(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -(STATIC CRACKLING)
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
(NARRATOR READING PROMPT AS PAUL PROPERT)
(MOUSE CLICKING)
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) The anger fuels me.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) It makes me alive.
Reminds me of the war that I never left.
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-(KEYBOARD CLACKING) -NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) There can only be victory or Valhalla.
I do not settle for less.
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(NARRATOR READING PROMPT)
(MOUSE CLICKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) I wake up every day,
hoping for a chance to dismember my enemies.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) Now, I will be fucking frightening.
♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
-(SEAGULLS CAWING) -(WAVES CRASHING)
LISA FREEMAN: Yeah, so the bounce house would be where then?
Over here by the pool. 'Cause we want the slide to go in the pool.
-Remember? Yeah. -LISA: Okay.
NATHAN FREEMAN: This is, uh, Bambuddha Holistic Center.
We're about 15 or 20 miles south of Acapulco.
And we're here for AnarchAwakening 2019.
-First annual. -The inaugural...
-Yes. -...AnarchAwakening.
♪ (FLUTE PLAYS) ♪
NATHAN: Uh, it's a bit of a different vibe
than the last time we put something together.
It's much more chill.
And the focus is going to be on healing
in all different modalities.
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
And when I ask the energies, "What is the true purpose of me?"
To be a guardian.
To be a shepherd, not looking for sheep.
TODD SCHRAMKE: For the first time in four years,
Nathan was no longer running Anarchapulco.
(LISA CHUCKLES)
-(BOTH CHUCKLE) -How much time do you have?
(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
NATHAN: Last year, I was the chief cat herder
for Anarchapulco 2018.
We decided at the end of that event that we wanted
to go bigger the next year.
So, my partner in that, Jeff Berwick,
he hired a person that has since dubbed herself
executive producer, named Jessica Kill.
And they sort of just kinda fired me after that.
There was never really, uh, any kind of official decision.
It's just that one day I couldn't access
the Slack channel and then another day,
I couldn't access my email.
So the-- the message got through... (CHUCKLES)
...pretty loud and clear.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -I give thanks to those of you,
the truth speakers, who speak your truth
and then follow through with your word.
That's what it's gonna take in this world.
And, uh, we've been doing that...
LISA: This conference is about fixing you.
Anarchapulco is about trying to fix the world,
and I think the problem is if we're out fixing the world
but we're still damaged, we're just bleeding
-on everything we touch. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PRESENTER: And I'm thankful to welcome in new people to the family,
to the close tribe that we have, and let's...
NATHAN: The team that's there now
does not understand that Anarchapulco was built on love.
It was built for love of oneself, love for others,
and love of truth and integrity.
And now, it's a very, very different vibe.
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -(WAVES CRASHING)
(RADIO STATIC)
JEFF BERWICK: Hey, guys. Welcome to 2019's Anarchapulco.
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JEFF: This event has just barely gotten started,
it's still not too late for you to come down here,
it's gonna be going through the weekend.
So I'm here for the, uh, Anarchapulco event.
Uh, yesterday was a, uh, interesting day.
Uh, the drama-- the Dramapulco is stronger than ever.
Some of the people that may have canceled because of, you know,
fears of this thing or that thing that might've occurred...
REPORTER: John Galton, he and his friend were shot, Jason Henza...
LARKEN ROSE: The murder definitely
was a topic of discussion
among the people at the conference.
RADIO PRESENTER: Yeah, well we don't know exactly what the motivation
of the killer was, right? Like, we have speculation...
AMANDA ROSE: Beyond that, the conference was affected
by all kinds of drama.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JEFF: We have people dying, we're getting death threats.
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MOUSE CLICKING)
-♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(MICROPHONE STATIC)
-(KEYBOARD CLACKING) -NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) Tonight, we celebrate with a hunt.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(MOUSE CLICKING)
JASON HENZA: Paul posted photos at the event
with all these people.
And they were losing their minds that he was roaming around
-the conference somewhere. -(MOUSE CLICKING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JUAN GALT: The conference beefed-up security.
♪ (TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JUAN: This guy was just out of control.
♪ (TECNO MUSIC FADES) ♪
-God, it was so chaotic. -(MOUSE CLICKING)
-(KEYBOARD CLACKING) -(NARRATOR READS PROMPT)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JEFF: That Paul guy, he was threatening
to kill me and my family. (CHUCKLES)
There was definitely a lot of negativity and weirdness.
♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
JASON: We were kinda told through the back channels
to stay away from Anarchapulco
because there was too much heat on us.
And they're afraid that we'll ruin the events,
and people will come up and, uh, cause violence
and scare everyone off.
LILY FORESTER: They're all like, "Where are you staying?
Where are you staying? Where are you staying?"
Nobody knew where I was.
