Occasionally you may come across Alamo’s name when inquiring about rhinestone jackets. Tony Alamo promoted the jackets that his followers created as his own and sold them for thousands of dollars to celebrities in the 1980’s. They can still be found on Ebay and auctions around the country. Little do the buyers know, not only did Alamo get free labor from his followers, but he used to force their children to work on putting the rhinestones on those jackets as well. Alamo realized that their small hands and fingers where perfect for handling the delicate rhinestones. They were directed to report to the warehouses directly after school and worked until as late as 10pm in the evenings. They were never compensated for their efforts.
An area businessman with purported ties to a cult leader failed to respond to a lawsuit alleging he and others illegally sold high-end mattresses intended for donation, so a judgment as to his liability will be entered by default, a federal judge ruled last week.
Some days ago in this space we criticized the Fouke, Ark., City Council for voting down a proposal by the mayor that their city put up a Website to inform the public of municipal business.
FOUKE, Ark.—Allegations and denials opened the Fouke City Council meeting Thursday regarding a leaflet distributed in the town last week criticizing the Tony Alamo Ministries. Fouke Mayor Terry Purvis opened the discussion about the leaflet, stating the City of Fouke had nothing to do with circulating it. The Citizens For A Better Community Inc. denied any involvement with the “negative literature.” And, council Member Ben Edwards read a letter from the ministries saying the Alamo Ministries had contacted New York attorney Eric Lieberman, asking him to review the leaflet’s contents.
I didn’t catch the show myself, but one interested viewer called with some thoughts about a segment of last week’s Unsolved Mysteries. It seems that a former Los Angeles street hustler named Tony Alamo, who had transformed himself into a religious cult figure in Arkansas, had disappeared owing the federal government $19 million.
According to the TV show, the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service are looking for Alamo on tax evasion charges, as well as threatening a federal judge.
Tony Alamo Ministries has several compounds throughout the United States. Several are listed below. If anyone would like to contribute to additional information or photos that should be included in this section, please contact us through the Contact page.
Tony Alamo Christian Church located in Fouke, Arkansas
Address: 1005 North Monster Expressway, Fouke, Arkansas 71837
There has to be PROOF of a crime in order to bring charges. That means victims will have to have the courage to say “It happened to me” and/or witnesses will have to say they saw the crime.
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If anyone has CURRENT information about underage girls living in Tony Alamo’s household (forced to become his underage wives), or other underage girls in his group forced to marry older men, child labor, child abuse, or other other criminal activities, contact:
The Arkansas State Police at info@asp.arkansas.gov with complete information (names, ages, dates, locations, circumstances). Include complete contact information where you can be contacted.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS FORT SMITH DIVISION
DEPOSITION OF: SUSAN ALAMO MARCH 27, 1980
LOCATION: FEDERAL BUILDING FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS
SIGNATURE OF DEPONENT
I, Susan Alamo, hereby certify that I have read the above and foregoing deposition given by me in Case No.
CIV 79-2173, filed in The United States District Court, Western District of Arkansas, Fort Smith Division, DON WYLIE, ET AL V. TONY ALAMO, ET AL, on this ____ Day of March, 1980, consisting of one hundred, forty-three (143) Pages, and that the facts and matters therein contained are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief.
SUSAN ALAMO
This very informal interview was done with Steve’s video camera in 1999 at Dr. Zimbardo’s home in San Francisco. This is the only video known about where the Dr. is asked specifically what he would say to cult propagandists who say that “mind control” doesn’t exist and/or that social science has disproved the idea that people can be influenced and indoctrinated by destructive cults. Dr. Zimbardo discusses several studies including the Milgram experiment and the Stanford Prison Study.
DYER, Ark. – Resident John Chitwood said he thinks few in this town will be sad to see the Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation leave.
“They wouldn’t even talk to us. They looked down on us,” he said of the group that calls itself a Christian foundation and is known for distributing anti-Catholic pamphlets.
Religious leader Tony Alamo said Saturday that the two Orange County fathers who had their sons removed from Alamo’s Saugus commune were out to hurt his foundation.
”Those boys are embezzlers and crooks, and my attorneys have proof of what I’m saying,” Alamo said in a telephone interview from New York.
Robert Miller said Friday that he and his brother had sheriff’s deputies remove their sons from a Saugus religious commune because they feared for their emotional and physical safety.
”We had to get them out of there. The Alamo is a crazy religious cult that brainwashes people into believing that everyone not in the group are devils,” said Miller in an interview.
Fundamentalist Christian leader Tony Alamo insisted Friday that children were not abused at his commune, saying there was no foundation for issuing an arrest warrant for him on that charge.
Nine members of Alamo’s sect were arrested Thursday at his northern Los Angeles County commune, four of them for investigation of felony child abuse.
Below is a snapshot of the early days from the book, “The Jesus People; Old-Time Religion In The Age Of Aquarius” written by Ronald M. Enroth, Edward E. Ericson, Jr., and C. Brekinridge Peters.
