As scrutiny intensified around Operation Underground Railroad and Tim Ballard, questions began extending beyond the nonprofit itself. This report examines Sean Reyes, the narratives that fueled his political rise, and the claims that collapse under closer examination.

Sean Reyes, 51, advanced his political career by touting what he calls his warrior heritage, a legacy bestowed by his father, Norberto, who Reyes claims escaped his Philippine homeland to avoid execution by its president, Ferdinand Marcos. When Reyes took the main stage at the August 2020 Republican National Convention in support of Donald Trump’s nomination, he highlighted his father’s story:

“My father demonstrated his warrior spirit over 50 years fighting a dictator in his homeland — the Philippines. Barely escaping with his life, he started anew in America.”

That claim, among others Reyes makes about his father, is not true.  Yet for years he has told and retold his father’s success story, a story never fact-checked by Utah’s mainstream news outlets but reported as factual. The truth, however, is Reyes’ father did not escape to the United States in 1967 under death threat by the Marcos regime but emigrated illegally under the guise of a tourist visa. Further, Reye’s father—also an Elvis impersonator who usually went by the name “Buddy”—was not, as his son Sean has repeatedly claimed, once Pope John Paul VI’s personal artist, a former member of Bob Hope’s USO troupe, or a producer of blockbuster movies for MGM. The 1991 movie his father did produce and direct, Night of the Kickfighters, was panned by one critic as the worst movie he ever reviewed.

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Editor’s Note: Lynn Packer is an award-winning investigative reporter, legal consultant and author of “Lying for the Lord: The Paul H. Dunn Stories“. Lynn graduated from Utah State University with a degree in broadcast journalism. He served in the United States Army from ’68 through ’70 in Vietnam, as a television news anchor and producer for the Armed Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) Quang Tri detachment. He was awarded the Bronze Star. For 15 years Mr. Packer reported for KSL Television News in Salt Lake City. For ten years Lynn was an adjunct professor teaching journalism at Brigham Young University and the University of Dortmund.

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Resources & Further Reading

Organizations Under Scrutiny – American Crime Journal |

Operation Underground Railroad’s Roots – American Crime Journal |

O.U.R.’s Origin Myth – American Crime Journal |

Tim Ballard’s Mission – American Crime Journal |

Operation Underground Railroad and Religious Extremism – American Crime Journal |

Her Name Is Delia: The Survivor Behind O.U.R.’s “Liliana” Story – American Crime Journal |

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