We weren't telling anybody.
It was the only way we could sleep at night.
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LILY: I was extremely paranoid.
Three days ago, I had kids,
like, five or six neighborhood kids,
girls, just like knocking on my door
trying to get me to come out with my dog.
But my anxiety and my PTSD was like, "Don't answer the door!"
I 100 percent agree with that. I don't--
I don't like answering the door and when I do,
I have a gun in hand, and I'm ready.
Yeah. Paul essentially passed his PTSD onto me
like a fucking flu or something.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
LILY: If I'm being perfectly honest, like,
I'm afraid he is gearing up
for something much uglier. (SIGHS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Check, check, check.
-♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ -(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
The man I will introduce to you now,
he's made an awesome career for himself
through his own choices
and he has influenced millions of people.
I'm very pleased to introduce to you,
the destabilizing Thaddeus Russell!
(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
My business partner is gonna be very pissed off with me
because I was supposed to be giving a big pitch
for my podcast and for other projects.
I'm not gonna talk about any of that shit.
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHS) -(CLEARS THROAT)
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I don't know everything that happened in this case.
But I am now pretty goddamned convinced, still,
that Lily and John, and Jason,
those people are my heroes.
To me the focus in that moment was only about helping Lily.
If you're really invested in freedom and liberty,
maybe think about these people the way that I do.
I'm not asking you...
She was in a uniquely terrible and vulnerable position
and it looked to me like the anarchist community
in Acapulco was abandoning her, or worse,
blaming her and throwing her under the bus.
Now, I would never ever tell my son to do anything
that John and Lily did.
In fact, I would beg him to do the opposite.
Because I know the cost... of that kind of freedom.
But because I know that that kind of freedom
makes me more free...
makes us all more free in the long run,
those people are my heroes.
Lily is very scared for a lot of obvious reasons.
She just needs a little bit of help.
So far, she has put out calls, I have put out calls for her.
Come on, people.
I thought this was a crypto community.
I thought we cared for each other.
I thought we honored our heroes.
Just a little support for people like that on the fringes,
who are risking their freedoms and their lives for us!
Those people are at the front edge of this movement.
I want to honor those people...
and I just want your help.
-Thank you very much. -(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
It's very easy to escape governments, banks, and states
if you're already a Bitcoin millionaire.
If you're like John and Lily, you got no resources, nothing.
It's hard, it turns out, and dangerous, in fact,
-to be an anarchist in Mexico. -♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
♪ (ROCK MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
RADIO PRESENTER: It's Free Talk Live. We're at Anarchapulco,
kicking off day number four.
Uh, four wonderful days here
in the sun and beaches of a world-class resort.
We're getting close to, uh, to wrapping this out
for, uh, for the weekend.
The energy of the conference was so, like, stale.
So why did you guys even decide to go?
LISA: We went 'cause we had so many people
reach out to us and say, with Nathan not there,
the conference was dismantling.
♪ (MID TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: Their volume the years before
were on, like, full blast, you know.
Everyone felt like they were positive,
that there was like hope and excitement and passion.
And this year, it was like,
"Yeah, we're here, we should make the best of it."
This is just-- It feels weird.
AMANDA: Jeff, basically, hired an outsider.
Somebody who, all the way, wasn't connected to these ideas.
It felt like somebody came in,
who was not on the same page with us.
Who was actively working against us.
♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
Greetings everybody, it's your boy Elamental here.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ELAMENTAL: I'm trying to vend our shirts for Anarchapulco.
Immediately, when we start setting up our tables,
Jessica comes over.
She basically is telling us to leave and get out of there.
(ELAMENTAL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
CARMEN CARANGI: Even though we were told that we're allowed to set up here,
Jessica doesn't like it for some reason.
The last time I heard, this was an anarchist community,
and that means if you're not hurtin' anybody,
nobody's gonna tell you what to do.
-♪ (MID TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -TODD: What're you up to?
Uh, we're selling our AnarchAwakening shirts.
We had them printed up for the AnarchAwakening event.
TODD: But are you allowed?
I'm sorry, what word did you use? (CHUCKLES)
I didn't ask for permission. (LAUGHS)
So I have no idea whether I'm "allowed."
KENNY PALURINTANO: I just did my own thing
and I just ignored the hierarchical rules
that were trying to be laid down upon me
by these so-called authority figures.
I do my-- It is my understanding that some other people have
attempted to sell merchandise and have been,
uh, run off by some nefarious security group of some kind.
Of course, of course you can just come here
and-- and sell things to people who want to buy.
Like, you come here and you hear speeches
about the importance of free markets.
And yet, there's a controlled market
in the venue itself, which is silly.
I found that to be quite shocking.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The Freemans really, like... (SCOFFS)
...like, they really tried to undermine Jessica so much.
It's like, "I can't even sell T-shirts over there!"
It's like, "Well, that's because she actually sold a sponsor
to be over there and they paid for their tables,
she can't give you a table for free."
-♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -She very clearly came in with her own mindset and agenda
of how things should be done. She didn't just come in and go,
"Okay, Jeff, what do you want? And, speakers, what do you need?
I'm gonna facilitate this," the way Nathan did.
She comes from Hollywood and she comes from DC.
She's spent her time putting on events for the people
who are literally working on creating a world--
the exact opposite of the world that we're trying to create.
NATHAN: Well, I-- I had a conversation with Jeff Berwick before,
and I said, "I think this narcissistic control freak..."
(CHUCKLES) "All the things we say about the state,
this person is going to mess up the conference,"
and the response was, "Well, I think she's got it handled."
(MOUSE CLICKING)
JEFF: People did not give Jessica a chance
from, like, day one.
So many people were just all giving us flack
and, you know, trolling us.
Everyone was like, "This is terrible.
She's a Nazi." Everyone was calling her a Nazi.
And she had done nothing wrong.
-♪ (TENSE MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ -(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
To wrap it all up, uh, for tonight,
I'm very pleased to introduce
-Jeff Berwick and Dayna Martin. -(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
Personally, if you saw me this year,
I've been pretty relaxed,
and I have not been this way ever before.
And it's because all these people have been running it...
so amazing, and it all stemmed
-from Jessica Kill. -(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
JEFF: I don't know, she probably doesn't wanna come up here.
She doesn't wanna come up. (CHUCKLES)
DAYNA MARTIN: I think closer to the event,
a lot of fear came into people's minds
because some incidents happened that were really tragic.
And I was wondering to myself,
"Well, how was this going to affect the movement?
And are people going to be too afraid to come?"
And the opposite happened. We proved to the world
that love and freedom prevails over fear...
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) -JEFF: Yes.
DAYNA: ...and it always will in this movement.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Freedom!
-Thank you so much. -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
JEFF: Thank you.
DAYNA : So, we'll see you guys in 2020!
JEFF: All right, thank you.
-(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING) -JEFF: Thank you.
Bullshit detector.
(IMITATES DETECTOR BEEPING)
(CHUCKLES) Sorry.
-♪ (UPBEAT TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -In true anarchy fashion,
may I have everyone come to the front of the room!
-Come to the front of the room, please. -♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC FADES) ♪
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: There was a board, a big whiteboard and markers
that had, "Anarchapulco 2019,"
you know, "Leave a note for next year."
There were a lot of people that were like,
"Bring Nathan back. Kill Kill."
A lot of people were disappointed
in their experience.
♪ (SOFT MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
TODD: (CHUCKLES) And do you want to elaborate on that?
No, I just think, um, you know, if I get asked
I might consider it. But I haven't been asked
and I'm not sure I'd say yes.
(CAR ENGINES HUMMING)
NATHAN: I did this thing with a lot more integrity...
-LISA: Oh, yeah. Yeah. -NATHAN: ...than what we just saw.
I can't believe Jeff actually said,
"I'm more relaxed this year
than I ever have been in Anarchacapulco."
In 2017, he was drunk the whole time!
(LAUGHS) He literally never left the bar
except for when he was supposed to give his speech,
and he was hammered when he gave his speech.
People were asking for money back
because he was so drunk when he talked.
Like, this is the year that he's the most relaxed?
I don't know, I feel like, "Am I a bad person?"
Did we give too much to the conference that now
the universe is giving us bad karma? Like, I don't know.
It feels like it.
(ENGINE RUMBLING)
Just a quick stop on the way home.
-Trying not to lose my cool... -(TODD CHUCKLES)
...any more than I already have.
(SIGHS)
That we're safe and we're relaxed through it.
Oh, man. That was hard, that hurt a lot.
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC FADES) ♪ -(MOUSE CLICKING)
-(STATIC CRACKLING) -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
(NARRATOR READING PROMPT)
TODD: Paul was never actually seen at the conference.
And simply laughed it all off with a Facebook post.
-♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
-(NARRATOR READING PROMPT) -(MOUSE CLICKING)
LISA: Over the course of the two years,
Paul and I would talk on Messenger.
I'm a mom and he clearly needed some guidance.
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -(STATIC CRACKLING)
LISA: And I kept trying to explain to him,
-you are... -(EXHALES)
LISA: ...making people afraid of you,
and this community is supposed to be
about bringing people together and we're trying to heal,
we're trying to co-exist, and you're threatening
-people's lives. -(MOUSE CLICKING)
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: This is where the drugs and the alcohol
and the "fight or flight" responses
were starting to get really absurd and crazy with him.
He was very dangerous, in my opinion.
(COUGHS)
So, I finally talked Paul into going back to the US.
