Timeline

Name: Timeline · Where Is My Lego
Creator: Where Is My Lego

Chronological record, 2023–2026. Filter by status or search. Each entry is labeled as documented (Confirmed), a contested contention (Allegation), or otherwise Reported.

57 of 57 events

~1999–2000 onwardReported
Bryan Mansell and his father (reported ~83) begin collecting LEGO Star Wars, eventually ~780 sets and ~1,200 minifigures (incl. a sealed 10123 Cloud City).
Brick Fanatics
~Feb 2023Reported
Chrystal Law-Gorman and her husband Benjamin ("Ben") Gorman purchase the Salem-Keizer Bricks & Minifigs franchise (Chrystal had reportedly managed the store beforehand). They are the original owner-operators before BAM corporate's later takeover. ⚠ The "Feb 2023" month is single-sourced; the ~21-month operating window (to Nov 2024) is well-attested.
Brick Fanatics; Techdirt; Salem Business Journal
Nov 22, 2023Confirmed
Mansell and franchise operator Chrystal Law-Gorman sign a consignment agreement: store keeps 35% of gross sales (65% to the family), family paid monthly by the 15th, unsold sets remain family property.
Salem Business Journal; Brick Fanatics
Nov 14, 2024Allegation
BAM corporate issues a reported "Notice of Immediate Termination" and repossesses the Salem/Keizer store from franchisees Chrystal & Benjamin Gorman, citing alleged financial defaults (unpaid purchase-price/APA installments, delinquent royalties). The Gormans counter that BAM breached first by never transferring the store bank account and lease. Store later tied to Baker Bricks LLC (Brandon Best, Joshua Johnson).
Techdirt; Salem Business Journal; Sportskeeda; Dexerto
Late 2024 – early 2026Allegation
New operators allegedly refuse to return unsold consigned inventory or honor the contract, treating it as store property.
Sportskeeda; Wikipedia
~Dec 10, 2025Reported
Months before the viral video, Schneider and an associate visit Bricks & Minifigs' corporate office in Provo, Utah — conduct that later underlies a separate criminal case (see the Apr 7, 2026 row) and is also recited in BAM's civil complaint. BAM alleges they entered and filmed without permission using concealed devices, refused to leave when directed, and demanded $200,000 under threat of reputational harm (an ALLEGATION, drawn from BAM's complaint); Schneider's side frames his broader effort as investigating the missing-collection dispute. ⚠ The granular conduct details trace to BAM's complaint via a partisan community mirror; KSL independently reports the Dec 10, 2025 corporate-office date/location as the basis of the Provo charges.
KSL (criminal-charges report); ⚠ BAM civil complaint via community mirror (bamsucks.com)
Early 2026Reported
Mansell reportedly obtains a default judgment in Oregon (small-claims) after non-response; follow-up civil action pursued.
BAM statement; Dexerto
~Mar 2026Reported
The Gormans file their own suit against BAM Franchising over the 2024 store seizure (reported grounds: breach of contract, conversion, defamation, civil conspiracy); they later launch a GoFundMe ("They Took Our LEGO Store & Life Savings"). Separate from the BAM-v-Schneider action.
Techdirt; Salem Business Journal
Mar 8–11, 2026Reported
Schneider travels to American Fork, Utah; Joshua Johnson reportedly contacts AFPD ~4 times reporting conduct he described as harassment. Schneider says he went to serve civil papers.
ABC4; American Fork Citizen; Salt Lake Tribune
Mar 10, 2026Confirmed
First arrest. Schneider charged with stalking, targeted residential picketing, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass (complainant: Johnson). ⚠ Sources conflict on the date: Wikipedia/Dexerto say Mar 10; American Fork Citizen places both arrests on Mar 11; KSL/East Idaho News say he was "charged March 27." The fact of two arrests is not in dispute. ⚠ Two cases, not one: per KSL the American Fork (4th-District) case is stalking (class A) + targeted residential picketing (class B), charged Mar 27; the disorderly conduct and trespass counts are a separate Provo Justice Court case tied to a Dec 10, 2025 corporate-office visit (see the Apr 7, 2026 row).
American Fork Citizen; Salt Lake Tribune; Wikipedia; KSL
Mar 11, 2026Confirmed
Second probable-cause affidavit seeks an additional stalking charge. A judge approves a search warrant for the Airbnb where Schneider stayed (affidavit cited an overheard conversation about "possible stolen Lego").
The Express Tribune; American Fork Citizen
Evening Mar 11, 2026Confirmed
Second arrest at the Airbnb; Schneider booked into Utah County Jail. ~4 associates detained (incl. Sheldon Norcross ⚠ single-sourced — on a FaceTime call with Schneider when AFPD arrived; his phone was seized), all but Schneider released.
American Fork Citizen; Yahoo/In Touch; Kotaku
(warrant return)Confirmed
Search-warrant return reportedly states "No items seized" — no stolen LEGO recovered.
The Express Tribune
Apr 7, 2026Reported
Second criminal case (Provo). Schneider is charged in Provo Justice Court with disorderly conduct (class C misdemeanor) and trespassing (class B misdemeanor), based on the Dec 10, 2025 corporate-office conduct (see that row) — a matter separate from the American Fork case. So the four charges often lumped together actually split across two courts: the American Fork 4th-District case (stalking, class A + targeted residential picketing, class B; charged Mar 27) and this Provo case (disorderly conduct + trespass). ⚠ A community-circulated docket gives the Provo case no. 261000376, but that number appears only on a partisan mirror / a YouTube title — cross-check Utah XChange; the charges, date, and court are per KSL (single mainstream outlet network — KSL.com + KSL NewsRadio).
KSL; KSL NewsRadio; ⚠ docket no. via community mirror (bamsucks.com)
May 21, 2026Confirmed
Schneider publishes "I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of LEGO" (reported ~3.1M views in two weeks). Story goes mainstream.
Know Your Meme; Primetimer
May 21, 2026Confirmed
BAM posts first community note on the Salem store situation.
bricksandminifigs.com
May 21, 2026 (registry filings; surfaced Jun 10)Confirmed
"Legally Mine" renamed in the Utah corporate registry (background — the McNeff-linked asset-protection firm; not a party to the suit). A filed amendment renames Legally Mine, LLC → "LM Oldco, LLC" (entity 7228976-0160): the state stamp reads "Filed On May 21, 2026 04:49 PM" — the same calendar day Schneider's first video posted — and it is signed by managing member Daniel J. McNeff (⚠ the handwritten signature date appears to read "5/7/26," i.e. possibly signed ~two weeks before filing). On May 29, 2026 two assumed names (DBAs) — "LEGALLY MINE LLC" and "LEGALLY MINE TAX AND ACCOUNTING LLC" — were registered, owned by Centra Wealth Solutions, LLC, a separate Utah LLC formed Apr 6, 2026 (before the May 21 video and the May 27 lawsuit, though after the March 2026 arrests) with no McNeff among its registry principals. The records state no reason for the changes and nothing in them ties the filings to this case. ⚠ The viral community version is wrong on two points: the May 29 registrations are assumed names, not "2 new LLCs," and they belong to Centra, not the McNeff entity; any causal "reaction to the video" reading — or the contrary "sale already in motion" reading the Apr 6/May 7 dates might suggest — is speculation, not record.
Utah business registry (entity nos. 7228976-0160, 14701446-0151, 14701452-0151, 14681035-0160; checked 2026-06-10); amendment filing no. 2605221009625B (image via r/RecklessBen, verified against the live registry)
Late May 2026Confirmed
"Mormon Mafia" trends; Central Utah 911 reports a call surge (jumped ~157→424 calls in a 6–10am window — ⚠ weekday disputed: ABC4 says Saturday, Dexerto says Sunday May 31; the call figures match across both); unrelated Salem (Utah) PD posts a "zero involvement" disclaimer; AFPD received a wave of negative online reviews referencing the case (a coordinated "review-bomb" is asserted online but not confirmed by reporting).
ABC4; Dexerto; Primetimer
May 26, 2026Allegation
Chrystal Law-Gorman posts publicly (TikTok) alleging the franchisor "illegally seized" her business under threat of police action without compensation.
The Express Tribune; Primetimer
May 27, 2026Confirmed
BAM Franchising et al. file a verified civil complaint in Utah Fourth District Court (case no. 260402353 — since confirmed by both the signed TRO and the Jun 8 service order; an earlier "260400253" rendering appears to have been a community-mirror error) — 13 causes of action. Secondary reporting characterizes the suit as alleging a coordinated "harassment and extortion campaign" framed under a civil RICO / pattern-of-unlawful-activity theory; the signed May 28 TRO itself recites the claims as including "Utah RICO violations", defamation per se, civil stalking, trespass, civil conspiracy, tortious interference, intentional infliction of emotional distress, injurious falsehood, trade disparagement, false light, and nuisance (⚠ the TRO copy is community-archived — cross-check Utah XChange).
Dexerto; Brick Fanatics; Wikipedia; signed TRO (May 28, 2026)
May 28, 2026Confirmed
The court signs the "Temporary Restraining Order and Notice of Preliminary Injunction Hearing" (Tier 3) — /s/ Tony F. Graf Jr., 5:25 PM (the judge's name, previously secondary-only, is now confirmed from the surfaced signed order; the search-warrant judge was separately Roger W. Griffin). Entered ex parte, it restrains the defendants and anyone acting in concert from threats, publishing doxxing information, approaching within "not less than 1,000 yards" of plaintiffs' locations or employee/franchisee homes after notice, impersonation, signage implying theft from elderly persons, soliciting "undercover agents," and fabricated instruments; orders preservation of all footage and communications; and — clause (k) — requires the "Publications" and related videos to be "immediately removed and/or taken down from any online streaming platform." No bond was required (Utah R. Civ. P. 65A(d)); the order remains in effect until the court rules on the preliminary injunction, whose hearing date was left blank in the order (later reported for Jun 22 per KSL — ⚠ Dexerto says Jun 30; see that row). Notably, no provision expressly names the GoFundMe or fundraising. ⚠ Sourced to a community-archived copy of the signed order (partisan host) — cross-check Utah XChange. Same day, BAM issues a detailed official statement denying theft/wrongdoing.
Signed TRO, Case 260402353 (May 28, 2026); Brick Fanatics; bricksandminifigs.com
May 29, 2026Confirmed
AFPD releases body-cam footage + news release; Chief Cameron Paul posts a ~26-minute video statement. CEO Ammon McNeff appears in a livestream interview, apologizes to the family, offers mediation.
ABC4; The Express Tribune
May 29, 2026Confirmed
BAM submits an official takedown request to Patreon seeking removal of Schneider's Patreon page. The package reportedly attached the verified complaint (with exhibits), a request for immediate content removal pursuant to the TRO, and the TRO / preliminary-injunction motion — i.e., an attempt to enforce the injunction against the funding platform.
