Voices of Freedom “Stand Against Human Trafficking” Dinner Highlights Severity of Issue

The Second Annual Voices of Freedom Dinner was held Thursday evening, July 24th at the Trussville Civic Center. Hosted by the Republican Women of Trussville (RWOT), the event drew more than 150 people.

The event was opened by Terri LaPoint, President of the Republican Women of Trussville and Candidate for Congress in Alabama’s 3rd District. Following the opening prayer by RWOT Chaplain Reneé Yates and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight, the National Anthem was sung by Donna Johnson.

Opening remarks were given by Alabama State Representative Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), who commended the RWOT for hosting the event. 

Speakers for the evening included Former Trussville Police Officer and Candidate for Trussville Mayor Dr. Ben Short, Pastor and Candidate for Lt. Governor Dean Odle. U.S. Senate Candidate Jared Hudson was also scheduled to speak but was unable to attend. Hudson was represented by Stuart Hartley of Covenant Rescue Group, of which Hudson is a co-founder.

Dr. Short spoke of his experience both in Trussville and as an investigator for the Jefferson County DA’s office, pointing out that human trafficking occurs across all socioeconomic groups in Alabama, particularly targeting the young and vulnerable populations. He emphasized the impact of the I-20 corridor as the “sex trafficking superhighway” and said trafficking is a $32 billion dollar per year industry. “Human trafficking is not just a statistic. It’s an affront to our shared humanity,” Short said.

Stuart Hartley, standing in for Jared Hudson spoke about the recent sex trafficking case in Bibb County and gave a number of anecdotes from the experiences of Covenant Rescue Group. Covenant Rescue is “not a Christian organization, but it’s an organization run by Christians,” and their mission is to leverage their own expertise in rescuing trafficking victims, and in training law enforcement to better carry out those operations.

Dean Odle spoke briefly about his nearly 40 year history in the ministry before saying that “one in three girls will be molested by the time they’re six. It’s one in five for boys.” He continued, saying, “There’s a spiritual side to this as well. This is to defeat and destroy our society through wickedness.”

Odle then went on to relate a number of historically recent events of child trafficking and abuse, including the Francis Shelton child pornography ring at North Fox Island, the Presidio day care case, and Nebraska’s Franklin case. “Epstein is just one spoke in a wheel that’s been going for a long, long time,” Odle said.

The featured speaker was trafficking and MK-Ultra survivor, author and mother of a medically-kidnapped child Cathy O’Brien.

O’Brien spoke about her experiences as a survivor of child sex trafficking and how victims are manipulated by traffickers. “Child sex trafficking is the most lucrative business in the world,” O’Brien said. “It’s the result of mind control on victims and the world.”

She stated that “the formula for mind control came into this country through Operation Paperclip,” and that “knowledge is our defense against mind control.”

“Mind control masked as a virus was released on the population in 2020,” she went on to say. “Fear and trauma are the basis for mind control.”

O’Brien pointed out that the elites who are involved in these activities fear President Trump, saying “I was told ‘Trump is not one of us’,” because his personal wealth and power meant that he could not be controlled by them.

“We all need to remember who we are and why we’re here, so we can start making those positive differences in our own communities, our own backyards,” she said.

The Voices of Freedom Dinner was sponsored by Ben Short for Mayor of Trussville, Rep. Danny Garrett, JeffCo Commissioner Joe Knight, Cain River Resources, Inc.-Fred M. Hastings, Jr. and Lisa Bright for Mayor of Trussville. Catering was by Tamburro’s Italian House.

For more information on Cathy O’Brien and to purchase her books, visit her website, Trance-Formation.com.

For more information on the Republican Women of Trussville, follow them on Facebook.

A live stream of the event can be seen HERE.