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MINI DEEP DIVE: Reckless Ben "Mormon Mafia" $200K LEGO Scandal & BAM Response · Mini Scroll

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  Coming up today on Mini Scroll, we're doing a mini deep dive
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  into the stolen Lego Mormon Mafia YouTuber Patreon drama.
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  Yes, all of those words will make sense later in this
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  episode. Hi everyone, welcome to Mini
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  Scroll, the daily Internet culture podcast bringing you the
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  biggest stories from social media, the creator economy and
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  the digital space. Every Monday through Thursday
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  and sometimes Fridays like today.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the Australian
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  youth digital media brand Centennial World.
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  Welcome back to. I was going to say mini scroll,
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  but it's like a mini deep dive. Today someone in our Discord
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  actually called it free for all Fridays because as we know,
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  Fridays are always so random on mini scroll.
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  I was going to do a regular mini scroll, like a three episode or
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  a three story mini scroll, and then I knew this story was going
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  to be probably the main story. And as I looked into it, I was
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  like, this has to be the story. This is so insane.
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  I've only seen it pop up for me since Patreon got involved,
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  which is like at the very end. I can't believe I have not been
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  seeing anything about this since Obviously there are publications
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  that are covering it and people talking about it on Twitter and
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  stuff, but I honestly don't know how I've missed it.
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  So I'm really excited to bring you guys this full chronological
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  breakdown, an explanation into what is going on with this
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  $200,000 allegedly stolen Lego collection and how it involves
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  what people are calling the Mormon Mafia a YouTube and now
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  the CEO of Patreon. All right, before I get into it
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  though, Please remember to rate, review and subscribe.
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  It helps us so much. It helps us grow.
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  Please Spotify star rate US. And I promise if you guys are
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  regular listeners, you'll know this week was a bit chaotic.
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  Annabelle and I both had some like health stuff going on in
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  our homes and we have the grants that we were doing.
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  I was doing some public speaking, trying to run the
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  business as usual. It was just like honestly crazy.
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  So next week I promise we'll be much more normal and it is a
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  public holiday on Monday. But to say thank you for
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  sticking it out with us this past week and probably like the
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  most random mini episodes ever, I am going to do mini skull for
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  you guys on Monday regardless. All right, let's get into it.
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  So in late May, YouTube Reckless Ben published the first
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  installment of an investigation into the story of a man named
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  Brian Mensel. Brian and his very elderly
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  father had spent years building this extensive Lego collection
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  which included a large number of Star Wars sets, and they
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  estimated that the worth of this collection was around $200,000.
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  Brian consigned the collection to the Utah headquartered Lego
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  resale chain called Bricks and Men and Figs.
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  Them being located or headquartered in Utah is
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  important. However, it was specifically the
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  Oregon location that he consigned this collection to.
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  So I'm going to be referring to bricks and men and Figs as Bam,
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  because that's what everybody's been calling them in all of
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  these videos. OK, so Brian handed over his
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  collection of Lego to the franchise in 2023.
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  But essentially right after ownership of the store changed,
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  Brian and his family now allege that the new owners claimed
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  ownership of the entire collection of Lego.
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  So essentially they wouldn't be paying the Mensel family for the
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  sale of that Lego, even though that was the agreement when he
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  passed on the collection to be resold by the store.
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  The new owners of the store are named Joshua and Brandon.
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  They are Mormon and they live in Utah.
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  Remember that is where this is headquartered.
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  And them being Mormon does become essentially important
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  later in the story. So Ben explained in his video,
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  Ben is the one who's making the YouTube videos.
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  Reckless Ben, I feel like I'm going to keep clarifying who
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  people are for you guys because the names, it's just like a
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  bunch of like white guy names and it's gonna get really
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  confusing. So Reckless Ben, the YouTube
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  explained in his video that he had been trying to meet up with
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  Joshua and Brandon in Utah. So he like went to Utah, brought
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  his crew, like the production crew that's making his videos
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  with him and doing the investigation and they went to
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  Utah. He's trying to meet up with them
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  to have a good faith discussion regarding the missing Lego.
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  Ben was able to see Brandon. They didn't have like a
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  conversation, but he was basically able to track him
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  down. But Ben said he was unable to
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  reach Joshua because Ben and his film crew were stopped by the
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  police near Joshua's house for allegedly failing to stop at a
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  stop sign. Then, throughout the
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  investigation, Ben and members of his production team claimed
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  that they were pulled over multiple times by the Utah
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  police. For example, at one point,
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  officers pulled Ben over and searched his vehicle after
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  receiving a tip that it allegedly contained heroin.
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  No drugs were actually found and eventually Ben was formally
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  arrested by the Utah police after they had a search warrant
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  for his Airbnb because the police received a tip off that
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  Ben was the one who stole $200,000 worth of that Lego.
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  So they searched and they didn't find the Lego, but they still
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  arrested Ben and his crew. This is all late May, OK, like
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  the last few days of May. So then in this investigation,
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  Brian, the one whose Lego has been stolen, allegedly said in
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  one of these videos that this is a Mormon conspiracy.