Dexerto; Kotaku; Brick Fanatics; Sportskeeda; Primetimer
~May 30–31, 2026Confirmed
GoFundMe for Mansell surpasses $100K (later reported higher). ⚠ Figures vary by snapshot/source as the total climbed — e.g. ~$128K from ~4,800 donors at one point, $131K+ from ~5,000 at another; anchor any figure to a timestamp. By ~Jun 3–4, 2026 it is reportedly over $300K, and by the morning of Jun 8, 2026 reportedly over $445K (donations to be placed in a legal trust). ⚠ Both higher figures are single-outlet (>$300K from The Express Tribune; >$445K from Dallas Express, echoed by Wikipedia citing that same article) — Reported, not multi-sourced CONFIRMED; a separate ~$350K–$382K figure is single-sourced and unverified.
The Express Tribune; Dallas Express
~Jun 1, 2026Confirmed
Separate AFPD matter surfaces: Det. Bronson Kitchen apologizes to a driver over a contested traffic stop (distinct incident, frequently cited alongside).
American Fork Citizen
~Jun 1–2, 2026Confirmed
Schneider releases a follow-up video on the arrests; says he fled to Mexico citing a new arrest warrant. (⚠ Reporting clusters Jun 1–2; date approximate.)
UNILAD Tech; Kotaku
Jun 2, 2026Confirmed
Patreon CEO Jack Conte publicly refuses BAM's takedown request in a video ("Take Down Notification: Reckless Ben's Patreon Account"), displaying the submitted court documents and saying Patreon's trust & safety team "determined that Bricks & Minifigs can stuff it. We are keeping Ben's page up. And if Bricks & Minifigs doesn't like that, they can sue us." Schneider's Patreon page stays up. ⚠ One loose summary dates the video Jun 3; specific reporting puts it Tuesday, Jun 2.
Dexerto; Kotaku; Brick Fanatics; Sportskeeda; Primetimer
Jun 4, 2026Confirmed
BAM announces it has "parted ways" with Salem franchise owners Joshua Johnson and Brandon Best — framed as a mutual separation — and is permanently closing the Salem, Oregon store, citing "a devastating social media campaign." Announced via a BusinessWire press release and a company blog post (the closure itself does not drop them as named plaintiffs in the Utah suit).
BusinessWire; Dexerto; ABC4; KSL; bricksandminifigs.com
Jun 4, 2026Allegation
In the same statements BAM (a) says an investigation found "significant evidence of gross negligence" by the previous owner (Chrystal Law-Gorman), framing Best/Johnson as incoming franchisees who inherited the problem; (b) re-values the collection at $95,000–$100,000, calling the ~$200,000 figure "simply the promotional value" used for the Nov 2023 public viewing (the disputed-value framing — keep ~$200K as family/promotional and this as BAM's number); (c) casts the consignment as an "unauthorized and private consignment side-deal" that predated Best/Johnson, struck with former franchisee Law-Gorman. CEO Ammon McNeff says BAM is "prepared to discuss dropping the lawsuit against" Mansell, will review POS data to make him "made whole monetarily," and offers him "whatever Star Wars LEGO was or remains in the Salem store." ⚠ BAM frames this as seeking a "mutual and positive resolution" — no source shows Mansell accepting, the suit being dropped, or a settlement reached; the offer is unilateral and litigation remains pending. ⚠ BAM's "unauthorized / corporate never knew" framing conflicts with Techdirt's Jun 2 report that corporate verbally told Law-Gorman it would "take on the consignment liability."
BusinessWire; Dexerto; Geeks+Gamers; KSL; Techdirt
Jun 4–9, 2026Confirmed
Harassment spills over to uninvolved BAM franchises. The independently owned Bricks & Minifigs in Sacramento, CA (Pocket neighborhood) — no role in the Oregon dispute — reports a flood of threatening calls, emails, and messages; GM Dylan Anderson says the store has filed multiple police reports with Sacramento PD ("There are active police reports") and announces it will close for about a week (⚠ from Jun 12 per CBS Sacramento vs. the "week of Jun 13" per the Sacramento Bee and KCRA; aiming to reopen Jun 19). Anderson tells KCRA some of the calls and emails "have been death threats" — KCRA carries that in its own headline; no police finding backs it (see the conflict next). ⚠ The police-report picture conflicts: per the Sacramento Bee, regarding calls the store made on May 23 & 30, Sacramento PD said "no direct threats were made" and that no official report was filed in the department's online system — the store's "active police reports" account and the department's do not line up; neither is a finding about the later threats. A San Luis Obispo, CA location also reported calls about the controversy — described as non-threatening and ended "peacefully" (KSBW, a KCRA sister station); central-Ohio stores reported "hate"/backlash and decreased sales (Columbus Dispatch, Jun 9, which also reports BAM corporate citing bomb threats against stores nationally); and BAM corporate's own community note (May 21, updated May 27) had already cited "direct threats and doxxing of local staff and their families" — a concrete spillover/public-safety harm of the pile-on (cf. the Central Utah 911 surge).
