# The Nation of Islam at Loretto

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Nation of Islam at Loretto," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/nation-of-islam-at-loretto/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The largest Muslim faction at FCI Loretto — African American converts to the Nation of Islam — two of whom walked into John Kiriakou's cell in his first days holding their own newspaper, in which Louis Farrakhan had called him a hero of the Muslim people for opposing torture. They told him he would have no trouble with them; one declined the handshake he offered, on the ground that he does not shake hands with the white devil. The Aryans, meanwhile, had decided he was a CIA assassin who killed Muslims. Kiriakou kept his mouth shut and let both beliefs stand.*

- **Composition:** African American converts — the largest Muslim faction at Loretto
- **Other Muslim prisoners:** Arab, Kurdish, Indian, Afghan and Pakistani, both Sunni and Shia
- **In prison terms:** "Not a religion — it's a gang"
- **The credential:** A Farrakhan piece in the Nation of Islam newspaper naming him a hero of the Muslim people
- **Message to Kiriakou:** You will have no problems with us
- **The handshake:** Declined — "I don't shake hands with the white devil"
- **The simultaneous rumour:** That he was a CIA assassin who killed Muslims
- **Subsequent contact:** None

**The Nation of Islam at Loretto** was, by [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s account, the largest Muslim faction in the prison. He describes the Muslim prisoners at [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto) as a diverse group with many surprising pockets: several Arab, Kurdish, Indian, Afghan and Pakistani prisoners, both Sunni and Shia. But the largest Muslim faction by far was African American converts to the Nation of Islam.[1][2] Its standing inside the institution was not devotional: *"the Nation of Islam, which in prison is not a religion — it's a gang."*[3][4]

## The credential

What reached Loretto before Kiriakou did was a piece in the Nation of Islam's own newspaper. [Louis Farrakhan](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/louis-farrakhan) had written that Kiriakou was a hero of the Muslim people, because he had stood up for Muslim human rights and opposed torture.[5][6] Kiriakou recalls looking at the paper in his hands and reading the headline itself: *"Farrakhan says: Kiriakou, hero of the Muslim people."*[7]

He has dated the publication variously — *"a couple of days before I went to prison,"* *"the week that I went to prison,"* and *"the day that I arrived at the prison"* — and the approach itself to his first day or to within a few days of it.[8][5][6][9] Writing from inside the prison in 2013, in a letter read on air, he gave the earliest version of the same fact: the Muslims, *"on the strength of my Arabic language skills and a well-timed statement of support from Louis Farrakhan,"* had applauded him as a champion of Muslim human rights.[10][11]

## The approach

The exchange happened early, not long after the Aryans had extended their own invitation to sit with them.[2][12]

Two hugely built African American prisoners wearing skull caps walked into his cell holding a newspaper. Kiriakou jumped off his bunk and asked what they wanted. One of them put his hands up and asked whether he was the man from the CIA. Kiriakou said he was.[2][13][12][14]

The newspaper was handed over *"very gingerly,"* and with it the message: *"Reverend Farrakhan says you're a hero of the Muslim people, and we want to tell you you're not going to have any problems with us."*[13][7][15] Kiriakou thanked them and, in two tellings, put out his hand — which was refused on doctrinal grounds. *"I don't shake hands with the white devil."* *"I said, I'm sorry. I said thank you."*[14][16][9] Then the two men walked away.[13][17]

## The other rumour running at the same time

The Nation of Islam's reading of him was the exact inverse of the one circulating among the white prisoners. A rumour had started among [the Aryans](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aryan-brotherhood) that Kiriakou had been an assassin for the CIA who *"went around the world killing Muslims"* after September 11 — *"which was preposterous, but I never corrected that."* They called him the Muslim killer, and *"they thought that was fantastic,"* which is why he had no trouble from them either.[18][6][10]

He let both beliefs stand: *"the Aryans thought I was killing Muslims, the Muslims thought I was saving Muslims, and I just kept my mouth shut."*[3][4] Only once was he asked to his face — a neo-Nazi wanting to know whether it was true he had been a hitman for the CIA killing Muslims — and Kiriakou says he had prepared himself for the question.[3]

## Afterwards

Kiriakou records that they never spoke to each other again, and that he never had any problems with the Black Muslims at Loretto.[13][17][15]

The episode is one of several first-day encounters he uses to describe how a new prisoner was sorted at Loretto. The Aryans vetted him first and demanded paperwork — the official Bureau of Prisons form stating what a new arrival's crime was — with three questions, the last of which introduced him to the word [chomo](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/chomo), and then invited him to their cafeteria table.[19][20][15] The one group that did not approach him that day, he notes, was [the Italians](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/italians-at-loretto) — the faction he came to respect most and to whom he became closest, and whose approach came *"about a year later,"* through a senior captain of one of New York's five organised crime families.[13][17][10]

