Tim Ballard E3: A Broken Moral Compass

0:00A warning, this episode contains discussion of sexual assault that may be disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. As a note, we reached out to Tim Ballard's attorney to request an interview. Our requests went unanswered. And one last thing. After Tim Ballard left the anti-trafficking organization OUR in 2023, it was renamed OUR Rescue. Its new leaders say they do not condone Tim Ballard's alleged actions while part of the old organization. Brie Ryder was, and continues to be, in the business of making a difference. A Marine veteran and licensed clinical social worker, Brie is wired to do the kind of work that means helping others.

0:47So volunteering with Operation Underground Railroad and fighting back against child and human trafficking felt like a cause worth aligning herself with. There was a calling to the work that she felt compelled to answer, and that volunteer work meant extensive training, both physical and mental. Infiltrating the world of human trafficking means living in a world of dangerous and violent people, who will stop at nothing to protect their very large and very profitable enterprise. Fighting back against human trafficking is a huge risk. In order to prepare for those risky situations the work would require, intel operations, infiltrating sex rings, blending in with rich and powerful traffickers, Brie Ryder had to prove herself to OUR.

1:39She knew it would be a test of her toughness, a measure of her grit. And in October of 2021 at a gym in Draper, Utah, Brie was training with the rest of OUR's volunteers when things got really physical. Really, really physical. So they had a big mat, a big square mat, and they put two operator in training, a pair of us on each corner of the mat. So there were eight of us and two fake knives in the middle of the mat. And our task was to pass each other's guard, to do some grappling, and then to try to get to the knives first. So we were essentially diving for the knives in the center of the mat.

2:26So I was paired up with a guy, you know, there were only a handful of women there. I was paired up with a guy much larger than me. Okay, whatever. He threw me off the mat, but I'm like, okay, I'm fast. Maybe I can still get one of the knives and I just do what we're supposed to do. And I dive toward the center of the mat. But unfortunately, so is everyone else. Right. So I catch a flying knee from one of the operators who is, you know, we're being told you've got to prove yourself here. You know, this is how we're going to select our ops teams. Right. So everybody is very thinking, you know, I've I've got to individually perform.

3:03Right. Right. Brie, as we mentioned, had been a Marine. Proving herself was sort of her thing. And I have to show, and really it was for the cameras, right? They were recording, again, this reality TV style. This was going to be used for marketing purposes. It appeared to Brie that just as important as the mission OUR was touting was also their relentless marketing efforts. So much of what they did was documented for social media, for television. Tim Ballard, it seemed, liked an audience. So I catch a flying knee in the face. That knee shatters my orbital bone on this side and gives me a pretty severe concussion, knocks my eye askew.

3:51And then I caught another knee to the side of my head here, giving me a second concussion. Oh my God. So I was, you know, maybe for seconds unconscious, but ultimately immediately on all fours on the mat, just vomiting and shaking and just immediately in shock and badly concussed. Did you get a traumatic brain injury? Yes. I was terrified. I mean, my eye at that point was completely swollen shut. The PA They pried it open and said, how many do you see? My eye was knocked askew, so everything was completely double vision. So, of course, yeah, I was super scared and just wanted to get medical attention and hopefully mitigate the injury.

4:36So they did not call an ambulance. My recollection, this is disputed by OUR, to protect Tim from being culpable. I recall Tim being there and saying that we can't call an ambulance. There was a PA there who also decided not to call an ambulance when clearly, I mean, I was vomiting, I was bleeding out of my face. I was shaking uncontrollably, vomiting blood and vomit into a trash can and urinating on myself. And they were not calling an ambulance. us. There was something off, Bree thought, in between the vomiting and bleeding, about the fact that no one wanted to call an ambulance. She was badly hurt.

5:26She is still badly hurt, even now, years later. The left side of her face, she says, is permanently numb, and she has double vision. But the larger feeling, that things appeared differently than they really were, would become a sort of microcosm in the Operation Underground Railroad story. And to an even larger extent, its charismatic leader, Tim Ballard, a man who carefully built an identity as a relentless champion for children forced into the underworld of human trafficking. But in reality, Ballard may have been something much, much different. And what Brie Ryder experienced in that Draper, Utah gem wasn't the first sign of something bizarre.

6:09It was actually the final straw, the last crack before her belief in OUR's mission fell completely apart.

6:24This is The Opportunist, Tim Ballard Unmasking a Hero, an original podcast from Podcast One. You're listening to the third episode of a 10-part series about Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad. I'm host Sarah James McLaughlin.

6:43By now, you've heard the story of Celeste Borees and the harrowing experience she had as a volunteer and executive assistant to Tim Ballard. And you have also heard about the many lies and misrepresentations in Ballard's origin story and in his rise to fame. What may have appeared as a dynamic, globetrotting position close to a man who was doing important work was really one rife with allegations of horrific sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior. But that story, that experience, and all that came with it was not an isolated incident. This is the story of Brie Ryder.

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8:49When Operation Underground Railroad began, Tim Ballard, by all appearances, was driven by the mission of rescuing kids from the dark and seedy world of child sex trafficking. The goal was clear. The work was noble. And like Celeste Bore's, Rie Ryder was drawn to that same goal and that same nobility. So back in 2019, 2020, Operation Underground Railroad was really saturating social media. So I'm seeing all of these posts and I'm becoming really interested in working for the organization because I have both this mental health background and have worked with survivors, you know, and then also a military and law enforcement background.

9:36For nearly 15 years, Bree had worked with victims of human trafficking. And as a former Marine, she was up to the task of doing things that were difficult. That's the foundation of the Marine Corps ethos. And as a licensed clinical social worker, she was uniquely qualified to work with victims. And I'm thinking, maybe I can help this organization. I was here in Virginia, and I reached out. I joined OUR as a volunteer here in Virginia. Bree felt drawn to OUR, believing her experience made her an ideal fit. The opportunity to help save lives by fighting human trafficking was a natural extension of her work, and she was excited to contribute her skills to the cause.

10:27So at some point after I joined as a volunteer, this would have been in 2020, I received an email from OUR seeking licensed clinical social workers, specifically in Virginia. I'm assuming they sent this email out to more people in other states as well. seeking licensed clinical social workers that could do crisis response, that could meet with people they'd rescued. So this is leading me, again, to believe that there are real aftercare operations happening here, as well as actual people being rescued. So when I received this email that they were seeking people to work pro bono, you know, that were licensed clinicians, I immediately responded, said, yes, absolutely, I'd like to do this.

11:11And so they set up an interview with one of their staff members to vet me They vetted Bree and immediately developed an interest in her experience and how she could be an asset to OUR. So it was an interview over Zoom with someone named Nikki. She sees my resume and on there is my military and law enforcement background. And she asks if I have an interest in operations. I say, yes, absolutely. She says, you know, I'm actually a staff member and I have access to Brad and to Tim. And so I'm going to pass on your, that's Brad Damon, you know, Tim Ballard. So I'm going to pass on your information to them and see if they're interested in you.

11:52They were interested. And a few weeks later, Bree met with Brad Damon, the CEO of OUR, who reported directly to Tim Ballard. After about an hour, hour and a half, Brad said, hey, I like what I see here. I think Tim's going to like what he sees. let's bring you out to Utah and do a few days with you to see if you are in person, what you are on paper. And by that, he meant prepared for collaborations. And at this point, did you have any misgivings about any of it? No, I think it's always easy to see red flags in retrospect that you miss at the time. I think when I look at that initial interview with Brad, he was far more interested.

12:44He really didn't pick apart my resume much. He was far more interested in my appearance and my willingness than he was my history and my qualifications. Certainly, that was a red flag. And by that, I mean, he really quite clearly said, we don't get many women applicants that look like you do. I think Tim's really going to like you. Working in operations, Bree believed, meant being close to the same people that OUR was trying to root out. Being on the front lines near people involved in human trafficking, people who are drawn to physical appearance. I thought, and this is true, I mean, I thought, okay, they're going on these operations where they're undercover and they're trying to appear as though they are wealthy buyers and that it makes sense that they, you know, if they're coming in as wealthy buyers, that they're looking for people who have a certain look.

13:42You know, I'm just trying to justify it as far as what it might mean in the context of undercover work. So I quickly found out really, you know, what that undercover work meant and why it was, you know, why appearance was even relevant. So I flew out to Utah within just a few days. In Utah, Brie actually met the man at the top of OUR, the man who has crafted a very powerful story about his life, his work, and his mission, Tim Ballard. So he came into the room, very high energy, very, very, almost like vibrating with energy, with personality, I definitely remember feeling a little bit like, wow, this guy has a lot of charisma, right?