FOX40 (Jun 4); CBS Sacramento (Jun 5); KCRA (Jun 5); Sacramento Bee (Jun 6); KSBW (Jun 8, San Luis Obispo); The Columbus Dispatch (Jun 9, Ohio); BAM "Note to Our Community" (May 21/27)
Jun 4, 2026 (post date; surfaced in wider coverage ~Jun 10)Confirmed
Supplier fallout — Minifigs.me ends its BAM relationship. The UK-based custom-minifigure maker Minifigs.me (posting as "Custom Minifigs") publicly announces it is ending its long-running supplier relationship with BAM: owners Nick and Caroline write that after the "serious allegations … by YouTuber Reckless Ben" they "can no longer continue to do this in good conscience," calling it "an extremely costly decision" — the BAM franchise had been their biggest combined customer — while noting many ordinary BAM store owners "have nothing to do with these allegations." ⚠ The breadth of any wider supplier "exodus" is unestablished: a factually.co fact-check (researched Jun 5) found supplier pull-aways undocumented in its own source set (cite as skeptical, not support).
Minifigs.me / Custom Minifigs (Facebook post, Jun 4, 2026; mirrored on Instagram); Kotaku (Jun 10 recap); cf. factually.co (skeptical)
Jun 7, 2026Confirmed
Attorney John H. Bryan ("The Civil Rights Lawyer") publishes Part 2, interviewing Ben's driver/associate Tyler Shaw (Part 1, ~Jun 2, was Schneider himself) and presenting the unredacted AFPD body-cam footage. Shaw was cited at a Mar 8 stop and flagged for suspected impairment Mar 9, but passed a .00 breath test and a K-9 search found nothing; Bryan/Shaw allege the stops/AFPD conduct were pretextual. ⚠ This archive excludes the unredacted body-cam tranche on no-PII grounds; only the interview is cataloged.
The Civil Rights Lawyer (Part 2); American Fork Citizen; UNILAD Tech
Jun 8, 2026 (disputed)Reported
Schneider reportedly scheduled to appear in court. ⚠ Sources conflict: Wikipedia says June 8; KSL & East Idaho News say the next hearing is July 1, 2026. ⚠ Update (Jul 2, 2026): a community-mirrored Provo Justice Court docket for the Provo criminal case (caption Provo City v. Schneider, case 261000376) indicates its WebEx pretrial conference was set for Jun 8 and continued to Jul 6, 2026 — which clarifies the date confusion: the "July 1" appearance reported by KSL/East Idaho News belongs to the separate American Fork stalking / targeted-residential-picketing case, not the Provo matter. The same docket text lists the Provo case's judge as Stephen H. Schreiner, the Provo City prosecutor as Robert Trombly, and records Not Guilty pleas entered May 14, 2026 to the disorderly-conduct (76-9-102, class C) and criminal-trespass (76-6-206, class B) counts. ⚠ Read only at WebSearch-snippet level from a partisan community mirror (bamsucks.com); the docket PDF itself 403'd this pass and was not opened — cross-check Utah XChange. As of Jul 2, no news outlet has reported any July 1 criminal-hearing outcome (a fresh community video claims "actual audio" of a hearing but its date/case are unverified and it may concern the May 28 civil TRO — not adopted).
Wikipedia; KSL; East Idaho News; ⚠ Provo Justice Court docket (bamsucks.com, case 261000376) via WebSearch snippets
Jun 8, 2026Confirmed
In the civil suit, Judge Tony F. Graf Jr. grants BAM's ex parte motion for alternative service ("Order Granting Ex Parte Motion Regarding Alternative Service," Tier 3), letting the plaintiffs serve the defendants — Benjamin Paul Schneider / Reckless Ben LLC, Bryan Mansell, and Victor Nguyen — by alternative means after personal service was not effected. The order's caption confirms BAM Franchising, Inc., a Delaware corporation (et al.) v. Schneider et al. and case no. 260402353. This shows the suit proceeding against Mansell at the service stage — notwithstanding BAM's Jun 4 statement that it was "prepared to discuss dropping" the Mansell claim (no dismissal of Mansell appears on the record). ⚠ Sourced to a single court-document image of the signed order supplied to this archive; the underlying case/caption/number are independently corroborated (DocumentCloud complaint; Dexerto; Wikipedia), but cross-check the order itself against Utah XChange.
Utah 4th Dist. Order, Case 260402353 (Jun 8, 2026); corroborating case context: DocumentCloud complaint; Dexerto; Wikipedia
Jun 9, 2026Confirmed
Schneider posts a short video ("bad news") announcing he will not release "Part 3" of his investigation and cannot publicly discuss the case (he says the order bars him from even naming BAM), citing the May 28 TRO / pending civil suit — effectively halting his public investigation. He characterizes the stakes as: violating the order would put him in jail, cost him his own suit, and divert the Mansell GoFundMe to BAM — ⚠ his framing; the factual anchor is the complaint's request for an accounting / disgorgement of profits, reportedly sweeping in crowdfunding revenue (a requested remedy, not one a court has granted). ⚠ No source shows a contempt finding — reporting describes a speech-restricting TRO and a scheduled hearing, not adjudicated contempt.
Kotaku; UNILAD Tech; Geeks+Gamers; Brick Fanatics; (disgorgement) The Express Tribune
Jun 9, 2026Allegation
The GoFundMe for the Mansell family ("Help Bryan Recover His Stolen LEGO Collection," organizer Ben Schneider) becomes inaccessible — the page, live and showing $442,458 of a $450K goal in a Jun 8 archived snapshot (and still live in a Jun 9 ~14:14 UTC snapshot), returns GoFundMe's generic "Page not found" (HTTP 404; a Jun 10 ~09:34 UTC archived capture recorded the 404). Next-day media noted it: UNILAD Tech (Jun 10) described the fund "briefly vanishing"; a second UNILAD piece put the fund's reported peak at ~$454,151 and floated the candidate explanations — a GoFundMe Trust-&-Safety takedown under the TRO, the page being frozen amid the proceedings, or the organizer removing it himself — while noting it was unclear which; and an MSN-syndicated piece asked whether BAM "got the Mansell family GoFundMe taken down." (Kotaku's same-day Part-3 coverage still described the fund as having reached "over $450,000", with no mention of a takedown — takedown coverage stayed thin.) A generic 404 cannot by itself distinguish removal by GoFundMe/court from deactivation, a paused campaign, or a slug change. Who removed it, and why, remains unconfirmed: community posts (r/RecklessBen) and a single commentator (LegacyKillaHD on X) attribute it to the May 28 TRO and predict BAM will pursue the funds — but that causal claim is social-media-sourced only, and BAM's reach for the donations is a requested disgorgement remedy (see the Jun 9 row above), not an order a court has granted — indeed the signed TRO contains no provision expressly naming the fundraiser (see the May 28 row). The outage proved temporary — the page was back online ~24 hours later (see the Jun 10 row).
GoFundMe page (404, Jun 9); Wayback (live $442,458 Jun 8; live Jun 9 14:14 UTC; 404 Jun 10 09:34 UTC); r/RecklessBen; LegacyKillaHD (X); UNILAD Tech (Jun 10)
Jun 9, 2026Confirmed
At a regularly scheduled American Fork City Council meeting, multiple members of the public spoke in support of Schneider and criticized the American Fork Police Department's handling of the matter, calling for an independent review/investigation of the department's conduct. The meeting ended without the city announcing any formal or independent investigation into AFPD. ⚠ A council member reportedly expressed appreciation for local police and noted a separate recent incident affecting their own family (single substantive source — Dexerto + the meeting video; not in the second outlet). The comments arose during public comment at a meeting whose agenda also covered the FY2027 budget.
American Fork City (official) — "June 9, 2026 AF City Council Meeting" (YouTube Vrr9boJhEhw); Dexerto; The Express Tribune
Jun 10, 2026Reported
The Mansell GoFundMe is back online. Schneider announces it in a YouTube community post — "GoFundMe is back up! Maybe some day I'll be allowed to talk about what's going on behind the scenes. It's crazy." — implying (without stating) a legal constraint on explaining the ~24-hour outage. Checked directly the same day (~18:00 UTC), the URL resolves again (HTTP 200) with the campaign active at $465,211 raised of a $500,000 goal from ~17,095 donations — i.e. the total kept climbing past the pre-outage $442K, and the goal had been raised from $450K to $500K on Jun 8 per the page's own goal history (a platform-automatic raise — the entry is recorded with a SYSTEM source — not an organizer action). UNILAD Tech (Jun 10) corroborates the round trip, describing the fund as "briefly vanishing but appearing to be back in action." ⚠ Neither GoFundMe nor any party has publicly explained why the page vanished or what restored it — the TRO attribution for the takedown remains social-media-sourced (see the row above), and no source ties the restoration to any court action. In post-Jun-10 coverage, BAM publicly denied taking it down (statement to Dexerto: "At no point did we make any legal attempt to seize the Mansell family GoFundMe account or any other GoFundMe account, nor did we ever approve consignments as an authorized sales process") — but that denial does not explain the outage, leaving the cause still unexplained; ⚠ the denial is single-origin to Dexerto (other outlets/Wikipedia relay it), and it is contested (cf. Patreon CEO Jack Conte's reported account of a BAM removal demand, and the Gormans' consignment-contract rebuttal — both already recorded).
GoFundMe page (live, Jun 10); Reckless Ben YouTube community post (Jun 10, via r/RecklessBen); UNILAD Tech (Jun 10); Wayback CDX; Dexerto (BAM denial)
Jun 10, 2026Reported
Investigative YouTuber Coffeezilla publishes his full ~54-minute investigation, "I Found The $200,000 Missing Lego" (after interviewing BAM CEO Ammon McNeff, Reckless Ben, and the Gormans, and reviewing inventory/sales records from the parties). He frames the matter as driven more by record-keeping failures, compensation disputes, and legal conflict than a wholesale "theft": he estimates only ~$10,000–$20,000 of LEGO is truly "unexplained" ("estimated with bad records," his words), concludes Mansell could still be owed ~$50,000–$83,000 — which he says BAM "obviously should handle and make right" (the video is not an exoneration of BAM) — and pegs the collection's likely actual value around ~$107,000, well below the family's ~$200K figure (which remains family-valued, promotional, and disputed — Schneider himself tells Coffeezilla the $200K came from a walkthrough and "that press release went out before I had those full numbers… this is a nice even number that will grab attention"; ⚠ BAM has put the value lower still, ~$80K per the Columbus Dispatch). ⚠ These are Coffeezilla's own estimates, not court findings. In the same interview, BAM COO Matt McNeff points to in-store handover footage (ring/security cameras) from the Nov 14, 2024 ownership transfer (the outgoing Gorman owners → incoming owners Best/Johnson) to argue the new owners did not carry the Mansell sets out that night: McNeff says the footage shows incoming owner Brandon Best arrived in a rental car, with no U-Haul in the lot, which BAM offers as evidence the sets were not stolen by the incoming owners (BAM's contention — an unadjudicated ALLEGATION). ⚠ Coffeezilla disputes this — he says brightening the footage reveals a U-Haul outside the store that night, contradicting McNeff's "no U-Haul" account — though the significance stays inconclusive (BAM's explanation is that the U-Haul related to an unrelated camper/trailer; Coffeezilla flags timeline gaps and, "without more proof," reaches no concrete conclusion either way). Coffeezilla also states Mansell is being sued for ~$1.3 million "as part of a legal campaign against him and Reckless Ben and any of the associates," calls the suit against Mansell "ridiculous," and urges BAM to drop it. ⚠ The ~$1.3M is Coffeezilla's figure, single-origin to this video (the Jun 11 outlets summarize it, not an independent docket record); it attaches to the existing BAM-side suit, which KSL earlier summarized as seeking "over $300,000" (the figures do not cleanly reconcile — cross-check Utah XChange / the filed complaint).
