81
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) by godsammitdam@lemmy.zip to c/actually_infuriating@lemmy.world

Share this everywhere, please help the Mansell family in any way you can. This should be a slam dunk case. I'll try and keep this updated as videos drop.

Bricks and Minifigs (BAM) Corporate PR statement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWg2bnAqW6k

Leaked BAM corporate email to franchise owners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMUHGBaF04E

Former BAM franchise owners Benjamin and Chrystal Gorman, speak out with evidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zedmOopRTm0

Part 2 has been released on YouTube. Police targeting Ben, redacting audio illegally, etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxZPfj8AlmY

BAM CEO goes on livestream and promises to answer Ben's questions. He, predictably, dodges, lies, and presents no evidence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAh9eh3KjrU

American Fork Police Chief, imo, outright lying based on the video evidence we've seen so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcVmSQpIPRY

Support the creators, Reckless Ben, for the amazing and exhausting work going into all of this, funds go to legal fees and helping the Mansell family who were victims of theft by BAM corporate, and the American Fork, UT police coverup.

https://westealfromoldpeople.com/

Key people:

Those who need your support:

  • Bryan Mansell: The collector whose family allegedly consigned the Star Wars LEGO collection to the Salem-Keizer Bricks & Minifigs store. His family is the one allegedly left without the full collection or proper payment.

  • Reckless Ben / Ben Schneider: The YouTube creator who entered the story after the Mansell family reached out. His tactics were provocative and legally risky in places, but they turned the dispute into a national controversy. His exposé so far should be treated as a template, in my opinion, for exposing these greedy, inhuman corporations. Thanks Reagan.

  • Mansell’s Father: The 83-year-old collector who helped build the collection over many years. Due to recent developments in his health, he cannot be unduly stressed as it could be dangerous. His son, with his blessing, was attempting to sell his collection to aid in medical costs (fuck the American healthcare scam, Universal Healthcare let's go). However, because of these developments, Bryan can't even inform his father for worry of aggravating his condition.

  • Chrystal Law-Gorman And Benjamin Gorman: The original Salem-Keizer Bricks & Minifigs franchise operators. They reportedly signed the consignment agreement, handled the collection for months and paid Mansell his share before the store takeover dispute. They have recently put forth evidence that the consignment was allowed according to the franchise agreement they signed as well as they have security camera recordings of BAM corporate agreeing to take on the consignment which is in clear contradictiom to BAM's claims.

Name and Shame

  • BAM Franchising: The corporate parent/franchisor behind Bricks & Minifigs. BAM’s role matters because the company allegedly stepped into the store transition and later argued that the consignment was unauthorized. The company has claimed that everything Ben has shown are lies without putting forth any evidence of their own.

  • Ammon McNeff: CEO of BAM Franchising and the main corporate face of the controversy. His response is central to the leadership criticism because he appears to have focused on distancing corporate from responsibility instead of making Mansell whole. He has outright lied on camera in several instances according to the information presented by Ben.

  • Matt McNeff: COO of BAM Franchising and Ammon McNeff’s brother. He is part of the corporate leadership structure behind the Bricks & Minifigs franchise system.

  • Ki McAllister: Executive Project Manager at BAM Franchising. Security camera footage and recorded phonecalls show that, on behalf of BAM, he accepted the consignment and threatened to use legal pressure to silence the previous owners.

  • Brandon Best: One of the post-transition operators tied to Baker Bricks. He is important because the dispute centers on what happened to the store inventory after the takeover and who controlled the remaining consigned sets. He was present in the security camera footage when the former owners mentioned the consignment as he hurried them out of the location. He held the phone in the security footage while Ki McAllister agreed to take on the consignment as part of the ownership transfer.

  • Joshua Johnson: The other post-transition operator tied to Baker Bricks and American Fork, Utah. He became a major focus after Reckless Ben’s attempts to contact and serve him led to repeated American Fork police involvement. Allegedly, given the evidence Ben presents, convinced the police to arrest Ben for stealing the legos, in which the police execute a search and raid on the residence and arrest all of Ben's friends and himself while present despite finding no evidence of theft.

  • Baker Bricks LLC: The entity tied to Brandon Best and Joshua Johnson after the store transition. Its role matters because it appears connected to the new operation that took over the store after BAM’s intervention.

  • American Fork Police: The Utah police department that became part of the story after repeated interventions involving Ben’s attempts to contact, serve and publicly pressure Joshua Johnson. Their conduct is now one of the most troubling parts of the controversy because it appears biased and retaliatory.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] frazw@lemmy.world 23 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It is insane that simply by being a big company you automatically get the benefit of the doubt from the police and that it becomes a matter for the courts while everyone is free.

Stealing $200,000 as an individual would get you in serious shit, locked up before trial, and ruin the rest off your life financially, but doing it as a company at worst gets you bad publicity apparently and if it ever goes to court, there is a presumption that everyone involved is respectable and meant no harm - it was all just poor decision making but no malice.

I hope nobody who hears this story shops in any of those franchises and I hope the story travels far and wide. The CEO's behavior on camera was very informative about the intentions behind the act.

The most infuriating thing is that they could walk away from the stock and be materially no worse off. Its not like they go 200,000 into debt, but for the person it belongs to, it is devastating.

[-] godsammitdam@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 days ago

Well, law enforcement derives from slave catchers. They were always designed to enforce property protections over human rights.

Here's a lawyer going over how the law itself is designed for that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P67Dr60KNgI

this post was submitted on 27 May 2026
81 points (98.8% liked)

Actually Infuriating

974 readers
10 users here now

Community Rules:

Be CivilPlease treat others with decency. No bigotry (disparaging comments about any race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, nationality, ability, age, etc). Personal attacks and bad-faith argumentation are not allowed.

Content should be actually infuriatingPolitics and news are allowed, as well as everyday life. However, please consider posting in partner communities below if it is a better fit.

Mark NSFW/NSFL postsPlease mark anything distressing (death, gore, etc.) as NSFW and clearly label it in the title.

Keep it Legal and MoralNo promoting violence, DOXXing, brigading, harassment, misinformation, spam, etc.

Partner Communities

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS