this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
215 points (99.5% liked)

News

35821 readers
1953 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious biased sources will be removed at the mods’ discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted separately but not to the post body. Sources may be checked for reliability using Wikipedia, MBFC, AdFontes, GroundNews, etc.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source. Clickbait titles may be removed.


Posts which titles don’t match the source may be removed. If the site changed their headline, we may ask you to update the post title. Clickbait titles use hyperbolic language and do not accurately describe the article content. When necessary, post titles may be edited, clearly marked with [brackets], but may never be used to editorialize or comment on the content.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials, videos, blogs, press releases, or celebrity gossip will be allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Mods may use discretion to pre-approve videos or press releases from highly credible sources that provide unique, newsworthy content not available or possible in another format.


7. No duplicate posts.


If an article has already been posted, it will be removed. Different articles reporting on the same subject are permitted. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners or news aggregators.


All posts must link to original article sources. You may include archival links in the post description. News aggregators such as Yahoo, Google, Hacker News, etc. should be avoided in favor of the original source link. Newswire services such as AP, Reuters, or AFP, are frequently republished and may be shared from other credible sources.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Tim Ballard, the anti-trafficking activist whose wildly exaggerated missions abroad were the basis of the hit 2023 film Sound of Freedom, is facing a new legal action from six women who last year sued him for sexual exploitation — leading Ballard to sue them for defamation earlier this month.

The latest complaint is the first federal suit targeting Ballard; it comes from accusers Celeste Borys, Mary Hall, Sasha Hightower, Krista Kacey, Kira Lynch, and Bree Righter. The filing names Ballard associates Matthew Cooper and Michael Porenta, as well as Ballard’s former organization, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), as defendants.

The women once again lay out a narrative of being recruited by Ballard and OUR to take part in rescue missions of trafficked individuals, only to then be “groomed” to become physically intimate with the married Ballard as part of what he called a “couples ruse,” intended to fool traffickers into believing they were romantically involved. They claim they were coerced into “performing sex, labor, and services for [Ballard’s] personal benefit and the benefit of OUR,” and sometimes endured violent sexual assault, or had sex with Ballard while Cooper was present, always with the assurance that it was “necessary to rescue children.” The plaintiffs further claim that Ballard and his associates laundered money in order to hire sex workers while on missions abroad, and that “OUR actively participated in the solicitation, recruitment, and exploitation” of female operatives.

all 22 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's only one thing the gop loves more than LOUD projection and that's abusing kids. The party of the grand ol' pedophiles


  • NOTE: I'm reaching the character limit on Reddit posts, so here's a website with a list of about 1000 of these republican shit stains on humanity.
[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Zamn

Might want to change "Reddit" to "Lemmy" in the last paragraph. Wait, does Lemmy have a post length limit?

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ha, I leave that in to see if anyone is actually reading. Congrats.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yay, I win!

Thanks for compiling all this, btw.

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Sure thing, spread the word. These people are so obviously and frequently horrible. The whole party is a gutter that catches human garbage - used to be the last stop on the line before kkk/neo-nazi/militia/conspiracy nut... Until the desperate gop expanded their tent.

[–] hate2bme@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I have never heard of this but a federal lawsuit don't look good for dude.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 year ago

Definitely a bad look in this economy.

[–] lowleekun@ani.social 2 points 1 year ago

I really dislike all the emotions i have from reading news like these. I just wish id stop reading about such things, at least until there is a verdict.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

Anyone else notice that Republicans got really quiet about Tim Ballard really quickly?

And after they were excitedly telling everyone they knew to watch his movie too...

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ve been loosely paying attention to what’s happening with Tim Ballard because I listen to a podcast that chronicles conspiracy folks. He was the subject of a fantasy film that hyped his role in anti-trafficking. I think I first heard a clip of the star, who is super pilled, talking about adrenochrome (sp?) in 2021? He was on the verge of tears; that’s how much they believe it. Anyway, these people are nuts.

It’s pretty cool how the things that they purport to fight are also things they do themselves. That’s the Right, for ya. Hypocrites. Abusers. Cheaters. They are absolute shitheads.

[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Can I get the name of the podcast, could always use something like that while driving.

[–] SGforce@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago

Qanon Anonymous. They're very entertaining. Worth the subscription on Patreon, too. They've done side shows on topics interesting to the different hosts. Especially good is Trickle Down, which went into the junk science behind Gatorade marketing.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

$100 says I can guess what political party this guy belongs to.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

always with the assurance that it was “necessary to rescue children.

Well that's fucking horrific, Jesus Christ

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Another case of "he who smelt it dealt it".

Are these assholes eating dogs and cats too?

[–] son_named_bort@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago
[–] bamfic@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I am reminded of leland yee, an anti gun senator who was convicted of taking bribes from gun lobbyists