Coffeezilla — "I Found The $200,000 Missing Lego" (YouTube VKfQkRbd15k, posted Jun 10, 2026 — title/date/length verified from the video metadata); The Express Tribune (story 2612574, Jun 11); UNILAD Tech (handover footage, Jun 11); UNILAD Tech ($1.3M suit, Jun 11); Dexerto (~$20K-missing / valuation, Jun 11); Nerdbeak ($1.3M = existing suit; U-Haul forensics, Jun 11)
Ongoing (as of Jun 11, 2026)Confirmed
Keizer (OR) investigation reviewed by Marion County DA; Salem store permanently closed (Jun 4); civil litigation continues with all parties still named, with a preliminary-injunction hearing reported for Jun 22, 2026 (⚠ conflicting press date — see the Jun 22 row); Schneider has halted his public investigation under the TRO (Jun 9); the family's GoFundMe vanished for ~24 hours (Jun 9–10, cause unexplained — see rows above) and is back online at $465K+ of a $500K goal; harassment has spilled over to uninvolved BAM franchises (a Sacramento store announced a week-long closure after threats; San Luis Obispo and central-Ohio stores also reported controversy-driven calls/backlash — see the Jun 4–9 row); no liability/guilt finding to date.
The Express Tribune; BusinessWire; KSL.com; Yelp listing; CBS Sacramento
Jun 16, 2026 (reported)Reported
Former Salem franchisees move to limit the TRO. The "Law-Gorman parties" — Chrystal Law(-Gorman), Benjamin Gorman, and BAMF Salem 1, LLC — reportedly file in the Utah civil case (No. 260402353) to intervene (for the limited purpose of challenging the order) and to modify or dissolve the May 28 TRO. They stress they are not defendants in the BAM-v-Schneider suit and are separately litigating against BAM Franchising over the 2024 Salem franchise termination; they argue the TRO is overbroad and restrains protected speech about their own dispute, and that it reaches them because a clause orders removal of publications that "in any way relate to the private legal dispute underlying this matter between Bryan and Chrystal." The filing reportedly asks the court to strike or narrow the takedown clause, clarify the order does not bind Law, Gorman, or BAMF Salem 1, and decline to enter a preliminary injunction of the same scope. The court had not ruled as of reporting (the Jun 22/Jun 30 PI hearing — see that row — is the likely venue). Commentary frames this as potentially clearing one obstacle to Schneider's withheld "Part 3" (see the Jun 9 "bad news" row) — characterization, not a court ruling; the motion does not ask the court to authorize Part 3. ⚠ Single-outlet (Dexerto); other coverage (e.g. Nerdbeak) echoes near-identical wording rather than independently reviewing the docket, and the motion itself was not accessible this pass — cross-check Utah XChange, and confirm whether the intervention and the dissolution are one motion or two.
Dexerto
Jun 22, 2026 (scheduled)Reported
Civil preliminary-injunction hearing in the BAM suit (Utah Fourth District Court, case no. 260402353, Judge Tony F. Graf Jr.; the TRO names the Provo courthouse): the court is to consider whether to extend the May 28 TRO for the duration of the litigation — per KSL, Schneider "will have an opportunity to present his side," his first since the TRO issued ex parte. Distinct from the criminal matter — his next criminal appearance is separately reported as Jul 1, 2026 (see the ⚠ Jun 8 row). The signed TRO left the hearing date blank, so the date rests on press reporting — ⚠ and it conflicts: KSL says Jun 22; Dexerto says a preliminary hearing "has been set for June 30." East Idaho News carries the Jun 22 date but is a syndication of the same KSL story, not independent corroboration. ⚠ Update (Jun 24, reported): the parties reportedly filed a joint request to vacate this hearing and convert the TRO into a stipulated preliminary injunction so they can pursue mediation (see the Jun 24 row) — so whether this hearing proceeds is now uncertain; the court had not ruled.
