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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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00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,640
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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00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,880
you want. 
And that is the story you guys 

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00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,440
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.