I said you need to leave, you need to go back.
The community is unable to move past this with you here.
I bought him a ticket. I helped get his stuff.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
I got him out of Acapulco.
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
TODD: Paul's exit from Acapulco was a relief to the community.
But the grief and confusion from John's murder,
-still lingered. -♪ (MID TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TODD: If he had been such an inspiration
to so many of those who came here,
what did it mean for the Acapulco anarchists
now that John was gone?
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JASON: He expected you to say what you mean
and stick to it no matter what.
And a lot of these people, they don't always stick
to what they say, so they sound like liars.
They're feeling their way through it
and they haven't thought it through.
John had thought everything through
and picked his life and just went in that direction.
There's so much that is more free
about where we live here, than wherever we came from.
Like we could never do what we've done...
TODD: To better understand who John Galton was,
I traveled to where he grew up as Shane Cress.
JUDY HLAVAC: I think we're good.
I know you keep saying not to stress,
but I'm stressed.
-SUSAN KASSON-KURLICH: We know you're stressed. -♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
Go down, we'll come down in the next one.
I'm not gonna try and squeeze us all in there.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
SUSAN: Do you wanna sit? Do you wanna put that on the table?
Actually, I just need to set Shane down.
He's heavy, that damn kid!
Let her put the...
Oh! There, here you go.
-He's not exactly light. -SUSAN: No.
I knew Shane would not have wanted an actual memorial.
That he would want something natural,
just kind of a... a celebration of life.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)
-(SIGHS) -SUSAN: There's room.
JUDY: I know I needed to come here and do this
for myself and for him, but it's been hard.
-Thank you. -Thanks.
PASSENGER 1: I'll get out of the way.
PASSENGER 2: No, you're not in the way. (LAUGHS)
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JUDY: When I was 16, I got pregnant.
I look back now, and so much I didn't know. (CHUCKLES)
So much I didn't know. Um,
I kinda wish I had done things differently,
but I wouldn't trade having Shane for anything, you know.
I mean he was the light of my life, you know?
I'm sorry.
(SNIFFLES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
When there's a little more people here...
-KIM KYLLAND: Yeah. -I want to do a little live... thing and wire to Lily.
KIM: Yes...
SUSAN: As a child growing up, Shane struggled
with his emotions all the way around.
He could become very volatile and destructive.
And then, at times, he could just be
just as sweet as he could possibly be.
He had anger issues, and his father had anger issues.
JUDY: Steve was Shane's dad. When I met him, I was, uh, 15.
Yeah, and he would've been 24.
I just wanted a normal life.
You know, I wasn't looking for anything fancy.
I didn't care where we lived or what we had,
I just... I wanted a normal family.
Unfortunately, Steve had his own issues. (CHUCKLING)
You know, I didn't really know what bipolar was.
You know, I didn't understand mental illness.
And he ended up choosing suicide instead.
-♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Put your arm up there. There you go.
-♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -JUDY: Pick up your feet. Move your legs.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(CHEERS, CHUCKLES)
-♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -JUDY: When Shane was about two and a half,
he started showing some of the same issues that his dad had.
He would have these meltdowns,
not just normal two-year-old, you know, meltdowns.
These were--
(SIGHS) They would last for hours. For hours.
By the time he was about five years old,
it got to the point where we actually had to put
an alarm on his bedroom door
because he would come out of his bedroom
in the middle of the night and just go
into one of his rages and destroy things.
And there was just nothing I could do.
We finally found a guy that worked with kids,
and diagnosed Shane as bipolar.
-(CHILD CRYING) -JUDY: And so he had to teach me how to hold him
where I wouldn't hurt him,
but where I could secure him until he calmed down.
It helped a lot, but sometimes I think
it actually just made him angrier when he was being
restrained like that.
But I don't think my son was bipolar.
I think he had Asperger's or some--
Maybe he even was on the spectrum.
And I wish I'd known that when Shane was little
because I think things would've been
-very different in his life. -♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-JUDY: Oh, my God. It's so good to see you. -Sorry.
-GUEST 2: You're grounded. -GUEST 1: You're grounded.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JUDY: (OVER VIDEO) This our live Facebook so Lily can see everybody.
Say hi to Lily.
-Hello, Lily. -JUDY: Say hi to Lily.
ALL: Hi, Lily.
TODD: Lily was still in Mexico, and couldn't risk traveling
to the US because of her legal status.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
TODD: But Jason Henza was able to make the trip.
-♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JASON: Lily was at the point where she can stand on her own.
And I was just thinking to myself,
it was just time to get out of town for a little bit.
And that's what I did.
-TODD: How've you been doing? -I've been doing good.
Uh, the doctors say I won't need surgery.
I should make a full recovery in about six months.