Kiriakou places all of this within a prison he describes as strictly divided: whites ate with whites, Black prisoners with Black prisoners, Hispanic prisoners with Hispanic prisoners, and the television room was segregated too. Friendships could cross factions, he says, but eating and watching television together could not.[20]

## See also

- [Louis Farrakhan](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/louis-farrakhan)
- [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto)
- [The Italians at Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/italians-at-loretto)
- [Aryan Brotherhood](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aryan-brotherhood)
- [Chomo](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/chomo)
- [Prison racial segregation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-racial-segregation)

## Sources

1. S2E1 Welcome To Loretto (2026-05-18), at 15:25. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a07ca01bae3d7f66f021234/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-dead-drop-s2e1-welcome-to-loretto/
2. S2E1 Welcome To Loretto (2026-05-18), at 15:57. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a07ca01bae3d7f66f021234/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-dead-drop-s2e1-welcome-to-loretto/
3. John Kiriakou, Whistleblower at the CIA (2019-02-21), at 39:57. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud2a56232bb&t=2397s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2019-02-21-foresight-with-ken-weaver-john-kiriakou-whistleblower-at-the-cia/
4. Foresight with Ken Weaver--John Kiriakou, Whistleblower (2019-03-14), at 39:35. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcTHv1zLD7M&t=2375s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2019-03-14-salem-access-tv-public/
5. EXCLUSIVO: Parceria Lava Jato-EUA foi movida por ódio e dinh (2021-11-21), at 33:02. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6YVXC1HGsw&t=1982s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-11-21-dcm-tv-exclusivo-parceria-lava-jato-eua-foi-movida-p/
6. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou: How to Escape The System & Stop Being Manipulated (2026-04-23), at 11:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn-yCYLhjo0&t=660s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-23-doug-bopst-cia-whistleblower-escape-system/
7. John Kiriakou: Exposing Epstein, Mossad, CIA Torture & the Blackmail Playbook (2025-10-02), at 2:09:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kiHYQC6SXM&t=7756s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-02-truth-hurts-epstein-mossad-blackmail-playbook/
8. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2022-12-04), at 39:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud618b947c&t=2357s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-12-04-rfk-jr-podcast-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou/
9. John Kiriakou’s Entire Life in 67 Minutes (2026-03-21), at 46:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwEqr257Xgc&t=2773s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-21-echo-zip-john-kiriakou-s-entire-life-in-67-minutes/
10. A Letter from John Kiriakou (2013-05-31), at 05:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV7Q8HTsQSM&t=343s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2013-05-31-thom-hartmann-program-a-letter-from-john-kiriakou/
11. CIA Whistleblower's Tips On How Not to Get Killed in Jail (2013-05-31), at 02:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVtBEQIzLxk&t=153s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2013-05-31-the-young-turks-cia-whistleblower-s-tips-on-how-not-to-get-ki/
12. Human Rights Defense Cente (2015-12-16), at 21:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtFXCGDZKjw&t=1274s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2015-12-16-human-rights-defense-cente-human-rights-defense-cente/
13. S2E1 Welcome To Loretto (2026-05-18), at 16:29. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a07ca01bae3d7f66f021234/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-dead-drop-s2e1-welcome-to-loretto/
14. John Kiriakou CIA Whistle-Blower Part 2 (2016-04-26), at 33:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOLKpvbVzh4&t=1991s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2016-04-26-fort-collins-community-action-network-john-kiriakou-cia-whistle-blower-part-2/
15. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Exposes Post-9/11 Torture, Government  (2026-02-05), at 09:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud7778450d&t=561s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-05-eric-a-cinotti-unplugged-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-exposes-post/
16. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 31:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=1904s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
17. Doing Time Like A Spy — On Prison Survival & the CIA (2017-06-06), at 30:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-5yxHqYJ-k&t=1817s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2017-06-06-disruption-network-lab/
18. John Kiriakou, Whistleblower at the CIA (2019-02-21), at 39:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud2a56232bb&t=2363s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2019-02-21-foresight-with-ken-weaver-john-kiriakou-whistleblower-at-the-cia/
19. S2E1 Welcome To Loretto (2026-05-18), at 09:56. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a07ca01bae3d7f66f021234/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-dead-drop-s2e1-welcome-to-loretto/
20. S2E1 Welcome To Loretto (2026-05-18), at 10:31. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a07ca01bae3d7f66f021234/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-dead-drop-s2e1-welcome-to-loretto/

---

From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/nation-of-islam-at-loretto/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt