Michael Collins Piper is a political writer, conspiracy theorist, and talk radio host living in Washington D.C. He is a regular contributor to the American Free Press, a newspaper backed by Willis Carto.
Piper was described on his website as a political "progressive in the LaFollette-Wheeler tradition." He is the author of books such as The High Priests of War, in which he criticizes the neoconservative in the Bush administration, and Final Judgment where he claims that the Israeli Mossad was responsible for the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Piper was baptized as Michael Bernard , and although one side of his family are devout Roman Catholics Piper has stated that he was raised without religion. He says his political engagement was inspired by his older brother's experience in the Vietnam War. Piper once said that his late brother "never completely recovered from the physical and psychological impact of the war."
Piper has been an associate of Willis Carto for many years. He spent over two decades writing for the Carto-backed newspaper, The Spotlight. Piper also published a book-length defense of Carto called Best Witness in 1994. He also promoted a conspiratorial view of the Oklahoma City bombing and attacked the Federal Reserve.
Piper claims John F. Kennedy's assassination "was a joint enterprise conducted on the highest levels of the CIA, in collaboration with organized crime and ... the Israeli intelligence service Mossad." In his underground best-seller Final Judgment, he posits that Israeli prime-minister David Ben Gurion was the prime mover in his assassination. It was due to disputes with Palestine and Egypt, plus Kennedy's attempts to halt Israeli atomic research.
This theory also seeks to tie in other Kennedy assassination theories, primarily involving Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky's organizing the hit, and future president Lyndon B. Johnson staging the event from inside the administration. Piper also alleged that the Jewish organization Anti-Defamation League also was linked to the murder. The ADL responded with harsh criticisms, called the claims ridiculous, and denounced Final Judgment as anti-Semitic.
Additionally, Piper has written articles in American Free Press that claim that the Mossad and the FBI conspired to set up the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Piper claims this was motivated by fear of King's anti-Israel statements combined with his massive grassroots power. He says they believed would eventually lead to a popular uprising, thus forcing them to limit their amount of power and influence over the American people.
Piper is an outspoken critic of Israel and its supporters in America. While Piper defends the free speech rights of all people, including Holocaust deniers, he does not himself deny the Holocaust. In 2006, he spoke on 9/11 conspiracy theory at the International Islamic Fair in Malaysia,at which 9/11 Truth personages William Rodriguez and Jimmy Walter also appeared. That same year, his book The New Jerusalem: Zionist Power in America, was on sale at an Iranian conference for debating Holocaust denial. Piper also argues that the war on terror was a war against Islam.
Piper also argues that the American media is controlled by groups that are planning to destroy the Islamic world. He says this global network of tightly-knit families and financial interests people also worked in support of the Bush administration, whose policy is controlled by Jews. Further, he argues that "Jewish and Christian extremists" have seized power in the U.S., to the injury of Islam and the benefit of arms manufacturers.
Piper also claims that the story of the 9/11 attacks, as reported in the U.S. media, is untrue, although those who suffered and died in the tragedies deserve honor. He says the collapse of the World Trade Center towers was part of a planned, controlled demolition. Further, Piper claims the Mossad knew of the attacks and allowed them to happen. He is listed as an author of the book Debunking 911, published by American Free Press in 2005. Other authors listed include Victor Thorn, William Rodriguez, Christopher Bollyn, Greg Szymanski, and Ellen Mariani.
In February 2006, he started a radio show called The Piper Report that can be heard on the Republic Broadcasting Network or downloaded from the Network's Radio Archive. Regular guests have included Mark Glenn (leader of Crescent and Cross and a critic of Judaism), former candidate for Texas state legislature Barbara Samuelson and then AFP writer, Christopher Bollyn (who occasionally filled in for Piper).
Piper has commented about the war on Lebanon, the Mel Gibson affair (in which he lightly derided him for driving under the influence and apologizing for his statements which Piper supported and criticized for being too weak [1]), and the battle between Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont (for which he showed much enthusiasm following August 8th; Lamont defeated Lieberman in the Democratic primary, but lost to him in the general election). He also defends alternative medicine, animal rights and the past activities of Liberty Lobby and Willis Carto.
In addition, Piper has been featured as a guest on James Edwards' radio show, The Political Cesspool, which has also been accused of promoting anti-Semitism.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has repeatedly challenged statements made by Piper. It calls him a promoter of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, a holocaust denier, and a defender of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The group also says Piper traveled to the United Arab Emirates in 2003 to lecture on anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic themes.[2]
In one instance, the ADL stated that Piper had suggested that Israel was working on an "ethnic bomb" targeting only Arabs [3]. In response, Piper said he was referring to an article by a Jewish writer, writing in the London Times which Piper says mentioned the weapon.
Piper responded to increasing ADL criticism through his 2006 book The Judas Goat. It accuses the ADL of using unethical infiltration and information gathering techniques, such as the use of 'Agents provocateurs'. He claims that he began a series of events that ultimately lead to the ADL Files Controversy some years later.
Writing in the Asia Times, 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."