I've got most of the use of my arm.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
I try not to let the incident affect me at all,
as much as I can, because I think
that's what it was meant to do more than anything was hurt,
um, in my opinion, but...
♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TODD: Paul had moved back to Pennsylvania,
but he continued to threaten Henza.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
I just let him go live his happy life.
I'll leave him alone. If he chooses to leave me alone,
he does. If he doesn't, I'm sure he'll meet
his consequences eventually.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I scouted out the parking lot hours beforehand,
looking for Pennsylvania plates.
I felt like he could've showed up and done something.
So I always kept a soft eye on Paul.
Whenever I popped out in public, I would just check, uh,
his Facebook page and see what the chatter is.
-And then if I felt safe, I'd go out. -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
TODD: Do you think that Paul is capable of murder?
-Yes. -♪ (TENSE MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
JASON: What really gravitated me about Shane
was that he was completely stateless.
He couldn't even fall back on his state if he wanted to.
And he had to figure out on his own without the state,
and do everything the innovative way,
uh, to-- to the anarchist way,
the way that people like me constantly preach,
but never really, really follow through and live by.
I went through all of grade school with him.
I went to college with him,
and I even went after college with him.
No matter what it was that Shane had in mind,
he figured out a way to do it.
That's Shane, though, for you.
Like, nothing's gonna beat that kid.
-♪ (MID TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -When I was a kid, I had got in a BB gun accident
and my-- a BB had gone through my eye.
If you feel right here, you can actually feel the BB.
(CREW MUTTERING)
So if anyone's curious, I'll let--
-You can touch the BB, it's cool. -CREW MEMBER: Thanks.
John was very curious on the medications
that I was given by the hospital.
He actually researched different strains of marijuana
that would help with my eye pressure.
He created a whole strain for my eye.
I've actually gotten vision back.
But none of the medical eye drops,
they were just sustaining my eye pressure
and limiting what pain it could.
But what John came up with was such a blessing.
Now, not only do I have the medicine
that was helping me in my daily life,
but John himself got to build something.
JUDY: He started getting into the marijuana
and he became very passionate about that.
In the beginning, Shane wanted to become a lawyer.
He was gonna help change the marijuana laws
so that people weren't going to jail over a plant.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JUDY: He moved to Oklahoma when he was 17.
He followed a girl there. (CHUCKLES)
Thought he was in love.
It didn't work out with the girl,
but he got two jobs and he got his own apartment.
Unfortunately, he liked to grow his own weed.
He had a small coat closet in the apartment
that he would use to grow his weed in.
The landlord found the pot in his closet. (CHUCKLES)
And he got arrested.
And Oklahoma is not where you want to be
if you've got weed. (CHUCKLES)
He was facing up to life in prison.
The judge said, "Promise me you're gonna leave the state
and never come back. Do this boot camp."
DRILL SERGEANT: Get out your bed!
Jumping jacks, let's go! Jumping jacks, go!
JUDY: There was like a lot of classes
and a lot of exercising...
Get down! Let's see those climbers!
...and then they shaved his head.
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JUDY: He didn't think they had the right to do that.
It changed him.
And he started becoming very anti-government.
It was after that, that he decided he was gonna do
the dreadlocks and that was gonna be who he was.
SUSAN: The dreads, they were a way to express himself,
saying, "I do not want to be a part of this 'society,'
I want to do my own thing.
I want to make sure you see me."
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC FADES) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Shane Cress. That's his real name, Cress?
-Mm-hmm. -Okay.
-(CHUCKLING) -JUDY: I was there...
RANDY WEBB: I went there for one reason and one reason only,
in support of Miranda.
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Because she was in love with him.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -Remember me? Ricky?
When you were still at the--
you had your shop and you were doing all the cars
-and paintings and stuff? -Yeah.
I was there with Shane and Miranda and stuff.
I hadn't seen you in-- Last time was, like, eight years.
-You know, I met you-- Yeah. -Has it been that long?
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
-KIM: This is Jason. -JASON: Hi.
-Hi. Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
TODD: Jason is friends with Miranda in Acapulco.
-Okay, I'm Miranda's father. -TODD: Yeah.
Wow. She's quite a person.
You have nothing to worry about.
She's gonna be okay. I'm telling you.
I have lost touch with her in the last four or five years.
JASON: She's always wanted to talk to you.
But she's more worried
about spending 25 years in prison.
-RANDY: I understand that. -Yeah.
And she was, uh, quite concerned and Shane was very concerned
to the point where he wasn't reaching out to family either.
-RANDY: Okay. -And they had completely closed themselves off.
I didn't know until after the shooting and everything
about family, their real names and all that stuff.
-KIM: Hey, guys. -Yeah.
KIM: This is Shane's mom right here.
JUDY:
-I wanted her to see a little bit more. -KIM: Yeah.