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  Because many of the local police officers who have been doing
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  like these pullovers and these arrests of Ben and his crew are
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  members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Saturday Saints.
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  And Brandon and Joshua, the new owners of the Oregon franchise,
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  the BAM franchise, are Mormon too.
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  So Brian believed that the Utah police were basically in cahoots
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  with them to help get Ben off their back so that they could
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  keep the $200,000 worth of Lego. These allegations of corruption
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  are obviously unverified. However, as coverage of the
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  situation spread over the past couple of weeks, the phrase
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  Mormon Mafia began trending on X in relation to this Lego story.
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  So that is where Mormon Mafia is coming from in this story is
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  like the conspiracy theory that they're all in cahoots together,
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  but it keeps going. So like I said, this is all like
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  the last few days of May. So on May 28th, right before
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  Ben's arrest. So Ben was arrested, I believe
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  he was arrested on May 30th. So a couple days right before
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  Ben's arrest, a couple named Chris and Benjamin.
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  Different Ben, not the same as reckless Ben.
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  I told you all these like generic white guy names.
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  Benjamin and his wife. I believe they're married.
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  I'm not sure either way. His partner Chris, they uploaded
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  a YouTube video so Chris and Benjamin were the previous
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  owners of of the Bam Oregon location when the Lego was
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  consigned. So they say in their video that
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  they had to move overseas somewhat suddenly.
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  They said that Bam was seemingly supportive at first of them like
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  needing to sell, but then headquarters later admitted to
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  them that this had been the plan all along.
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  They said that after they told headquarters this on some random
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  Thursday night at the store, Brandon, remember of Joshua and
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  Brandon, the new owners of the Bam location showed up and
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  demanded the keys and threatened them with the police if they
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  didn't comply. I know you guys love when I have
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  Pumpkin here, but I don't know if you just heard her Jingle
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  jangling all around the office. She wanted to come up.
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  Hey, you want to say hi? If you guys are just listening,
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  I have my little doggie, my little rescue doggie, my 3
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  legged rescue girl pumpkin on my lap.
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  So the point of their video was to show support for Brian, the
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  one whose Lego has allegedly been stolen and supportive Ben
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  as well, who's making the YouTube videos and to explain
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  that they feel like their life savings have been taken from
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  them. So then they show footage of
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  Brandon allegedly in this video and they say that like when he
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  came to say like hand over keys or whatever, he also apparently
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  acknowledged that he knew that there was a big consignment and
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  said that he would be taking it over.
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  So they basically insinuate that they felt their hand was forced
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  and headquarters were just like, if you fight this, then there
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  will be legal ramifications. And in this video, they have
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  audio that is allegedly them speaking to someone at
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  corporate. They actually do show this guy's
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  LinkedIn page and say his full name.
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  I'm too scared to do that. OK, But they do it.
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  You can go watch the video if you want.
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  And you can hear allegedly him in this audio say that this
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  sounds like a threat because it is.
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  So the result is that Chris and Benjamin, the couple who
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  previously owned the Bam location who have made this
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  video, are suing Bam for this because through this takeover,
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  Bam was also trying to say that they don't allow consignment.
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  But Chris and Benjamin say that's not true.
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  And they have the documents to prove it.
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  So in trying to win the lawsuit for themselves, they're also
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  trying to wrap up Brian's like, Lego collection compensation
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  into whatever settlement they're fighting for.
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  And they set up a GoFundMe to help with legal costs.
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  They've already raised over $66,000 and their goal was
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  $30,000. All right, so then on May 30th,
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  BAM filed A lawsuit against reckless Ben and Brian Menzel.
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  So reckless Ben YouTube Brian Lego guy accusing them of
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  creating quote a coordinated multi platform campaign against
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  the company which contains quote, false accusations,
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  fabricated claims, deceptive practices and manufactured
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  confrontations to extort money racketeer profiteer and damage
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  the plaintiffs and their business interests.
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  So they basically are claiming that this whole thing is like a
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  fabricated extortion campaign. It keeps going.
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  Then on June 1st, Ben announced that he had fled to Mexico
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  following his release from jail. So after he released this video,
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  obviously public pressure on the Utah police was high.
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  So they ended up addressing this whole situation in a media
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  briefing. And also, I want to say, I know
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  I'm saying Utah police. It is specifically the American
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  Fork, UT police force, but that is just a mouthful.
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  So I'm saying Utah. So Police Chief Cameron Paul
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  said that Ben's arrest stemmed from complaints of stalking and
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  targeted residential picketing and that these complaints were
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  specifically made by Joshua. Wow.
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  Big surprise. On June 2nd, Ben uploaded a
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  response video to the police. And in this video, he is sitting
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  at like a fake media briefing podium.
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  And on the podium where it would normally say the name of the
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  police force, you know how they have that like, circular plaque
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  usually, and it says the name of the police force around it.