KSL.com (Jun 4); East Idaho News (syndication); ⚠ Dexerto (Jun 30)
Jun 24, 2026 (reported)Reported
The parties jointly move to soften the TRO and pause the showdown hearing. Per a single original outlet (Dexerto, rewritten by The Express Tribune story 2615026), BAM Franchising and the defendants reportedly file a joint request in the Utah civil case (No. 260402353) asking the court to modify the May 28 TRO and replace it with a stipulated preliminary injunction, and to vacate the scheduled Jun 30 preliminary-injunction hearing (see the Jun 22 row) so the sides can pursue mediation/settlement. Under the proposed order, bars on threats, doxxing, trespass, impersonation, and interference with franchise operations would remain in place, but the revised language would expressly permit discussion of the lawsuit, publication of court filings, and investigative journalism/commentary across platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, podcasts) — which, if entered, would lift the speech restriction Schneider cited for withholding "Part 3" (see the Jun 9 "bad news" row). ⚠ This is a distinct event from the non-party Jun 16 Law-Gorman intervention/dissolution motion (see the next row): the Jun 24 move is reportedly by the actual parties (BAM + the defendants), jointly — it is the subject of the later Tribune story (2615026), whereas the Law-Gorman motion is the earlier one (2613906); do not conflate them. As of this writing (Jun 25) the court had not ruled, and Part 3 had not been released — entry of a stipulated order is not automatic. ⚠ Update (Jun 26): an independent second outlet now corroborates this. KSL.com — a mainstream Utah outlet that reports this case from the court, not a Dexerto reprint — published "Bricks and Minifigs reaches truce with Reckless Ben in civil lawsuit" (art. 51546879, ~Jun 24–25), independently describing the same joint-by-the-parties move: BAM and Schneider "agreed to mediate" and "both parties submitted to the court" an agreed order that does not prohibit Schneider or those associated with him from commenting on the lawsuit, publishing court findings, or expressing "opinions, criticism, satire and/or commentary" by lawful means, while bars on threats, property destruction, stalking, trespassing, and publishing personal contact information remain. This resolves the earlier "single source family" / "possible mis-summary of the Jun 16 motion" doubt — two independent outlets (the Dexerto→Tribune family + KSL) now carry the joint-by-parties framing. ⚠ Still not docket-verified and the court had not ruled (KSL frames a "truce"/agreement submitted to the court, not an entered order — per KSL the proposed order still needed Judge Graf's signature and "as of Thursday [Jun 25], Graf had not yet signed"; the Jun 30 hearing-vacatur is requested, Part 3 unreleased, no settlement executed) — cross-check Utah XChange; full KSL text was not directly readable this pass (off-allowlist 403), so the corroboration rests on KSL's headline + search snippets. ⚠ Update (Jun 26, second sweep): a third outlet — and a second one independent of the Dexerto/Tribune family — also corroborates the joint move. ABC4 (Nexstar's Salt Lake City station, a non-Deseret broadcaster and an original local reporter on this case throughout) published "Bricks & Minifigs and YouTuber Reckless Ben try to cool things down through mediation in civil lawsuit," independently describing the same Jun 24 move to convert the TRO into a stipulated preliminary injunction (lifting the speech bar while keeping bars on threats/stalking/trespass/doxxing and a stay-away), the mediation path, and the requested Jun 30 hearing vacatur — and likewise reporting the order is marked "PROPOSED" with "as of Thursday, Graf had not yet signed the new order." This adds a second outlet independent of the Dexerto family (KSL + ABC4) but changes nothing on the merits; ABC4's full text was off-allowlist 403 this pass (headline + snippets only). ⚠ Update (Jun 27): the court reportedly declined to sign the proposed order as drafted. Per Dexerto (story 3376819, since re-headlined "…Part 3 hits setback after judge declines to sign modified restraining order"), a Jun 24 court note records Judge Graf declining to sign the stipulated injunction because one section — the stay-away clause barring defendants from entering, filming, blocking access to, or coming within at least 100 yards of plaintiffs'/franchisees' stores, offices, warehouses, parking areas, or employee/franchisee homes — was "very broad," adding it was "unknown if the Defendants know who the employees & franchisees are" and that the proposed order "does not address the videos that were taken down." The parties then filed a joint clarification stating the injunction was meant to narrow the TRO and allow "a full and free exchange of public information," and that plaintiffs were unaware of any publications/videos having been taken down. The order stayed unsigned and "Part 3" unreleased as of this pass — so the speech bar is not yet lifted. ⚠ The active "declined to sign" detail and its reasoning are single-origin (Dexerto), echoed by That Park Place / Nerdbeak / Express Tribune (same content family); ABC4 and KSL carry only the passive "marked PROPOSED / not yet signed" framing — that narrower fact (order unsigned) is the multi-sourced part. A community YouTube title ("The Judge Refused To Sign…") independently asserts the refusal but is not a news outlet. The "Jun 24" stamp is the only hard date surfaced; the clarification was filed "later" (date unpinned). Cross-check Utah XChange.