14:36And he brought up the couple's ruse right away? He did. It was within minutes of the panel interview or conversation starting. The couple's ruse. Ballard claims this concept is pivotal to the effectiveness of the operators and the efforts of OUR to be successful in rescuing trafficking victims. The couple's ruse is the effect of selling of two people working undercover as a married couple or as intimate partners in order to burrow further into the trafficking operation. And with this ruse comes a possibility of those two operators simulating sexual acts Together. The ruse was, in effect, cosplay.

15:23It sold the idea that they were real prospective clients looking to buy and preventing their cover from being blown altogether. It was undercover work that Ballard insisted go to another level. Men and women had to act as if they were in romantic relationships in every facet of the operation. At all times. Just in case someone was watching. In meeting me and introducing the couples ruse, the context it was, so there's this really special, we want to hand select you for this team if you're strong enough. And there's this really special thing that we do on my team that's really, really crucial to this work.

16:02And we're saving kids with this. And what wouldn't you do, you know, to save a child? And that is the couples ruse. And, you know, with this couple's ruse, we pair you up with someone who you pretend to be in a relationship with. And it has to be extremely believable. You know, so there's real there's real touching, real sexual interactions because, you know, our undercover work is life and death. And if it's not believable, people's lives could be at risk. And certainly the operations and saving children are at risk. The couple's ruse is a prime example of how Ballard frames the idea of commitment to this kind of work.

16:39to help kids escape sex traffickers. The idea that to save these children, your ability to be committed to the work is of utmost importance. And Valor talks about this openly. I'll talk more about that concept in episode four, but it's important to understand the principles of that ruse now because if Brie Ryder, a Marine veteran and a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in PTSD and trauma, could be convinced this was a core tenet of OUR's work. Nearly anyone could have.

17:20Up next, Tim Ballard's vision gets support from prominent religious leaders, and his message is amplified by a very powerful megaphone. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Do you ever feel like you're not being your true self in certain situations, whether it's at work, with friends, or even family, we all find ourselves wearing different masks to get by. But imagine how freeing it would be to finally drop that mask and embrace who you really are. Therapy can help you do just that. BetterHelp can teach you practical skills to manage stress, anxiety, and difficult emotions. These techniques help us respond more effectively to challenges in life.

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20:03It requires travel into far-flung corners of the world where law enforcement and policing are rarely seen and often just an afterthought. that. Rescuing children from the clutches of predatory crime syndicates could, in theory, end violently. It's ambitious work. Of course, if rescues are actually the goal. That ambition and the work that comes with it requires a lot of people, a lot of resources, and specifically, lots of money. So where did the money come from? Someone had to be footing the bill for these efforts, or at least donating, Here's journalist Damian Moore of American Crime Journal.

20:45A lot of their funding is grassroots. They're just getting donations, but they do get a lot of money from people like Tony Robbins, major business investors. You had the LDS Church, M. Russell Ballard. President M. Russell Ballard was about as big a figure as you could find in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the LDS Church. And while he shares the same last name as Tim Ballard, they aren't directly related. One of the highest-ranking LDS officials, he was a modern-day apostle, and he's even related to Joseph Smith, like founder of the LDS Church Joseph Smith. President Ballard was a fervent supporter of Tim Ballard and often dropped his name at events, including his 2019 commencement speech at BYU-Idaho.

21:35I had the opportunity this past summer to travel to Plymouth, Massachusetts with my friend Tim Ballard to learn more about what he did. In the insular world of the Mormon community, having someone of President Ballard's stature mention you publicly, like what you just heard, was a sign. It was effectively an endorsement. Tim Ballard may not be related to Joseph Smith, but those that were thought highly of him. And that carries a ton of weight in the LDS Church. He is the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the LDS Church, Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints. So this was a very powerful position.

22:19So this was not just some LDS bishop or someone with the church that had low affiliation or even a state president. This is someone at the top of the church. These are considered a prophet by members of the LDS church. Here's Robert Gerke. He's covered the Ballard story for the Salt Lake Tribune. there's been some suggestions uh that you know russell ballard helped line up some donors for tim ballard and they developed a close relationship you know tim said that russell ballard was one of his you know closest advisors or closest friends for for years and years would give him priesthood blessings which is for the listeners who aren't aware of it is is you know a sort of a sacred Mormon ritual.