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  On his it says we steal from old people.
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  OK, so in this video, Ben accused the police of concealing
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  the true reason for his arrest. He claims that there was audio
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  redacted from the police body Cam footage.
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  However, they have the audio like Ben and his team have the
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  audio. They have it partially captured
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  on a GoPro that was set up inside his Airbnb.
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  In the audio, allegedly one officer can be heard saying that
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  quote, included in the warrant are Legos, which Ben argues
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  contradicts the police department's explanation that
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  the arrests were related to stalking allegations.
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  And it's clear that it was related to the Legos, which as
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  we know, they searched the Airbnb and there was no Lego.
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  So he's basically saying he was arrested for no reason.
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  So now another insane turn of events.
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  This is going to keep going. I guess I'm going to have to
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  give updates on Mini from now on, like about what's going on,
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  because I imagine this will keep going.
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  But the last final insane turn of events is that Patreon, the
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  platform has gotten involved. So Reckless Ben uses Patreon to
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  give his subscribers early access to his upcoming videos.
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  Bam sent Patreon an official takedown request on May 29th
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  asking for removal of media and accounts connected to Reckless
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  Ban, including a complaint, a request for immediate content
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  removal tied to a temporary restraining order, and a motion
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  for a TRO and preliminary injunction.
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  And then yesterday Patreon CEO Jack released a video on YouTube
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  where he basically said to Bam go fuck yourselves, sue us if
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  you want. And that is the story you guys
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  of the Lego Mormon Mafia YouTube Patreon drama.
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  I believe I have delivered all of the details that are out
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  right now in chronological order.
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  I really hope I did it justice. Hi you guys, another pick up
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  from me. I prepped this episode
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  yesterday. I recorded it, I was even
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  uploading it, and then I saw that overnight Bam had released
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  an entire their blog post documenting their side of things
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  with dates and all of these sources and all this
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  information. So it's way too long to, you
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  know, go through all of it. Obviously.
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  But some main takeaways they claim that the transition
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  between Chris and Benjamin as owners of the Oregon BAM
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  location. And the new?
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  Owners Brandon Best and. Joshua.
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  That that was. Fully planned they.
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  Claim that Chris became uncooperative, refused to hand
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  over the keys as agreed or to provide access codes, and was
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  observed making multiple. Trips to her car.
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  They claim that when the takeover occurred, there was
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  very. Little inventory.
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  And the store was run down. There was approximately $40,000
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  of inventory, which I guess they're saying was very little.
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  They also said that before leaving, Chris removed Ash from
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  the till attempted to print store.
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  Records and. Shared confidential footage
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  without authorization. Then they write in late November
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  or early December 2024, Brandon and Josh.
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  Discover. Approximately 25 Star Wars sets
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  in a closed closet in the back. They did not think any think of
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  the fact that these had small stickers on them.
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  They kept these sets segregated as they tried to determine what
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  they were. In December 2024, and still
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  unsure of whether they belonged to Brian, Bam showed these sets
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  to and offered to give Brian these stickered sets as they
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  felt bad for Chris's apparent mishandling of the situation and
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  despite no reliable evidence of his ownership, this offer was
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  not accepted by Brian Mensel. They say.
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  Following an internal investigation, BAM, with
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  internal and external help, discovered new evidence of
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  negligence. Three sets of books were
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  maintained by Crystal. As in Chris.
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  A personal e-mail account to which she retained undisclosed
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  access after leaving was still connected to company data and
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  point of sale records showing she significantly underreported
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  sales to Brian. And then they say on May 28th,
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  they issued a temporary restraining order requiring.
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  That the videos. From reckless Ben that his
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  videos containing allegedly defamatory content be taken down
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  they say that bam CEO extended an invite to Brian with a direct
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  offer to sit down together, review the.
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  Spreadsheets. Consignment agreement and point
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  of sale data and attempt to informally and fairly resolve
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  the problems associated with Chris's dealings with him,
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  including offering him to take every Star Wars Lego item
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  remaining in the Salem store and to otherwise find a way that he
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  might be made whole for anything demonstrated to be unaccounted
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  for. So essentially this blog post
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  sounds like they are saying that Chris along with her husband
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  Benjamin, who were the previous owners of the store, they were
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  to blame for a lot of this like miscommunication and a lot of
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  the disorganization of the store and all of that kind of stuff.
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  But I will link the full blog post in the show notes it is.
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  Very long, but like I said, I'm going to be doing updates on
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  this, so I hope that this gave you guys some good background
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  and any other updates on this I will include an regular mini.
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  Anyways guys, thanks so much for listening.
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  Thank you so much for bearing with us this week.
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  I know it was a bit chaotic. I love you guys.
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  Thank you and I hope you enjoyed Pumpkin for Friday Mini school
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  as well and I will talk to you on Monday.
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  Bye. Centennial World Podcast Network
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  operates on Gadigal land. We would like to acknowledge the
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  Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of this
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  land, and pay our respects to elders both past and present.