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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tim Ballard, once a member of the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking, has lashed out at several media houses for criticizing the film 'Sound of Freedom' for being QAnon propaganda. The movie is inspired by the acts of Ballard's heroism in rescuing several children from human traffickers, and actor Jim Caviezel's character is based on him.
Ballard slammed the critics for downplaying the story and throwing out terms like "QAnon" in an interview with Fox News. He said, "I can't explain, and neither can they," adding, "Every show I've seen, they just like to throw the word out, 'QAnon.' They make zero connection to the actual story. It's very difficult to make that connection when it's actually based on a true story."
Tim Ballard's reaction to the critics of 'Sound of Freedom'
A visibly frustrated Ballard was seen posing the question, "Where is the QAnon doctrine being spewed in the film and the script?" during the Fox News interview. He went on to argue that he would know better than anyone as a witness of the events portrayed in the film. Ballard further said that his presence can be confirmed by others, too, terming the criticisms an "agenda." "This is just some other agenda … who would want to get the backs or run interference for pedophiles and human traffickers? That's the more important question in all this," he stated, adding, "Why would you want to lie to push an agenda whose goal is to have children be in captivity? It's kind of sick."
While several left-leaning news agencies, including Rolling Stone and The Guardian, have apparently remarked on the QAnon association, Ballard was specifically asked in the interview to comment on the remarks made by Mike Rothschild, who, during an appearance at CNN said that the film "is looking at QAnon concepts of these child trafficking rings that are run by the high-level elites," as per Daily Wire. Rothschild further criticized Ballard for propagating the idea that only men like him could save these unfortunate children.
Answering the question, Ballard remarked that it is "embarrassing and frankly, grotesque for this guy who knows nothing to start throwing out terms like QAnon and connecting it to a real story." "As that guy is talking — and he's nobody's hero by the way — I can't imagine any kid looking at him thinking he's going to help them out," he said, adding, "But I think of the children that are really depicted in that film. I know what happened to them. Those children were the subjects of child rape videos. Those children were being sold for sex." Ballard claimed to have rescued almost 100 individuals to date.
Who is Tim Ballard?
Timothy "Tim" Ballard is a human-trafficking activist who, through his organization Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), has been credited for rescuing hundreds of children from being trafficked. Apart from being the CEO of OUR, he is also the CEO of The Nazarene Fund. The Utah native formed OUR in 2013 with the aim of stopping sexual crimes against children. He has also taken the issue of child trafficking to the White House, where he discussed it with the then President Donal Trump in January 2019.
During his conversation with Trump, promoting the idea of building the US-Mexico wall, Ballard said, "Based on my extensive experience fighting transnational crime along the southern border, I know that we should absolutely finish building the wall for the sake of the children," adding, "Roughly 10,000 children are being smuggled into the U.S. every year to be sold as sex slaves – we owe it to them to finish this wall and protect them from the monsters within," as retrieved by Trump White House Archives.
The OUR founder was also appointed as an advisor at the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking in 2019, a body that was later terminated in September 2020. Ballard has been the recipient of the 2017 Social Entrepreneur Award at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017 in the Utah Region Awards, as per EY Hall of Fame.
Of late, he is under multiple investigations. In one of the investigations, Ballard is under scrutiny for making the identities of victims public during raids, as per The Washington Post. There are also certain allegations against him for conducting illegal fundraising events on behalf of his organization OUR, as per Cedar City News.
What is QAnon?
QAnon is an American political conspiracy theory that originated in 2017 among the supporters of far-right politics, apparently in the controversial 4chan website. It is centered on the ideas publicized by unknown individuals who are called 'Q'. According to the theory, there is a group of Satanic child molesters who are operating child sex trafficking globally. The conspiracy theorists even claimed that the alleged traffickers were trying to scheme against Trump during his time as president. Moreover, supporters of the theory believe that the Trump administration was actively fighting to eradicate child traffickers.
