonating offices after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigation determined the organization represented by the trio to be illegitimate.

One of the suspects, Kiel, is also an aide to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and is also being charged with misusing his government identification.

A website believed to be associated with the group claims its origins go back 3,000 years to 1100 B.C., and boasts “The Masonic Fraternal Organization is the oldest and most respected organization in the ‘world.’”

“When asked what is the difference between The Masonic Fraternal Police Department and other Police Departments the answer is simple for us. We were here first!” states the group’s website, masonicfraternalpolicedepartment.org. “We are born into this Organization our bloodlines go deeper then an application. This is more then a job it is an obligation.”

The website, which prominently features the “Honorable Grand Master David Henry 33º,” bears a logo made up of a police badge, the masonic square and compass and the upside-down pentagram emblematic of the Order of the Eastern Star, a Freemason-related fraternity which accepts both men and women.

Police in the area first grew suspicious of the group when departments began receiving letters back in January addressed to various Chiefs of Police.

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Capt. Roosevelt Johnson followed up on one of the letters and grew even more concerned when members failed to provide satisfactory explanations of the group’s jurisdiction and purpose.

“Following an investigation, officials said, sheriff’s investigators searched two sites in Santa Clarita and found badges, weapons, uniforms and law enforcement paraphernalia,” reports the Los Angeles Times.

A neighbor also told CBS Los Angeles she would “see them with their uniforms, so I thought they were part of any department. I didn’t know it was a fake one.”

Police say the three were “attempting to deceive individuals in the community…for a purpose yet to be determined.”

The Masons of California, the official state headquarters for “Free and Accepted Masons,” said they were in no way affiliated with the group, according to The Guardian.

California Department of Justice spokesperson Kirstin Ford told The Washington Post Kiel, deputy director of community affiars at the state justice department, is now on administrative leave, but that the deparment had no further comment.

Investigators tell The Post they’re unsure exactly how many other members there are in the group.

Are you talking about the illuminati?...

These are simply 'wannabe ' masons.
real masons don't do all this & are highly professional

not sure what these people are, i know illuminati and knights templar have been referenced together before but i myself dont know. pretty damn weird though. i wonder how long these guys were acting like police, and how other police didnt find out sooner. just plain weird!

my question is though is, how long were these people pretending to be cops, and how didnt other real cops notice sooner? if i was to just start my own police force i have a feeling it wouldnt last long and i would be in jail.

coz of ignorance I guess

...and negligence....

I am sure these are scam artists that were using the Masonic name to provide cover for their criminal enterprise.

They ask for donations on their 'website'...haha

Hi sexy man....

your probably right, i just wonder how long they were doing this, and how noone noticed before that there was a "masonic fraternal police department" hahaha you would think that would be something that would stick out right away.

You are right, but you have to remember that there are private police forces. The article mentions that the red flag was during a meeting in which one of them didn't know what their jurisdiction was.

Where I lived a few years ago had a private police force. When they started it the cops had to drive their own cars.. That was pretty funny..

Knights templar? :

Funny... None of them look French in origin .

yea they seem to be a bunch of phonies. thats crazy though, if i had a crown vic and put a masonic police symbol on it i give it about 2 hours before someone in my town calls the real cops on me to report a fake police car driving around. i just wonder how long these guys were impersonating cops?

yep,some "Masons"!

i wonder if they had the blinged out freemason ring that you buy online for 39.95$... some guy i used to work with had one and wore it to work all the time trying to act like he was a freemason. its like come on dude u make $35,000 a year if that ring was real you woulda spent a years salary on it, everyone knows your not a freemason you can give up the act.