JUDY: We're gonna go for a little walk
-in a little bit to the ledge. -KIM: Judy, this is Randy.
-Hi. Good to see you. -RANDY: Hi. You, too.
Oh, yeah...
I'm trying to share as much of it with her
as I can while we're...
-Yeah, of course. -...going and doing things.
So she's watching us now?
-RICKY: Yeah. -JUDY: Yeah. She's on there right now.
-(RANDY CHUCKLES) -JUDY: She popped on a minute ago.
So she's watching from Mexico.
JUDY: I really wanted them to rebuild their relationship.
(TALKING INDISTINCTLY IN VIDEO)
I didn't have the chance to do that with Shane,
but he had the chance with her and I wanted to see that.
KIM:
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JUDY: Okay, so...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(RICKY CHEERS) -JUDY: There he goes.
Farewell, Shane. Rest in peace.
(SOBS)
SUSAN: Shane's dad was buried on his first birthday.
JUDY: And here's Shane playing RollerCoaster Tycoon.
His Christmas present from Angela.
SUSAN: The vibe that there was always
something missing in his life
came from that.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(SNIFFLES) He's home.
SUSAN: Shane, from a young age,
had planned on leaving the country.
He felt that he could have a better life
in a place that was less, in his mind,
less structured.
-(JUDY SNIFFLING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(JUDY SIGHS)
(SIGHS)
JUDY: He was a good person who sometimes made bad decisions,
but nothing he ever did hurt anybody else.
He just wanted to live his own life.
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
-♪ (LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(ENGINE REVVING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER IN SPANISH)
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TODD: (IN ENGLISH) Do you remember where you were
mentally at that time?
LILY: I just had no idea what to do.
-(CAR ENGINE REVVING) -(SIRENS BLARING)
LILY: I was just starting to realize... It was, like,
you can see that house...
(WHISPERS) ...from all over the city.
It in itself is a ghost.
And, like, everywhere I look,
it's like, memory, memory, memory.
My life is a constant series of flashbacks.
(MOTORBIKE ENGINE REVVING)
LILY: And like every few months, something will resurface.
(BIRDS CAWING)
LILY: At one point, I thought about the day we ended up
in this parking lot at a Kmart in San Diego.
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LILY: John and I were fighting.
And there was this crazy lady walking around.
She had like this... (INHALES DEEPLY)
...broom that she had made out of palm leaves.
She was like...
(IMITATING) "When you guys get to Mexico, go to Tecate."
And we never told her we were going to Mexico.
And she kept saying, when you go to Mexico,
when you go to Mexico--
When you get to Mexico...
She had us both, like, questioning our, like,
really atheist, anti-spiritual, like, views at the time.
At one point, she was running around the parking lot
just yelling numbers into the air,
and then comes back to our truck and gets real serious
and looks at us and goes,
"You're the pilot," to John.
And she goes, "You're the co-pilot," to me.
And then she goes,
"But you, you need to learn how to be a pilot
because he's not gonna be the pilot forever.
You need to be the pilot."
And I was like...
I thought about her a lot after the murder.
I was just like, "Fuck. I have no idea where, like,
John Galton ends and where I started."
So I was like, "Man, who the fuck am I?"
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(PHONE CHIMES)
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -(CAR WHOOSHES)
JASON: Threats were still coming in.
(CAR WHOOSHES)
He had me short-cycled in his mind.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
I was still feeling like he may just do something irrational.
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) I've been abused and fucked over
by almost everyone I loved and trusted here.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) I started an investigation into the entire community.
I wouldn't get caught near Jason Henza,
his lobotomized mental patient girl, Lily,
or any of the Anarchapulco crew soon.
(READING PROMPT)
(MOUSE CLICKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) But now, I hope they all rot in hell.
It was difficult trying to understand what was going on
inside Paul's head.
When I would try to get him to be specific about,
"What are you-- what are you trying to accomplish?
What do you think the problem is?
And what do you think the solution is?"
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
-♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ -It just seemed like from pain and confusion,
there was anger that he couldn't really explain.
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) I would never fit into that Cultapulco community, anyway.
I'm not a degenerate, sexually repressed,
socially awkward, pathetic nerd.
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) I'm just a broken old veteran,
who was lured down to the cult of Anarchapulco.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: (AS PAUL) I'm checking out.
This community was my last try.
(READING PROMPT)
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
-(WAVES RUSTLING) -(BIRDS CHIRPING)
JASON: It was the fourth of July.
I was doing a normal checkup on him.
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JASON: And I saw rest in peace on his timeline.
And I was thinking,
"Okay, he's just screwing with me again."
I did some more in-depth research
and then I-- I got some details.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
He had, uh, taken his own life.
