Locals organize ‘Sound of Freedom’ caravan – The Deming Headlight

A caravan of over a dozen cars, with six Luna County Sheriffs Office units escorting them, made its way from the Starmax entertainment center on Country Club Road west on Pine Street and south on Gold Avenue to the Luna County Courthouse Sunday afternoon.

Messages painted on the vehicles windows or displayed on signs bore messages such as, Gods children are not 4 sale, Ride for freedom and End child trafficking!

At least two vehicles flew small flags bearing a logo, resembling three links of a chain, spelling out the initials of Operation Underground Railroad, the nonprofit organization whose founder, Tim Ballard, is depicted in this summers hit movie, Sound of Freedom.

Local Ride for Freedom caravans were encouraged by the organization to mark July 30 as a day of protest against human trafficking. The Deming event, including an hour-long gathering of about 20 people on the lawn at Poplar Street and Platinum Avenue, was organized by Sara Williams. (Williams recently spent several months as a marketing consultant for the Headlight.)

Among those in attendance was Mayor Benny Jasso.

Angel Studios released Sound of Freedom on July 4 and grossed $19.6 million in its opening weekend already surpassing its $14.5 million budget. By July 28, it posted a gross exceeding $130 million.

The PG-13-rated thriller dramatizes Ballards work as a former federal agent rescuing children from a Columbian child trafficking operation. It has received mixed reviews from critics and subject experts, who have variously called it a solid action movie with disturbing scenes while some criticize it for fictionalizing some events. The studio acknowledged creative liberties in its depictions of child trafficking.

A spokesperson for Starmax said Monday the film had grossed $15,876 in Deming since opening on July 4.

Jim Caviezel portrays former federal agent Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom. (Courtesy of Angel Studios)

It has been our highest grossing movie for the month of July, the spokesperson said, adding that the only movie to outsell it in 2023 has been The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which ran at Starmax for seven weeks.

The theater reported that, nationwide, Sound of Freedom already ranked 13th for the year with a gross of $136,907,547 as of Aug. 1.

Among the groups promoting the movie are adherents of the widespread conspiracist movement known as QAnon, which Angel Studios, Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad have vaguely disavowed.

Flyers for Sundays caravan did not address the cause directly, referring readers to a social media hashtag, #RiseUpForFreedom, and showing the chain-like logo of Operation Underground Railroad, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ballard founded the organization in 2013 after a career at the Department of Homeland Security where, according to his bio, he worked on teams addressing internet crimes against children and child sex trafficking. Ballard stepped down as the companys leader just ahead of the movies release.

According to its website, OUR works with local law enforcement agencies to conduct extensive undercover work and intelligence gathering to rescue victims of human trafficking and bondage while providing recovery services to victims. From its name to its abolitionist club donor tier, the organization links its mission to the historic Underground Railroad consisting of safe houses and covert routes aiding escaped American slaves in the 19th century.

The organization has a rating of four out of four stars on the Charity Navigator website, which assesses nonprofits based on their financial transparency, adherence to mission and leadership among other rubrics, while noting that data used for some of its metrics were not available.

Sound of Freedom star Jim Caviezel has amplified QAnon claims while promoting the film. At the same time, Angel Studios, Ballard and OUR have all distanced themselves from conspiracy theories in general terms.

OUR states on its website: Accurate information about child exploitation and human trafficking is imperative to effectively confront these issues. We encourage anyone who wants to join the fight to stay informed and use care when engaging around these issues to not hurt the cause.

Man wears a T-shirt aligning with QAnon. (Marc Nozell/Wikimedia Commons)

QAnon is a wide-ranging mythos originating circa 2017 on the internet, initially attributed to an alleged intelligence operative posting anonymously as Q hence, QAnon. The central story is that an international, Satanic organization with roots through governments, the Democratic Party, Hollywood and news media, is molesting and/or murdering children on an industrial scale. According to the story, President Donald Trump and his administration were fighting a covert battle against the cabal and preparing to arrest thousands of conspirators in an event referred to as the Storm.

While these outlandish claims have been widely mocked, they have also inspired criminal acts among believers including violence. In 2016, a Washington, D.C. pizzeria named in QAnon-related social media posts received a visit from Edgar Maddison Welch, wielding an AR-15, to investigate online rumors that child sex slaves were harbored there. Welch fired three shots in the restaurant but did not injure anyone. He pleaded guilty to transporting his firearm across state lines and to assault with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to four years in prison and has subsequently been released.

One way QAnon spread into the mainstream and recruited believers was through signs at political demonstrations and hashtags on social media such as #SaveTheChildren.

QAnon has been compared to a cult in the way it seeks to alienate recruits from conventional agencies that vet information, accusing the medical establishment, tech companies and media organizations of suppressing evidence that would substantiate its claims; and in the way it presents adherents with an insular community of the like-minded.

Caviezel has aired claims from the QAnon storybook that young victims are being farmed for a substance called adrenochrome, which, as the story goes, is used by politicians and celebrity performers as an elixir of youth.

While the films producers and OUR have attempted to put space between the movie and QAnon, there is little argument that the movements embrace of Sound of Freedom has sold tickets.

The main speaker at Sundays gathering was Ernie Holguin, owner of a downtown business, whom Williams said she invited to offer data about human trafficking and child exploitation as a serious law enforcement concern.

Following a group prayer with participants standing in a circle, Holguin spoke from the bed of a pickup truck into a microphone, consulting notes from his personal research into the issue, citing a number of data points before moving beyond the movie into some of the wilder claims associated with QAnon, including those about adrenochrome.

Holguin denied to the Headlight that his remarks were connected with QAnon, but rather came from his own online research over five years.

His speech referred to a rumor nicknamed frazzledrip, which claims the existence of a video showing Hillary Clinton murdering a female child and wearing her skin as a mask. Somehow, this video has never been found and published.

Ernie Holguin was the main speaker at a World Day Against Human Trafficking rally in Deming on July 30. (Algernon DAmmassa/Deming Headlight)

Some members of the group appeared taken aback by these claims but listened politely, and some nodded as Holguin called on them to pray for the deliverance of victims and protection for law enforcement officers.

When asked for his evidence of the frazzledrip videos existence, Holguin obliged with a link to a seven-minute video that presents no footage of the incident, sources or any verifiable evidence.

Nonetheless, Holguin said he sincerely believes the story as well as claims about adrenochrome. The hard part is they keep removing videos and pics of the whole sacrifice, he wrote. If I was to keep searching for the video, pics and even the audio Im sure I could find it if I had the time.

As the gathering concluded, Williams, who said she was not familiar with the QAnon phenomenon, offered a few words about maintaining awareness of human trafficking, as New Mexico is situated on the border and the junction of crucial interstate highways. She said she hoped for more participation at a future event.

The Headlight reached out to the mayor for comment about the gathering, but he did not respond.

Algernon DAmmassa can be reached at algernon@demingheadlight.com.

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Locals organize 'Sound of Freedom' caravan - The Deming Headlight