York ad removed

Macon Telegraph/July 15, 2006
By Travis Fain

An image of Malachi York, the leader of the Nuwaubian movement who is serving a federal sentence for child molestation, has been gracing the side of a Macon public bus.

It's not clear how long advertisements proclaiming the innocence of the cult leader were on the bus, but Macon Transit Authority Chairwoman Lynn Cass said the signs should be down by this morning.

"We'd told them two weeks ago to take it off," Cass said. "Obviously they did not."

Advertising on the buses is handled by Lamar Advertising through a contract with the authority. Someone called Cass about the signs, which she said were on one bus and a bus-stop bench. She called authority general manager Carl Jackson, who then called Lamar Advertising to remove the signs.

"It's not a good representation of the authority and its citizens," Jackson said.

Ryan Terrell, of Lamar Advertising, said all the signs should have been down some time ago, but one was still on a bus as recently as Friday.

York, who at times has claimed to be from another planet, was convicted on 10 counts of child molestation and racketeering in 2004. He was sentenced to 135 years in federal prison, and authorities seized and then sold the Nuwaubian compound in Putnam County, which featured pyramids and other Egyptian-style buildings.

Some of York's followers continue to proclaim his innocence and, in May, a billboard was put up in Putnam County showing York's picture and the Web site.

The bus advertisements reference the same site, which is full of various Nuwaubian philosophies. There's one section on the "conspiracy, judicial misconduct and prosecutorial vindictiveness involved in the case against an innocent man, Rev. Dr. Malachi Z. York."

Attempts to reach a Nuwaubian representative were not successful Friday. There was no answer at the telephone number listed on the Web site, and Terrell said he could not give out contact information for whoever ordered the advertising. Terrell also said he couldn't disclose how much was paid for the ads.