Sound of Freedom: The Ballard of Truth

Josh Klein
Aug 7, 2023
16 min read

Updated: Nov 13

This article has been updated with notes on recent events that lend further credence its thesis. Edits are marked within the article. Recently, I wrote a movie review about Sound of Freedom (See Here: Sound of Freedom). The review received praise and push back. Which I welcomed. The problem, as far as I can tell, is partly because both sides fell into the partisan trap. This happens when we politicize something that ought not be politicized or assume something is being politicized when it isn't. The makers of Sound of Freedom played into that politicization and the left and right-wing media fell right into it. Instead of criticizing the film on its real issues, many conflated it with conspiracy theories, encouraged people not to go see it, and claimed that it really wasn’t intended to raise awareness. The left bought it. The right did not. As a result, a division along ideological lines was drawn. Both sides are to blame and the makers of the Sound of Freedom are not without responsibility. Articles about the movie abound. Those written in favor of Tim Ballard and the film are decidedly right-wing oriented, castigating the left side of the aisle, and articles written critical of the film are decidedly left wing oriented and castigate those on the right. Because of this the truth is hard to follow. This led me on a “fact finding” mission about the film and the film’s focal point: The enigmatic person of Tim Ballard. Ballard founded Operation Underground Railroad and the main protagonist in Sound of Freedom, played by Jim Caviezel, is based on Ballard. I am far from an expert on these topics but my commitment to finding truth in the chaos leads me to investigate all avenues until I come to a reasonable conclusion. My hope is to present some facts and a conclusion about Ballard and the film. This does not mean you, the reader, must reach the same conclusion. The conclusion is my opinion and mine alone, it is not the official opinion of FreeThinking Ministries, and it is not the official opinion of Tim Stratton. Hopefully, though, what is discussed here can help you sift through the partisan chaff and come to a reasonable conclusion yourself.

The Ballard of Truth

The unfortunate thing about the politicization of nearly every issue in modern discourse is that it becomes hard to separate truth from fiction and reality from fantasy for almost everyone. Having to do copious amounts of background research on every topic is more difficult than finding a few talking heads to trust, and then parroting them on various issues, and much more time consuming. But even the most honest talking head is human, and thus, subject to occasional lapses in judgement or information. On the cultural left, being associated with any “conservative” pundit or personality is enough to leave you reprimanded or cancelled. On the other hand, on the cultural right, one might be able to parlay such castigation into opportunity. Say the right words, parrot the right talking points, and you were one of the “cancelled ones” that deserves a platform. Any person the left castigates the right seems to idolize. Take, for instance, public figures like Andrew and Tristan Tate, or even former right wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. The right is currently doing the same with people like Caitlyn Jenner and Robert F Kennedy Jr. The continual popularity of Donald Trump seems to stem from this same concept to a large degree. They hate them because they hate you and so they can do no wrong. It seems that Tim Ballard's popularity is following a similar trajectory. Castigated by the left and embraced reflexively by the right. Almost without question. Tim Ballard was made famous by Fox and CBS news, bringing him mainstream credibility in the late-2000s. He was recently plunged back into the limelight by popular figures such as Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson and Allie Beth Stuckey as they interviewed Ballard and actor Jim Caviezel on the recent film

(All three were approached about this article as best I could, but none responded)

. But who is Tim Ballard, really, and why did multiple people who stake their names on objective truth and reality fail to investigate the man on a deeper level? As with any story that involves lies, the ballad of Tim Ballard contains both truth and untruth interwoven in such a manner that it is hard to parse out what exactly is and is not a lie. However, there are some basic facts that should raise the eyebrows of even the most ardent supporters and they should have been investigated prior to embrace. On the other hand, the reactionary claims of those on the left about the film itself also obfuscates the issue. Conflating what happens in the movie with the idea that conservatives and others, including Ballard, believe that all sex trafficking (or human trafficking in general) looks like

