Former American police officer Mark Dougan became an outcast at home when he started to denounce the US law enforcement system. The FBI hunted him, and he was forced to flee – to Russia. Now he lives in our country, does business, and travels. “Tsargrad” asked Mark to assess what kind of madness is happening in the US, who is behind it, and what is the difference between their police and ours.
His name is John Mark Dougan. And his story could be the basis for a new Hollywood blockbuster – if only it had, as is usual for this genre, a happy ending, when good wins over evil, and American democracy and justice triumph.
But it didn’t work out that way. Dougan became, in fact, an enemy of the nation, a criminal, and an outcast.
He was a police deputy in South Florida. As Dougan explains, he joined law enforcement when he got bored with office work: he graduated from the police academy and was hired by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department, where he served for 6 years.
But at some point he decided to go against the system – according to him, everything started spinning when he told the management that there were facts of abuse of authority by the police – beating of innocent people (including, by the way, blacks), fabricated criminal cases in which illegal arrests were made, and so on.
However, everything turned out exactly the opposite: at first, the police department tried to hide the problem, and when Dougan pressed for a thorough investigation, he was put under pressure.
And that’s when the rebellious cop decided to lift the lid: he created a website where under the nickname “The Bad Wolf” and started to push for the truth, publishing stories that were sent to him by current and former police officers from all over the country, about violations of the law – who plants drugs, falsifies cases, in general – commits official crimes, and how.
The project was a real bomb. But its creator himself was outlawed. And they started hunting for him.
“Mark, why do you call yourself the Bad Wolf?”
“Actually, it’s a nickname – a phantom – that I created for the FBI and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department to conduct their investigations. They spent more than a year trying to figure out who was behind this nickname – before they realised it was me.”
And how did they explain the fact of dismissal to you?
“I wasn’t actually fired. Yes, they really wanted to do it, but there was no reason. Only I decided to resign myself: I didn’t need such a job, and there might be trouble – you know what I mean.”
What kind of website did you create? What for? Did you manage to solve any problems with it?
“This website allowed police officers to anonymously publish information about the criminal activities of their colleagues and officials. Of course, everyone hated me (or rather, they didn’t know it was me at the time) and chased me for a long time. Did we succeed? Yes, I did. During the operation of my site, the information that was published on it has caused the arrests and dismissal of many unscrupulous cops, city leaders, and others. We were really able to do a very serious job.”
But why did the FBI go after you? You were actually performing their function, weren’t you?
“The reason is that the resident agent from the FBI who was responsible for overseeing the West Palm Beach branch was a friend of Sheriff Bradshaw. And when I figured out that the Sheriff and his people had illegally accessed my social media accounts, I brought it to the attention of the FBI. As expected, I was told that the bureau would not be investigating the case. Then I posted on my website the personal, confidential records of 14,000 people, including agents of the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and so on, saying that if my personal life is not important to them, then their space is not important to me. Soon after, they broke into my house with 45 agents and took everything. And they put me on the TSA no fly list – i.e., they put me on the no fly list from the US, so I couldn’t leave the country.”
At what point did you realise that you need to run from the US and hide?
“When I noticed that I was being watched covertly. This followed an invasion of my home. And I realised that if I didn’t leave, my life was over.”
How did this happen? It’s a detective story, almost a spy story, isn’t it?
“Rather, I would not call it a spy story, but a crime thriller. But I had to run on fake documents, in a wig and glasses. First to Canada, then I arrived in Russia.”
And why, by the way, did you choose Russia as a country of refuge? Someone gave you a job here? Does anyone help you?
“I decided to seek asylum in Russia because it is the only state that could protect me from the United States government. Here I received political asylum. But no, no-one has offered me a job here, no one is helping me. I’m on my own.”
As far as I understand, your income is enough to travel around Russia. Where have you been and what have you seen?
“Where have I been? I came here four years ago and visited at least 90 cities! I am currently in Barnaul. This is a beautiful city! In general, in every city, even the smallest and most unsightly, I find something that surprises me and brings a smile to my face. I like to talk to people. Two nights ago, I helped a woman change a flat tire on the highway, and when she found out that I was a traveler on my way to a hotel for the night, she wouldn’t let me stay at the hotel. I was invited to her house in the village, 25 kilometres north of Novosibirsk, and her family was very kind to me. I bathed in a bathhouse – the hottest one I’ve ever seen in my life! And when I said that I wanted to understand what real village life is, I … was offered to butcher a chicken on my own, which we then cooked according to a special recipe and ate. Very tasty!”
Tell me, during your life in our country, you probably had the opportunity to compare Russian and American police officers. Share your observations – what are the differences?
“The biggest difference is that Russian police officers are treated badly. They have few rights. But they are much kinder than the American ones. I personally believe that they should have more rights, because they face many dangers in their work. The cops in the US, on the other hand, have too many rights, and as a result, they have a ‘God complex’: they think they can do whatever they want, and, moreover, practically do so. Some of them, I know for sure, got away with cold-blooded murder.”
However, the situation in the US is completely different now. Black people are rioting there now. And the police, with their “God complex”, get down on their knees in front of hellraisers, criminals who rob and smash everything. How so?
“You are right about the fact that it is madness to kneel in front of villains. I would never do that. And even though I can see all this, I can’t believe that police officers in the US do this. It’s really disgusting. And very demoralising for the police.”
Why do you think this is even happening?
“You know, it’s hard to say why. I have little doubt that political groups are behind this. Apparently, the Democrats. They are calling for donations in favour of Black Lives Matter, they, in my opinion, have captured this movement and are causing chaos with it. And yes, there are strong links to George Soros in this movement, he is an evil man.”
What I don’t understand is that there are far more whites in the US than blacks. Why do they allow themselves to be bullied like this?
“Yes, it’s true that whites outnumber blacks six times, but blacks commit 80% of violent crimes in the US. You asked me why people dutifully ‘serve’ such a small demographic group? Because the politicians have arranged it. If someone says that they do not agree with the messages of the movement, then – that’s all, they will immediately be called a racist. Freedom, by and large, is a myth. They make sure that everything on the social networks of citizens is clean and correct, and if not, then that’s all, the family of such a person will be persecuted, and their business will be destroyed.”
Mark Dougan is worried about what is happening in his homeland. But, as he says, he now lives in Russia and connects his future with this country, which gave him shelter and asylum.
“When I get to Sakhalin, the quarantine will end for most of Russia. And then I will go back to Moscow, and then I will go again, only this time to the south – I will go to Derbent, Makhachkala, Chechnya, Sochi, and Crimea. It will be a truly epic journey,” he said.
Aleksandr Stepanov
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