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TODD: After several bouts of self-harm
and hospitalizations for his mental health,
Paul committed suicide
a few months after returning to Pennsylvania.
If you can't appreciate the world around you
and the beauty it holds, I feel sorry for you.
You suck.
JASON: Paul's death made me feel scared because...
I knew I was involved.
I-- I knew I contributed to his spiral.
I knew what I was doing when I was pushing him away.
Because I knew it was life or death with Paul.
There was no halfway with Paul.
PAUL: Oh, my God! It's fucking hot!
JASON: (LAUGHS) Just relax, Paul.
LILY: The one thing I did say was, "Thank you, Paul."
I'm not saying I wanted him to,
but, I-- I am saying that I did not sleep until he died.
I couldn't really relax. I didn't know what to expect.
Like I was expecting him to pop up anywhere, you know,
'cause who knows? Maybe he was gonna come back
and, you know, really fuck up my life in the future.
(INHALES DEEPLY)
And then when he died that possibility went away
and I was like, "Okay."
I know that...
he caused hurt to people that I care about.
But...
I still remember...
gentle, admirable things about him too.
And so that makes me feel conflicted.
That makes me feel conflicted.
-(BIRDS CAWING) -♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
LISA: Paul is just another sad,
lonely, misunderstood boy.
His death, his suicide was really sad...
but it did not shock me at all.
He was a good man who was broken.
Fuck you.
JASON: Paul's not a monster...
JASON: The story of the sweaty hat. (LAUGHS)
JASON: ...he's just a guy that had substance abuse issues
and PTSD and allowed it to control his life.
LISA: Yes, he was responsible for his behavior
and his life choices,
but he didn't get a good hand to begin with.
And what did Paul's death do for you and Nathan's view
of your time in Acapulco?
It was another...
fail. (SIGHS)
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: Nathan and I always wanted to try to help Paul,
-but we couldn't save him. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LISA: (CRIES) And like somehow, it's our fault.
-LISA: You want some? -Negative.
-It just smells divine. -LISA: You can have a bite.
LISA: We always took ownership so much,
so it was another-- it was another fail.
(CLANGS)
JUAN: Symbolically, like, his aggression, in a sense,
was limiting our freedom.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Like there's no good story without a bad guy
and he choose to be the bad guy, you know.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
JUAN: And I think that was actually, like, what he was
-trying to do. -(MOUSE CLICKING)
One way of looking at Paul was, he was just a troll,
he was just trolling us...
♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JUAN: ...and he was a perfect troll.
He chose to be the bad guy to teach us,
kind of, where we were naïve, and where were ignorant.
Because a lot of us are not trained
in either conflict resolution or negotiation or compromise.
So how are you gonna have a cohesive functional society
without a-- a conflict resolution strategy
without a court, without any plan at all?
(VAN ENGINE REVVING)
♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
TODD: Acapulco's anarchists had seen two deaths
in just five months.
-(CAR WHOOSHING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
TODD: And as the community seemed at its lowest...
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TODD: ...along came another shock.
NEWS REPORTER: Crypto currency Ponzi scheme bilking
three-quarters of a billion dollars from victims...
NEWS REPORTER 2: At least five people were accused
of conning investors out of more than 720 million dollars.
According to the indictment,
they duped people into joining their investment club,
known as BitClub Network.
TODD: BitClub was one of Anarchapulco's largest sponsors.
And had deep ties to the conference.
JOBY WEEKS: I've been sitting here on my laptop...
(CHUCKLES) ...literally living on this ship
making money with Bitcoin.
TODD: Joby Weeks, one of the top promoters
in BitClub's multi-level marketing program was indicted.
And the US government accused BitClub of being a Ponzi scheme.
Joby came away with two lesser charges,
not directly tied to the fraud allegations.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -TODD: But the scandal further tainted
the Anarchapulco brand.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Joby! (CHUCKLES)
JESSICA: I'd be remiss not to mention Joby Weeks,
he was kidnapped by, uh, the government.
Hopefully, he'll be able to join us.
And we're just, you know, just so excited
about what's happening for Anarchapulco this year...
TODD: Jessica Kill was also connected to BitClub
as a promoter for the program.
She first appeared at the conference in 2018
and immediately faced broader skepticism.
AMANDA: I think if you're gonna come into a community
of people who are conscious,
and you're going to try and divide and conquer,
you're gonna be found out really fast.
And I think this is a needed test to see,
are we really sharp? Are we really conscious?
Do we really know what we believe and why?
-The test isn't over, right? -♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
There's one person that has to see it.
-AMANDA: Yup. -Right?
'Cause there's one person that does have the capacity
to change that choice.
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JEFF: Honestly, I'm not sure if BitClub was a complete fraud
from the get-go.
A lot of people were asking me to get rid of Jessica,
but Jessica did a great job of running the event,
especially given how most people hated her...