Sound of Freedom

is disingenuous. In Ballard’s interview with Stuckey, for example, they both speak to the concept of grooming and more common forms of trafficking, including pornography. Both stating that trafficking is mostly different than those kidnapping horror stories the movies are made of. Similarly, Operation Underground Railroad released an FAQ a few weeks prior to the film’s release in which they address these realities:

“This story depicts what human trafficking typically looks like. FALSE

At the first of the film, it shows security camera footage of several different kidnappings. This is real footage, and while this type of human trafficking exists, it isn't the majority. When we hear the phrase “sex trafficking,” our minds often picture dusty, dark alleyways in foreign countries where orphaned children from the streets are kidnapped, exploited, and sold. And that is a horrific reality, but it is also important to understand that sex trafficking is not just a foreign issue, but an acute domestic concern within the United States that is ever increasing. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states (NCMEC, 2022). Predators are soccer coaches and trusted teachers, neighbors across the street, uncles and aunts...... While cases exist where children are transported in various vehicles, most trafficking happens through a manipulative grooming process. “Sound of Freedom” illustrates this well in the child modeling scenes where children (and sometimes their parents) are led to believe that they can make money by modeling, receive food if they come to their house, or receive love if they become the trafficker’s boyfriend/girlfriend – and it ends in sexual exploitation or trafficking.

”

Unfortunately, much of the film's criticism seemingly stemmed from a solitary talking point. It didn’t handle what trafficking

normally

looks like. Instead of more substantial critiques which we will get into shortly. While most trafficking, especially in the United States, does not look that way, some does. This film outlines a specific form of trafficking that

does

occur in South America, along the borders of our nation, and all over the world. Almost 85,000 children have been lost at the border, and the problem is not confined to one political party. In 2018 alone Trump’s administration lost 1,500. This problem is very real in our nation and in the world, as Ashton Kutcher attested before Congress 6 years ago. It is true that these types of trafficking victims are rarer than those that are groomed and know their abuser/trafficker, but as I said in defense of

Sound of Freedom,

the movie could not say everything all at once. So, it focused on one story. To criticize a film for being something it was never intended to be seems dubious. But then the other shoe drops.

The Truth Behind the Ballard

The movie boasts about being based on a true story, and as with any film based on a true story it takes some liberties. But the liberties taken here seem to have jumped the shark. In fact,

Sound of Freedom

originally started as a completely fictional work by director Alejandro Monteverde, but it was infused with the story of Tim Ballard and the famed trafficking sting rescue known as

Operation Triple Take

in Columbia in 2014. When Monteverde saw a CBS news report on Ballard he reached out about making a film. Instead of starting over on the script, Monteverde sought to adapt the script to fit with Tim Ballard’s story. As a result, many of the story’s main plot points are complete fabrications, and to make matters more complicated, Tim Ballard has played into these fabrications to help promote himself and the movie. The real life inspiration behind the move for Ballard was supposedly a young boy (still not found) that was lost in Haiti named Gardy, but that story is infused with a story about another young boy named Pedro that was saved at the US-Mexico border in 2006. However, Monteverde's inspiration was not Gardy, but Ballard's role in

Operation Triple Take

. As a result, all three stories were interwoven into Monteverde’s original fictional script about:

“…a monied, free-wheeling guy who discovers an underground trade in sexually exploited children, then starts buying the kids back into safety.”

One could see the confusion in the storylines from a mile away. What is true and what is fiction with that amalgamation of story lines could be very difficult to parse,

but

it could also make a good movie featuring

some

aspects of reality. Unfortunately, the nature of the story in the movie does not match up to reality at all and perhaps should have stated it was based on "true events" rather than a "true story." For instance, Pedro (Miguel in the movie) was from the United States and was a citizen. His mother lived in Mexico. The man, Earl Buchanan (Earl Backman in the movie), molested and preyed on children that were United States citizens and he was not part of the child trafficking ring that linked to the Columbia operation at all (the two were separated by roughly 8 years). While Pedro was rescued at the border, he was not rescued by Tim Ballard (Ballard was actually in his office miles away) nor was he the impetus for Tim to quit his job, that would happen years later in a case in Haiti concerning Gardy, which led Tim to another boy and his sister that he would eventually adopt. One might say, so what is the big deal? Of course the stories were mashed up, and, besides, Operation Underground Railroad has already admitted to most of the above. True enough. However, the problem is not that the movie depicts the story in this manner. Anyone who has seen a movie “based on a true story” understands that story tellers often feel the need to put their own spin on them to make them “movie worthy." This is especially true with long and complicated timelines. However, the problem is not necessarily with the movie itself but with the fact that Ballard has continuously maintained that he

did

rescue Pedro from a sex trafficking ring, that Pedro only spoke English because his traffickers spoke English, that he

was

at the border that day, and that the boy

did

give him a neckless (this is disputed, it is hard to tell if this is true or not), and that the boy’s sister was also trafficked and then saved by OUR. None of which appears to be true given court documentation and stories relayed by multiple news outlets concerning the 2006 Earl Buchanan case. (Buchanan is now a free man and living in Florida) In a 2019 testimony before congress Ballard said this of Pedro:

“One point of entry rescue I had the opportunity to be a part of took place at the Calexico Port of Entry. On July 3, 2006, my team and I rescued a 5-year-old boy who had been taken by American child pornographer Earl Buchanan. Buchanan sexually abused his victims, while filming his grotesque acts. Fortunately for this boy, and the 11 other children who subsequently received justice from his torture, there is a significant border wall between Mexicali, Mexico and Calexico, California.”

Nothing Ballard says in that testimony is technically false but in his interview with The School of Greatness(A YouTube channel that has over 3 million subscribers) he goes beyond the simple facts of the case and makes all of the claims indicated in the paragraphs above. These claims are demonstrably false and shed the light on some initial reservations about Ballard, but that's not where it ends. Ballard’s story does not mesh with the data, so if Ballard would lie about, or at least partially fabricate, his origin story, what else is he fabricating (

update 9/29/23

- Ballard has since been accused of sexual impropriety and assault, been effectively excommunicated from the LDS church and ousted from OUR leadership due to these allegations, allegations he denies but former employees of OUR say happen. Read more

here

, and

here

.)? There are also many other documented cases of half-truths and fabrications concerning Ballard’s stories from the start of OUR. For instance, in the same testimony before congress Ballard brings up a girl named “Liliana” who he says OUR “eventually helped” escape her hell. But Liliana escaped on her own, and OUR had nothing to do with it. One could argue that in the interview about Pedro, Ballard shifted from talking about what really happened to talking about the movie, and accidentally conflated the two. This

could

be the case if he hadn’t reiterated the same story elsewhere,

and

it is clear that the interviewer did not catch the shift, if that is the case, and Ballard offered no clarification. In the case of Liliana, it could be that what Ballard

meant

when he said OUR helped her escape her hell was that OUR helped her through resources and healing. Only, there’s limited evidence that this is the case beyond Ballard’s personal testimony. Also, the manner in which Ballard told the story was clearly meant to

imply

that it was OUR that rescued her, not Liliana who, in reality, escaped on her own and came to OUR for help, allegedly. The sleight of hand language in that case is concerning anyway if that is, indeed, what he was trying to accomplish. So then, the question should be asked:

What is really going on with Tim Ballard?

I had the opportunity to talk with someone that has knowledge of the workings of OUR and Tim Ballard and the following was shared with me:

“He genuinely cares about helping, but his empire grew to such an extent that he doesn’t really have oversight. Just a worshipping fan base. And that’s always a recipe for problems. Maybe so much light will be shining on him that they’ll get really serious and clean up and focus. I hope that’s what happens.”

What this person hopes will happen seems to be happening, at least with OUR, but Ballard has staked his livelihood on these stories, on his bigger than life persona, and has likely told the stories so many times that

started believing they were true. Ballard parted ways with OUR shortly before the film was released. He told at least one source that he had been forced out. Why would this be? Some have speculated OUR forced him out to distance themselves from his fabrications of the truth and a possible impending lawsuit concerning improprieties and accusations from former employees. The Nazarene Fund, another anti-trafficking non-profit Ballard was involved in, also seems to have either forced Ballard out or accepted his resignation. This corruption could go beyond lying about the stories to help drive publicity for his non-profit. A group called Ministry Watch, which investigates Christian non-profits for financial transparency and efficiency, found large discrepancies in OUR’s financial records as recently as 2021. The problems with Ballard are many, but as with any story, it is not a simple case of a

bad man doing bad things

. As my source also said:

“It would be easier if he was completely awful or completely a hero. But he’s just a dude with a heart and he stumbled into a realm where corruption creeped in.”

But life is not cut and dried, there is usually nuance that our political landscape cannot handle and so it is with Tim Ballard and OUR. As my contact said, Ballard

has

done admirable things. He

did

work for the CIA and Homeland Security (as far as we know) specializing in human trafficking and border crossings. He

did

run an operation called

Operation Triple Take

in 2014 that freed over 150 people that were being trafficked for sex in Columbia, 29 of which were under 18. Later that year the FBI arrested 281 pimps and rescued 168 children in the United States that were being trafficked. Ballard also freed 29 women and children from trafficking in Haiti in 2017. Even amidst those rescues there have been trafficking experts that have pushed back, saying that Ballard’s tactics encourage trafficking to meet demand. They accuse Ballard and OUR of incentivizing and entrapping desperate locals to traffic young children that otherwise wouldn’t have been trafficked. OUR has said that is not the case and that they are clear with the traffickers that they either “have what we want, or they don’t.” With all of this it is difficult to parse between truth and propaganda. Virtue and vice. Political reactionism and genuine concern. Many of the accusations levied against Ballard and OUR have been because of their anti-open borders, anti-porn and anti-sex-work positions. Such critiques are based on ideology, not fact, and should be handled with caution. There are legitimate concerns about Tim Ballard and OUR, but conflating these concerns with conservative stances on pornography and immigration does not help honest people that want to know the truth. The truth of the matter is that OUR and Ballard

have

done some good things, however, they have also exaggerated, lied, and fabricated stories to suit their international pursuits and have not been transparent with their use of funds. The lies Ballard tells about this movie are the tip of the ice berg, and the issues he has with the truth and the seeming lack of accountability (up until recently at least) has allowed these half-truths and fabrications and God knows what else to make the rounds unchecked. At least, until now.

What to do with Sound of Freedom?

Unfortunately, many initial responses to

Sound of Freedom

did not stem from legitimate concerns about Ballard specifically or OUR more generally. They were, instead, reactionary, and accusatory. Making claims of QAnon conspiracies (which are nowhere to be found in the film or on OUR’s website),

(An earlier publication of this article unintentionally misinterpreted the attached video, as a result it has been deleted but the source remains linked in the notes)

and that the movie is poorly done and boring. As a result, and some clever marketing by Angel productions, Jim Caviezel, and Tim Ballard, the movie took on a life of its own. I, too, got caught up in the whirlwind. The very thing the people that hated the movie wanted to prevent happened. It became wildly successful in the box office breaking over 100 million dollars, as of July 23

^rd

. It became, for some reason, a partisan movie. Those on the religious right loved it and those on the left despised it. However, the reasons why most loved or despised it had nothing to do with the movie. As with the popular figures previously mentioned, since Ballard was already seen as a conservative the left was born to hate it and since the left was going to castigate it the right would respond by elevating it, assuming that any concerns or cautions were trumped up for political purposes. However, reality calls the Christian to step out of the partisan trap. We must not get sucked into the right or left dichotomy here. We need to admit the disturbing problems with Ballard and OUR while also being honest with our feelings on the movie. You may have noticed that OUR and any organizations connected with Ballard were absent from my recommendations at the end of my initial review. Here’s where things get tricky. In my opinion

Sound of Freedom

is an objectively good film. The story line is compelling, the acting is great and the writing and filmography is up there with the biggest production companies. Yes, Tim Ballard, is a problematic figure that ought not be elevated in the manner that he is. Yes, Jim Caviezel has espoused some conspiratorial things, but those issues are not present in the film itself. Choosing to go see a movie based on an actors personal beliefs makes no sense to me, not every movie Tom Cruise makes is about Scientology for instance. So we should not treat it as though seeing a movie with Cruise in it is an endorsement of Scientology Honestly, if the movie was a complete work of fiction and embraced as such by its creators, I would be much less hesitant to recommend watching it. I genuinely wish it had been made about another person. But in a world where we want the people we celebrate to be cut and dried good guys there is the unfortunate truth of sin nature to consider. There

are

aspects within the movie that are real. The trafficking bust in Columbia really happened. The man known as

Vampiro

really exists. There are

elements

within the movie that have a ring of truth about them, but the main storyline of Tim Ballard, as far as I can tell, is basically a complete fabrication apart from the raid in Columbia. Does this mean we should disregard the film and shout about its issues from the rooftop? I do not think so. In a time where things take on a life of their own the best thing to do, in my opinion, is to lean into the film’s success and capitalize off it by investing in the honest and hard-working heroes that are fighting trafficking, in a very real sense, throughout the world. Yes, it would have been preferable if Ballard and OUR were above board in what was

really

true and what was not. OUR tried to mitigate that with their release of FAQs but Ballard has yet to answer questions about

why

he so adamantly states the film is mostly true when the opposite is demonstrably true. But we live in a world where that type of transparency is extremely rare. Therefore, instead of taking the

Rolling Stone

approach, I believe the approach offered by Ministry Watchers and by the people fighting trafficking who released a joint statement on Medium should be implemented. One thing this movie does well is heighten the passion of everyday people to get involved in exposing this wretched enterprise. Fortunately, the film does not give a decisive call to action to any specific organization. Not even to OUR or Tim Ballard specifically. Which means, in my estimation, a movie such as this can be used to point people to the real heroes that are fighting this horrific battle on the front lines ethically and responsibly. Ministry Watchers put together a ten minute podcast on best practices for getting involved (

endorsing this podcast does not amount to endorsement of Ministry Watch specifically

) that you can listen to by clicking HERE. Perhaps the best response to the movie that I have seen is one that I had been waiting to see from Human Trafficking organizations but hadn’t until someone on Facebook shared it with me. Medium released this joint statement from 40 top Trafficking organizations and experts. My personal encouragement is for people to watch

Sound of Freedom

and encourage others to watch it as well (it’s not going away), but as we send friends to see the movie, help them understand how best to get involved by sharing this article and the principles espoused in Ministry Watch’s podcast/article as well as Medium’s joint statement. You may not give to any of the 40 organizations that released the joint statement, but using discernment and finding Christian organizations that want to free people both from being trafficked and from hopelessness in the name of Christ is paramount.

Update 9/29/23 -

I can no longer in good conscience recommend this movie. I still believe the movie is well done and shot but the disturbing nature with which Ballard has handled his organization, coupled with credible allegations of sexual misconduct in the field and other reasons cause me to rethink my support of the movie and of Ballard specifically. OUR as an organization seems to be seeking to move on from the Ballard misconduct era but they must prove themselves before I consider support.

Notes

Sound of Freedom: The Ballard of Truth

The Ballard of Truth

The Truth Behind the Ballard

What is really going on with Tim Ballard?

What to do with Sound of Freedom?

Notes

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