Michael Collins Piper (born Michael Bernard Piper; July 16, 1960 – May 2015) was an American political writer,

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

and talk radio host. Piper was a regular contributor to both ''

The Spotlight ''The Spotlight'' was a weekly newspaper in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct antisemitic Liberty Lobby. ''The Spotlight'' ran articles and editorials professing a "populist and ...

'' and its successor, the '' American Free Press'', newspapers backed by

Willis Carto Willis Allison Carto (July 17, 1926 – October 26, 2015) was an Far right in the United States, American far-right political activist. He described himself as a Jeffersonian democracy, Jeffersonian and a Right-wing populism, populist, but wa ...

and noted for their

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and

White separatist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine of ...

White nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

themes. Piper was described on his website as a political "progressive in the La Follette- Wheeler tradition.""Biography and Initiatives"
, The Piper Report; retrieved 2010-01-21. He wrote books such as ''The High Priests of War'', in which he criticized the

neoconservative Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...

s in the Bush administration, and ''Final Judgment'', where he claimed that

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

, the CIA and organized crime was responsible for the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

. He had been criticized by many organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

, and the

Middle East Media Research Institute The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), officially the Middle East Media and Research Institute, is an American non-profit press monitoring organization co-founded by Israeli ex-intelligence officer Yigal Carmon and Israeli-American ...

, which have described Piper as a promoter of

antisemitic conspiracy theories Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are " sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion. Since the 2nd century, malicious allegations of J ...

and

Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...

."College Axes JFK Course", ''The Guardian (London)'', August 23, 1997.

Early life

Piper claimed his political engagement was inspired by his older brother's experience in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He once said his late brother "never completely recovered from the physical and psychological impact of the war."

Radio show

In February 2006, he started a radio show called ''The Piper Report''. Regular guests have included Mark Glenn (critic of

), former candidate for Texas state legislature Barbara Samuelson, and Christopher Bollyn (who occasionally filled in for Piper). Piper commented about the war on

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, the Mel Gibson affair (in which he derided Gibson for driving under the influence and for apologizing for his statements) and the battle between U.S. Senator

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; February 24, 1942 – March 27, 2024) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. Originally a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Dem ...

(D-CT, later I-CT) and businessman

Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. ( ; born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich, Con ...

on August 8, 2006. Lamont defeated Lieberman in the Democratic primary, but lost to him in the general election. Piper defended

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

, and the past activities of

Liberty Lobby Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial. The organization produced a daily five-min ...

and

. He was featured as a guest on James Edwards' radio show, '' The Political Cesspool'', which has also been accused of promoting antisemitism.

Kennedy and King assassination theories

According to Piper in ''Final Judgment: The Missing Link in the JFK Assassination Controversy'', Israeli Prime Minister

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

orchestrated the assassination after learning that Kennedy planned to keep Israel from obtaining nuclear weapons. Piper claimed the assassination "was a joint enterprise conducted on the highest levels of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

, in collaboration with organized crime — and most specifically, with direct and profound involvement by the Israeli intelligence service, the

." Piper also alleged that Jewish mobster

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Lucky Luciano, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the dev ...

and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) were linked to the murder. The ADL responded with harsh criticisms, called the claims ridiculous, and denounced ''Final Judgment'' as antisemitic. Piper wrote articles in '' American Free Press'' which alleged that the

and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

conspired to set up the

assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05& ...

Piper claims this was motivated by fear of King's anti-Israel statements combined with his massive grassroots power.

Antisemitism controversy

According to his biography by America First Books, which identifies itself as promoting "

white nationalism White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

", the ADL repeatedly challenged statements made by Piper, and called him a promoter of

, a

Holocaust denier Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" wa ...

, and a defender of the ''

Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...

''. The group says Piper traveled to the United Arab Emirates in 2003 to lecture on anti-Israeli and antisemitic themes. In one instance, the ADL stated that Piper had suggested that Israel was working on an "ethnic bomb" targeting only

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

. Piper responded to increasing ADL criticism through his 2006 book ''The Judas Goat'', accusing the ADL of using unethical infiltration and information gathering techniques, such as the use of '

agents provocateurs An is a person who actively entices another person to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed and then reports the person to the authorities. They may target individuals or groups. In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a ...

'. some years later. Writing in ''

Asia Times ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kongbased English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

'', researcher and journalist Keith Bettinger says that Piper's views are "characteristic of an effort by anti-Semites and white supremacists to repackage themselves as 'alternative media voices' claiming to tackle stories the mainstream media in the US won't touch".

Iran

Piper was invited to Iran to speak at the International Conference On Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision 2006, and personally met with Iranian president

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...

, a

, during his New York City visit to address United Nations General Assembly. His book ''The New Jerusalem: Zionist Power in America'', was on sale at the conference."Iran Opens Conference on Holocaust", ''The New York Times'', December 12, 2006.

Death

Piper's body was discovered on May 30 or May 31, 2015 at the Budget Saver Motel in

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 54,628 at th ...

. The deputy coroner's report stated that the cause of death was a "probable

Myocardial Infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, Ischemic Cardiomyopathy and

Coronary Artery Disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), or ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a type of cardiovascular disease, heart disease involving Ischemia, the reduction of blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to a build-up ...

", and listed

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

as another significant condition. The report indicated that

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

results were consistent with her findings and that no autopsy was conducted. The article gave Piper's age as 54.Jeff Selle and Maureen Dolan
"Death raises questions: Man who died in Cd'A motel was a conspiracy theorist"
, cdapress.com; accessed July 4, 2015.

Books

* ''Best Witness: The Mel Mermelstein Affair'', (1993) Center for Historical Review; * ''Final Judgment: The Missing Link in the JFK Assassination Conspiracy'', (1993) The Wolfe Press; * ''The High Priests of War'', (2004) American Free Press; * ''The New Jerusalem: Zionist Power in America'', (2004) American Free Press; ASIN B000Y93216 * ''Target: Traficant, The Untold Story'', (2005) American Free Press; * ''The Confessions of an Anti-Semite : The First -Ever Critical Analysis of the Linguistic Legerdemain Underlying the Propaganda Techniques of the New World'', * ''The Judas Goats, The Enemy Within'', (2006) American Free Press; * ''The Golem: a World Held Hostage'', (2007) American Free Press; ASIN B0011DZG2W * ''The New Babylon: Those Who Reign Supreme'', (2009) American Free Press; * ''Ye Shall Know The Truth'', (2013) American Free Press;

References

External links

Michael Collins Piper personal web siteAmerica First Books (hosts Piper's works as ebooks)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piper, Michael Collins 1960 births 2015 deaths American conspiracy theorists American Holocaust deniers American male non-fiction writers American political writers American white nationalists Place of birth missing