(CHUCKLES) ...for no reason.
So I just said, "Okay, let's try it one more time."
(WAVES CRASHING)
JEFF: The Freemans,
now they hate me and all that kind of stuff.
So that's where it got really weird.
TODD: Well, what do you think their perception was,
if you try to put yourself in their shoes?
It's interesting, when we-- when we first got to Acapulco,
we spent a lot of energy on community building,
uh, and-- and trying to form
uh, strong relationships with everyone.
I don't know, it just got a little weird,
just weird.
Through that experience, we found that
it didn't really pay off all that well.
LISA: It was really disappointing.
The integrity was no longer there.
The leader of the "conference"
was just pushing us further and further away.
Berwick was in this...
like, strange reality.
-(WAVES CRASHING) -(DOG BARKS)
(BOAT ENGINE WHIRRING)
JEFF: I have a real connection with Acapulco.
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC FADES) ♪
JEFF: There's something magical about here,
and my wife knows a lot about spirituality and about...
-(DOG PANTING) -...other dimensions.
And she says there's numerous portals here,
but they can be good or bad.
(DOG BARKING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
JEFF: There's something very special about here,
but it's also very dangerous, I would say.
Like if you come here and you got some problems,
-you might have a bad time. -(THUNDER RUMBLING)
JEFF: I'm not saying you're gonna die
if you come here. (CHUCKLES)
-And I'm not saying like John... -(BABY CRYING)
...got killed because of that.
What I'm saying is, be careful about this place.
There's so much energy here.
Whatever you put out there will come back to you tenfold.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
-SPECTATOR 1: That's a fire, folks. Yeah! -SPECTATOR 2: That's a fire.
-(CHILDREN SHOUTING) -♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: We had been burned by the leadership.
The people who are so disconnected
and want to control...
(CHILDREN SHOUTING)
Fuck off! Fuck off, you control freaks.
...but never own any of the mistakes that were made.
Fuck off, bitch! Go die in a fucking hole!
-Go die, bitch! -Yeah!
JEFF: Anarchapulco is becoming over 2,000 people now.
We're hoping maybe three to 5,000 next year.
We're trying to change the entire world.
And it-- I think this is only making us stronger.
ANNOUNCER 1: The legend himself, Jeff Berwick, with Lucy,
are gonna be talking about the most exciting things
that are happening next year. And very importantly...
ANNOUNCER 2: Forty percent off your tickets with...
LISA: There was another conference next year,
but if you looked around the community
you could see everyone having issues.
It was-- It was a shit show.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
This is so not Acapulco, this rain.
(DOG BARKING)
TODD: What was going on around that time
with the community?
I just did not know what was gonna happen.
-(THUNDER RUMBLING) -Whoa, there's a storm.
LILY: Things were really turbulent.
Should I stay in Acapulco? Should I leave?
'Cause I was just like, "What the fuck am I gonna do?"
You know? (INHALES DEEPLY)
-(THUNDER RUMBLING) -♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC SWELLS) ♪
JASON: Everything went awry.
I was watching my ideology fail in front of me.
-(THUNDER RUMBLING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(PASSENGER 1 LAUGHING)
Our community was literally just like, falling apart...
-(THUNDER RUMBLING) -Holy shit!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LISA: ...and that only got worse as time went on.
So, where do you go from here? What's the next step?
(THUNDER BOOMS)
PASSENGER: Slut!
(PASSENGER LAUGHS)
(THUNDER CRASHES)
♪ (MUSIC PLAYING INDISTINCTLY OVER SPEAKERS) ♪
♪ ("BETWEEN THE LINES" BY CHUCK RAGAN PLAYING) ♪
♪ I was born with a choice ♪
♪ Fight for freedom Or fight the tours ♪
♪ Either way The fighting never ends ♪
♪ Stuck in mud in no man's land Or resting easy in the sand ♪
♪ Smelling that great ocean In the wind ♪
♪ Oh, here we go Another stand you know ♪
♪ Carry on, carry strong Keep surviving, keeping on ♪
♪ Oh, here we go Another stand you know ♪
♪ What a rush What a ride ♪
♪ Either way I fall between the lines ♪
♪ Oh, please, Mama ♪
♪ Hear my distant call ♪
♪ This may be my last stand After all ♪
♪ So if the night comes And I fall ♪
♪ Somewhere in the dark I ask ♪
♪ Know for greater good I gave my all ♪
♪ Give the ones I know my love ♪
♪ Tell them I was worth the blood ♪
♪ That I shed on grounds Far from home ♪
♪ Oh here we go Another stand you know ♪
♪ Carry on, carry strong Keep surviving, keeping on ♪
♪ Oh here we go Another stand you know ♪
♪ Either way I fall between the lines ♪
♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