Katherine Ballard and Tim Ballard attend the premiere of “Sound of Freedom” on June 28, 2023 in Winery, Utah. (Picture by Fred Hayes/Getty Photographs for Angel Studios)
An nameless letter despatched to workers of and donors to the anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad asserts that founder Tim Ballard left the group just lately after an inside investigation into claims made in opposition to him by a number of workers—one thing which OUR doesn’t dispute.
The letter was shared with Motherboard by an individual lively in Utah philanthropic circles, who mentioned that it’s a matter of dialog amongst OUR donors. A separate supply, who didn’t point out the letter, reached out to Motherboard final week to report that workers at OUR realized just lately about an inside investigation at OUR into allegations in opposition to Ballard.
The letter claims that an OUR worker who accompanied Ballard on an undercover operation overseas filed a criticism in opposition to him with OUR’s human sources division after the journey, and {that a} followup investigation culminated in his resignation.
In response to an in depth request for touch upon the claims made within the letter, OUR offered the next assertion:
Whereas Tim Ballard stepped away from OUR a number of weeks in the past, we proceed to pursue OUR’s core mission. We’re excited that many are studying in regards to the group and its rescue operations and are searching for methods to help it.
Motherboard reporters responded by asking an OUR spokesperson in the event that they disputed the knowledge within the letter; they responded by asking for his or her assertion to be attributed to OUR, relatively than a selected particular person. The reporters responded that they may solely learn this as affirmation of the letter’s accuracy and offered a safe technique of contact by which the spokesperson might attain them to dispute their reporting with out worrying that outdoors events would have the ability to see that they’d violated confidentiality agreements. The reporters didn’t hear extra from the spokesperson.
A consultant for Ballard didn’t reply to requests for remark. The individual or individuals controlling the e-mail tackle from which the letter was initially despatched didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Do you’re employed for Operation Underground Railroad? Are you conversant in the investigation? Contact the reporters at [email protected] or [email protected], or attain us on Sign from a non-work gadget at 267-713-9832 for additional safety.
Ballard is the founder and former CEO of OUR, which claims to rescue girls and youngsters from intercourse trafficking. A collection of VICE Information investigations over the previous three years has discovered that the group and Ballard have a sample of distorting and exaggerating their worldwide rescues and their position in home legislation enforcement operations.
Ballard himself is experiencing a very intense second within the highlight, as Sound of Freedom, the movie purportedly primarily based on his work, premiered on July 4 and have become a shock hit on the field workplace, with spiritual and socially conservative audiences being inspired to “pay it ahead” by shopping for a number of tickets to the film in order that others can see it. Ballard can be changing into more and more well-known within the right-wing media ecosystem, having been interviewed in latest weeks by Jordan Peterson and Tim Pool and having appeared in a collection of movies sponsored by the conservative nonprofit and advocacy group PragerU. Donald Trump, below whose administration Ballard was appointed head of an advisory group tasked with making suggestions on federal anti-trafficking coverage, can be scheduled to host a screening of Sound of Freedom at his Bedminster golf membership this week.
Final week OUR confirmed to Motherboard that Ballard had “stepped away” from the group someday previous to the launch of the movie, however didn’t reply on the time to follow-up questions in regards to the purpose for his departure. Ballard’s departure was not publicly introduced earlier than Motherboard inquired about it, both by the group or Ballard. An individual OUR recognized as Ballard’s private PR consultant—who additionally, in line with his social media profiles, works for Angel Studios, which produced Sound of Freedom—didn’t reply on the time to a number of requests for remark.
As VICE Information has reported, a earlier letter accused Ballard and the group’s management of misusing donor funds and of unspecified misconduct in the direction of girls. On the time, OUR confirmed such a letter existed and was circulating, and instructed us, “The OUR Board of Administrators acquired the letter 12 months in the past and after a radical investigation, discovered zero proof to corroborate the allegations contained within the letter.”
The letter circulating now alleges that the board of administrators and attorneys for the group “made agreements stopping OUR executives from discussing the outcomes of the investigation.”
The letter concludes by asking the individuals who acquired it to maintain the knowledge in it confidential and expressed issues about how Ballard would conduct himself at new organizations.
In latest media appearances, Ballard has recognized himself because the co-founder of the Spear Fund, an apparently new anti-trafficking group. Throughout his look on Pool’s present, he appealed for donations; Pool’s personal web site later introduced that they had raised $50,000.
In an Instagram video posted Monday night, shortly after Motherboard reached out to his consultant for remark, Ballard instructed his viewers to “anticipate extra lies” about him, assailing what he referred to as the “godless leftist media” for “working interference for human traffickers” and “throwing every little thing at me proper now.” He decried particular, ridiculous conspiracy theories he mentioned he’d seen on-line about himself—accusing him of supporting the microchipping of youngsters to help a Masonic agenda, as an example—and warned his viewers to “anticipate extra to return.” He additionally posted a number of screenshots of media tales about OUR, together with a earlier story of ours, including, “There’s nothing they received’t do to cease you from watching Sound of Freedom.”
