California Attorney General Kamala Harris is pictured. Kamala Harris aide charge with running rogue police force

An employee of California Attorney General Kamala Harris was arrested for allegedly serving in a leadership role in the extrajudicial Masonic Fraternal Police Department, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Brandon Kiel, the deputy director of community affairs for California’s Justice Department, which Kamala Harris heads, is currently on administrative leave as he faces charges of impersonating a police officer.


Kiel allegedly called himself the “chief deputy director” of the Masonic Fraternal PD in letters to various southern California police departments requesting meetings with officials.

During a search of two locations, Santa Clarita Valley police officers uncovered badges, identification cards, weapons, uniforms and vehicles resembling those of law enforcement officers, a local CBS affiliate reported.

“I always see them with their uniforms, so I thought they were part of any department,” a neighbor of one of the three people arrested told the station.

The Masonic Fraternal Police Department states on its website that it is a descendant of a paramilitary group from the middle ages, the Knights Templar. The group also claims 500,000 members across the United States, as well as a “jurisdiction” in Mexico City.

“When asked what is the difference between The Masonic Fraternal Police Department and other Police Departments the answer is simple for us. We were here first!” the website’s “About” page read. “We are born into this Organization our bloodlines go deeper than an application. This is more then [sic] a job it is an obligation.”

The group claims on its website to date to 1100 B.C., though historically the Knights Templar was a group affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church that advanced Christianity during the crusades, more than 2,000 years later.

According to the Times, an officer with the Santa Clarita Valley police station met with group members and could not ascertain their intentions.

The three members of the MFPD were arrested last Thursday and released later that day. Kiel faces charges of misusing his government identification on top of the charges that he impersonated a police officer.