{"id":14927,"date":"2016-05-03T07:17:19","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T12:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=14927"},"modified":"2016-05-03T07:17:19","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T12:17:19","slug":"veterans-ban-together-to-help-stop-sex-trafficking-in-its-tracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/03\/veterans-ban-together-to-help-stop-sex-trafficking-in-its-tracks\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans Ban Together to help STOP Sex Trafficking in it&#8217;s Tracks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"articlePostSubtitle\">\n<div class=\"postSubtitle\">\n<p><em><strong>I dislike how T&amp;P titled the article &#8220;Vigilante Campaign&#8221;, like these guys are some kind of half-ass wanna be GI Joes! These guys are true professionals giving of their time, money and resources to do a job our Federal Govt.and the rest of the world&#8217;s law enforcement has no interest in stopping because just like drugs it equals BIG MONEY! Don&#8217;t Believe me? Dig into it yourself. You will not like what you find.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong> It is people like this that and not the useless Politicians with their big ego&#8217;s and fake bravado that are the TRUE difference makers in this world turned upside down.-SF<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Veterans are Stopping Human Trafficking\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/862Szv8FoVE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"postSubtitle\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"postSubtitle\">Since 2013, this team of former U.S. soldiers, Navy SEALs, and government agents has been filming its on-the-ground efforts to end sex trafficking.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articlePostBody\">\n<div class=\"articlePostContent\">\n<div class=\"postContent\">\n<p>Several years ago, Tim Ballard, who had served as a U.S. government agent for a dozen years, went rogue\u00a0\u2014 but in a good way.\u00a0While working as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security, Ballard, a devout Mormon, infiltrated child-trafficking rings by posing as a pedophile. But he grew frustrated by the red tape. So, in 2013, Ballard left the department and started <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/ourrescue.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Operation Underground Railroad<\/a>, or OUR, a private organization that conducts so-called \u201cextraction operations\u201d to free child sex slaves and bring their captors to justice.<\/p>\n<p>Funded almost entirely by donations, the OUR team is comprised of more than a dozen staff members and volunteers, almost all of them ex-military or paramilitary, including former Navy SEALS, Special Forces operatives, and CIA agents. <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2015\/07\/22\/the-new-abolitionists-mexico-dominican-republic-human-trafficking-mormon-our\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">According to Foreign Policy<\/a>, most of them, like Ballard, are Mormon. So-called brand ambassadors <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/ourrescue.org\/about#team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">include<\/a>professional actors, singers, and a \u201cDancing With The Stars\u201d contestant. Some of them have even participated in operations, which typically entail OUR agents posing as\u00a0\u201cclients\u201d to bait the traffickers so local authorities can nab them. It\u2019s a motley crew, to say the least, and OUR\u2019s mission, as stated on its website, is an ambitious one: \u201cto bring an end to child slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Human trafficking is one of the world\u2019s fastest growing criminal enterprises, <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/press\/en\/2012\/gashc4039.doc.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">according to the United Nations<\/a>. A multibillion-dollar industry that spans the globe, and is especially robust in developing countries, trafficking affects an estimated 20.9 million people worldwide, including roughly 5.5 million children, a great many of whom are marketed for sex. According to the advocacy group <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.freetheslaves.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Free The Slaves<\/a>, there are more slaves on Earth today than there have been at any other point in history, even at the height of the transatlantic slave trade.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its deep roots in the U.S. intelligence community, and the fact that it works closely with local governments to carry out its missions under deep cover, OUR is not media-shy. In fact, the organization has been meticulous in chronicling its numerous exploits around the world. A disguised film crew is generally present to document the operations with hidden cameras, often in real time, for the purpose of raising awareness and, of course, more donations. Much of that footage will be featured in<a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/theabolitionistsmovie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">an upcoming documentary titled \u201cThe Abolitionists,\u201d<\/a><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/theabolitionistsmovie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u00a0<\/a>which is set to debut in select theaters across the United States on May 16.<\/p>\n<p>Read the Original Article at <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/taskandpurpose.com\/new-documentary-chronicles-vigilante-campaign-to-fight-sex-trafficking\/?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=tp-today\">Task and Purpose<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I dislike how T&amp;P titled the article &#8220;Vigilante Campaign&#8221;, like these guys are some kind of half-ass wanna be GI Joes! These guys are true professionals giving of their time, money and resources to do a job our Federal Govt.and the rest of the world&#8217;s law enforcement has no interest in stopping because just like&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[74,2086],"tags":[6949,11461,11462,11463,1582,11464],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14927"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}