23:14Early on, the ties within the LDS faith were a huge benefit for Ballard. He was kind of a star. He was a symbol of a faith-based, altruistic do-gutter, and it was noticed by one of the other stars of the LDS church. Tim is the most sincere, most honest, honorable man I think I've ever met. And I said, I'm in. We'll raise your first million. That's Glenn Beck, and Glenn Beck is one of the most famous members of the LDS Church. He has power and he has influence. For Ballard and the work he was doing, it was a natural and beneficial alliance. Glenn Beck could champion a cause and Ballard could leverage Beck's powerful megaphone.

24:00Ballard could fundraise. And after he landed in front of Glenn Beck and started talking to Beck about child sex trafficking, that was sort of where he did the pivot, where he decided to leave Homeland Security, where he and his family members set up Operation Underground Railroad, and the rest is kind of history from there. A large percentage of their money is coming from people that are donating, you know, 10, 50 bucks here and there. And, you know, there's a lot of urgency that Tim Ballard puts on that. You know, we've got to save the children, you know, so there's an urgency there. And generating that money, no matter how small or large the donation, relied heavily on marketing.

24:48Ballard had a vision for that, too. I think that Tim sort of did better than other people who were also working in the anti-trafficking world. Every mission that they went on, they would have a video crew, right? And so from the outset, they recognized that he called it sizzle reels, right? That this was partly about promoting OUR and, you know, very much so promoting Tim Ballard. And he became very famous out, you know, over this and made a lot of money on it. And OUR is, I think, probably, you know, in my mind, at least, and from the ones I've seen, the leading anti-trafficking organization in the country, in the world, really, in terms of the amount of money they raise and the profile that they've been able to gain.

25:42So it was always from the outset about getting the video, getting the promotional material, very aggressively promoting it to people, and then raising money on the back of that. And that brings us back to Brie Ryder. Camera crews and documentary shoots. Brie Ryder saw all of it during her time working with OUR. All of the recording was to funnel the message that this work is important. And some of those donors, Brie says, Ballard would bring along on his international operations. I had heard that at least one of his operations was filmed sort of like a reality show. Was that what you experienced?

26:25Oh, absolutely, yeah. So a lot of filming and video, again, what it really was was advertising. same. This was marketing video, not child rescue video. So if we can look like we're doing things and we can broadcast that, and these things appear to be crucial in ending child trafficking, people are going to donate a tremendous amount of money. And that's what's happened. It's always been a morality play for donations. And I think when you talk to me and some of the other women, what you'll notice is that we didn't have millions of dollars to give to this cause that we cared desperately about, so we gave our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies.

27:07Across all the allegations in this story, and there are many, perhaps one of the most crushing is this one that Brie lays out so well. She and the other women who had signed up to fight back against human trafficking to try to put a stop to one of the world's blackest of eyes did not have endless financial resources to lend. They didn't have checks they could write to push the OUR efforts forward. What they did have was a deep devotion to helping. Their minds, their bodies, and their souls. And in their stories, that was preyed upon. Taken advantage of. Not to save lives, but, allegedly, to enhance Tim Ballard's life.

27:52Just like the funds the donors have given for years were misappropriated, so were our resources. But for us, it just happened to be our bodies and our hearts and minds. So you say all of this was misappropriated. Is that just from the one trip you were on? Did you see other things happen? So primarily what I observed, right, was the one trip that I was on watching and then listening to a lot of discussions about how Tim, you know, this whole idea of pretending to be very rich. I'm being told they're always staying at the nicest resorts, renting boats, private airplanes, you know, just using these funds in ways that allowed for Tim to live this lifestyle, this fantasy lifestyle as a rich person, you know, with multiple women.

28:45and then going into these environments, these seedy or dark environments, whatever vocabulary word you want to use, that Tim was very attracted to. And this was how he accessed those environments and made millions and millions of dollars in the process. Ballard also had visions of making his work part of a larger media effort. He had visions of a bonafide network reality show. I believe that they had a contract. When they went on their mission to Haiti, they had a camera crew in tow, and the idea was, yeah, it was going to be a reality TV show built around this premise. And then when that deal fell through, they ended up making that movie The Abolitionists.