Traitors, hypocrites, cowards, liars… there are a trillion ways to label someone who has people sold, but the one word that fits them all is “asshole.” Below we dive into ten infamous betrayals where the betrayer turned on his own community, big time.
Why People Sold Their Own Kind
It’s a strange phenomenon: people who have lived among a group, benefited from it, and then chose to betray it for personal gain. Whether it’s power, profit, or sheer vanity, these stories remind us that loyalty can be a fragile thing.
1 Johnson
Johnson started out as an enslaved African captured by traders in 1621 and shipped to Virginia as an indentured servant. Unlike a true slave, his contract would have eventually ended, granting him freedom. He managed to buy his own freedom and even set up a plantation of his own. When one of his former servants completed his term, Johnson didn’t let him go. Instead, he dragged the man to court and demanded the right to own him for life. The court sided with Johnson, effectively legalising lifelong bondage in Virginia. Six years later, slavery was codified into law, and a dark chapter of American history began—all because a former slave refused to practice solidarity.
2 Jim West
As a member of the House of Representatives, Jim West built a career on anti‑LGBTQ legislation. He championed bills that would have barred gay people from working in schools, day‑care centres, and state agencies, and even pushed a measure to outlaw distributing HIV‑prevention pamphlets. He also signed a bill that criminalised teenagers for any sexual contact, however mild. In 2004, a scandal erupted when a Gay.com profile under his name was uncovered. Former students alleged that West had used his office and government time to seduce them. The revelations sparked a massive outcry, and his once‑staunchly homophobic façade crumbled under the weight of his own hypocrisy.
3 Scherwitz
Scherwitz holds the dubious distinction of being the only known Jewish officer in the SS. After the war, he claimed victimhood, saying he had been a concentration‑camp prisoner and even assisted the Allies in rounding up escaped Nazis. However, a former camp inmate recognised him, leading to a war‑crimes trial. Some historians argue that he may have saved thousands of Jews, likening him to a covert Oscar Schindler, while others view him as a traitor who used his position to survive. The truth remains murky, but his legacy is undeniably stained with the SS’s atrocities.
4 Maurice Papon
Maurice Papon was a French politician who collaborated with the Nazis during their occupation of France. While many of his contemporaries either hid or faced trial after the war, Papon climbed the post‑war political ladder, even receiving the Legion d’honneur. In 1981, evidence surfaced showing his signature on documents that ordered the deportation of over 1,600 French Jews to the Drancy internment camp. After a protracted legal battle, he was finally tried in 1997 and convicted the following year. He served only four years before being released on humanitarian grounds, after which he spent the rest of his life loudly proclaiming his innocence.
5 William Joyce
Born in America to an Irish father, William Joyce first proved his disloyalty by aiding the Black and Tans during the Irish War of Independence in 1921. His ultimate act of treason came later, when he became a voice for the Nazis under the moniker “Lord Haw‑Haw.” Broadcasting propaganda to a British audience, he aimed to demoralise the nation during the Blitz, reaching up to 18 million listeners. Captured in Berlin, Joyce showed no remorse and died as a committed Nazi, never renouncing his betrayal.
6 Hammami
American citizen Hammami radicalised himself and vanished to Somalia, ostensibly to support global jihad. Instead of fighting on a battlefield, he turned to music—producing cringe‑worthy rap tracks that glorified terrorist life. While his lyrical ambitions were laughable, his involvement in several deadly attacks on UN troops made his crimes anything but comedic. Even his own fellow jihadists have questioned whether he authored his own lyrics, adding another layer of absurdity to his already notorious profile.
7 Imran Firasat
Originally from Pakistan, Imran Firasat fled to Spain after converting to Christianity—a move that earned him death threats back home. In his new country, he launched a petition to ban the Koran, an effort that was promptly rejected. Undeterred, he produced a low‑budget, anti‑Muslim film that mimicked the infamous “Innocence of Muslims.” When critics called his work hate speech, Firasat cried foul, claiming his freedom of expression was under attack. His double‑standard hypocrisy earned him a reputation as a moronic provocateur.
8 Mir Jafar
Mir Jafar, a member of Bengal’s aristocracy, coveted power above all else. In 1757, he secretly allied with the British East India Company, betraying the Bengal army at the Battle of Plassey. The British victory installed Jafar as a puppet ruler, cementing colonial domination for nearly two centuries. When he later switched allegiance to the Dutch, the British promptly removed him, leaving Bengal under their iron‑fisted rule until independence in 1947.
9 Fikret Abdic
During the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, Bosnian‑Muslim tycoon Fikret Abdic seized the chaos to carve out his own micro‑state: the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia. Rather than protect his own people, he aligned with the Serbian army that was massacring Bosnian Muslims. He even established local concentration camps where fellow Bosnians were tortured, sexually assaulted, and murdered. After his forces were defeated, he fled to Croatia, was finally arrested in 2002, convicted of killing 121 civilians, and released early in 2012.
10 James McCormick
James McCormick became infamous for hawking fake bomb detectors to Iraq. Sold as life‑saving devices, they failed to alert soldiers to real explosives, leading to severe injuries and deaths. One Iraqi woman required 59 surgeries after a suicide bomber went undetected, and she also lost her unborn child. Others lost limbs, eyes, or their lives. Convicted of fraud, McCormick’s sentence hinted at an early release, mirroring the pattern of many on this list.