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Team Leader at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites Belongs to Anti-“Jihad” Motorcycle Club, Has Crusader Tattoos

14 69
07.08.2025

A lead contractor for a company providing security at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s controversial food distribution sites is a member of a Crusader-inspired motorcycle club that touts its opposition to the “radical jihadist movement.”

Johnny “Taz” Mulford belongs to a Florida chapter of the Infidels, a biker group for veterans of U.S. wars and private military contractors like Blackwater. In May, Mulford began recruiting among his Facebook network for an unspecified job opportunity, asking anyone who “can still shoot, move and communicate” to contact him.

Reached by phone on Friday, Mulford confirmed to The Intercept that he is currently in Israel, adding that he was “on his way to a checkpoint,” but declined to comment further. Two sources directly familiar with the Gaza operations of UG Solutions, including former contractor Anthony Aguilar, confirmed Mulford’s employment to The Intercept. Mulford’s ties to the motorcycle group were first reported by Zeteo.

UG Solutions is a contractor providing security at aid distribution sites run by GHF, the aid effort in Gaza backed by the Trump administration and Israel.

“They’re in a primary Arab Muslim population, delivering food at the end of the gun.”

Mulford’s membership in the Infidels and numerous tattoos widely linked to the Crusades and contemporary far-right movements raise questions about his role as a contractor for the GHF mission. Among other posts on Facebook, Mulford nods to Christian Zionism by sharing a post calling Israel “God’s chosen nation” and a video mocking pro-Palestine protesters.

“If I went into Israel with a Nazi swastika on my arm and said ‘Heil Hitler,’ what would people think of me?” said Aguilar, a former Green Beret and UG Solutions contractor who has become a public critic of the GHF, raising concerns about Mulford’s tattoos and Infidels affiliation in the Middle East. “They’re in a primary Arab Muslim population, delivering food at the end of the gun.”

Mulford and the GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Infidels national umbrella and a local Florida chapter did not respond to requests made, respectively, to an online form and a chapter official.

“Johnny Mulford is a respected contractor in the industry, with over 30 years of cleared service supporting U.S. government and allied efforts. Any allegations suggesting otherwise are categorically false and defamatory,” Drew O’Brien, a UG Solutions spokesperson, said in a statement. “We do not screen for personal hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job performance or security standards. Every team member undergoes comprehensive background checks, and only qualified, vetted individuals are deployed on UG Solutions operations.”

O’Brien declined to comment on Mulford’s tattoos.

The Infidels were founded in 2006 by an American mercenary in Iraq nicknamed “Slingshot,” according to the club’s website, which says the early members were security contractors and military veterans. According to its website, “Infidels Motorcycle........

© The Intercept