Dexerto (story 3376819, updated/re-headlined); The Express Tribune (stories 2615026, 2615213 — derivative of Dexerto); KSL.com (art. 51546879); ABC4 (Nexstar SLC — mediation/PROPOSED-unsigned)
Jun 26, 2026 (reported)Confirmed
The defendants remove the civil case to federal court. Per a single original outlet (Dexerto, story 3380261), attorneys for Benjamin Schneider, Reckless Ben LLC, and Victor Nguyen filed a Notice of Removal on Jun 26, 2026, moving BAM Franchising et al. v. Schneider et al. (Utah Fourth District case no. 260402353) out of Utah state court and into the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. The notice reportedly asserts diversity jurisdiction (28 U.S.C. § 1332) — that the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $300,000 (matching KSL's earlier "over $300,000" figure for the suit). Reported to follow Judge Graf's declination to sign the proposed stipulated preliminary injunction (see the Jun 24 row). A notice of removal is a defendant's filing that takes effect on filing — it does not require the federal court's permission, and it transfers the whole action — but the plaintiffs may move to remand, so whether the case stays in federal court is unresolved. ⚠ Single original outlet (Dexerto): as of this pass no mainstream outlet (KSL, ABC4, Express Tribune, Nerdbeak) had corroborated the removal — their coverage stops at the Jun 24 declined-injunction/mediation story — and Wikipedia does not mention it; a community YouTube title ("Reckless Ben Flips the Board—Federal Court Now Takes Over") independently asserts the removal but is not a news outlet. ⚠ Update (Jun 28, 2026): now docket-verified. The federal case appears on two independent PACER-sourced docket trackers — CourtListener (docket 73542292) and PacerMonitor — as BAM Franchising Inc v. Schneider, No. 2:26-cv-00593, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, the Notice of Removal filed 06/26/2026 by Schneider, Reckless Ben LLC, and Nguyen (removing Utah Fourth District case 260402353) — independently re-confirmed by a second agent that surfaced the same federal case number from each tracker. This anchors the removal to the federal court record, resolving the prior "cross-check PACER" flag. The defendant list named here (Schneider / Reckless Ben LLC / Nguyen) matches the trackers' filer list. ⚠ Update (Jun 28, second sweep): co-defendant Bryan Mansell reportedly filed a separate notice consenting to the removal (a "Notice of Consent by Bryan Mansell," entered on the docket the same day — a defendant's consent is procedurally required for removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(2)(A)). This resolves the prior "Mansell's participation not stated" flag. ⚠ The consent detail is single-news-origin (Dexerto, echoed by its derivative Express Tribune rewrite 2615352) plus the CourtListener/PacerMonitor docket entry; the docket pages 403'd this pass, so the consent entry rests on the trackers' snippets — cross-check the PACER docket sheet. ⚠ Two residual limits keep the surrounding detail short of full confirmation: (1) the docket pages returned HTTP 403 this pass, so the case number/court/caption rest on the two trackers' result titles + snippets, not a live docket-sheet read — cross-check the PACER docket sheet for the exact filed-date stamp, assigned judge, and entry text; and (2) news coverage of the removal remains single-origin (Dexerto, plus a derivative Express Tribune rewrite, story 2615352 — same source family). No judge assignment or docket entry dated Jun 27–28 was visible; plaintiffs may still move to remand (unresolved). ⚠ Update (Jun 29, 2026): a federal judge assignment has now surfaced. PACER-sourced CourtListener tracker data lists the federal case's assigned judge as U.S. Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero ("Assigned To: Cecilia M. Romero," Date Filed 06/26/2026) — Romero is independently confirmed as the Chief Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah (utd.uscourts.gov), and D. Utah routinely assigns a magistrate on a fresh removal. This resolves the prior "no judge assignment visible" note. ⚠ Docket-tracker-only and snippet-level: the tracker pages 403'd this pass, no news outlet reports the federal case number or the assigned judge, and the "-CMR" initial suffix (consistent with Romero) appeared only in a search-engine summary, not in either tracker's result title — so treat the suffix as unverified and the assignment as Romero-per-tracker. No co-assigned Article III district judge, remand motion, or any docket entry after Jun 26 surfaced. Cross-check the PACER docket sheet.
Dexerto (story 3380261); CourtListener (docket 73542292 — No. 2:26-cv-00593, D. Utah; "Assigned To: Cecilia M. Romero"); PacerMonitor (No. 2:26-cv-00593); D. Utah (Cecilia M. Romero, Chief Magistrate Judge — utd.uscourts.gov); ⚠ Express Tribune (2615352, derivative)
Jun 29, 2026Allegation
BAM issues its most detailed public statement yet — "Determined to Find Amicable Resolution with Mansell Family" (a BusinessWire press release, also posted to BAM's own blog), reiterating its Jun 4 offer to make the Mansell family "whole" and seek an amicable resolution. BAM says its internal investigation values the collection at $95,000–$100,000 — again disputing the ~$200,000 figure, which it casts as a promotional value tied to a Nov 2023 sales event (keep ~$200K as family-valued / promotional and disputed); that point-of-sale records show ~$61,000 (or more) of the collection was sold before the Nov 14, 2024 ownership change, while Mansell reportedly received only ~$15,000 in payments over ~a year (BAM frames the gap as a discrepancy it is "still investigating"); and that BAM is prepared to hand over every remaining Star Wars LEGO item from the former Salem store regardless of whether ownership can be established, plus compensate the family for anything shown to be unaccounted for. ⚠ These valuation/sales figures and the "not stolen" framing are BAM's own contentions, unadjudicated; the offer is unilateral — no source shows Mansell accepting, a settlement, or the suit being dropped (the suit against Mansell was still proceeding at the Jun 8 service stage, and the case was removed to federal court Jun 26 — see those rows). ⚠ Largely a restatement/expansion of BAM's Jun 4 position; the new specifics are the ~$61K-sold / ~$15K-paid figures. ⚠ Sourcing granularity: the $95K–$100K valuation is multi-outlet, but the ~$61K-sold / ~$15K-paid specifics are single-outlet (Dexerto), snippet-level; all figures were read from WebSearch snippets only (BAM blog / BusinessWire / news outlets returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch this pass) — cross-check the press-release text.
BusinessWire (release 20260629727135); bricksandminifigs.com blog (Jun 29, 2026); Dexerto (story 3381182); Brick Fanatics; UNILAD Tech
Jun 30, 2026 (federal docket-tracker-reported)Reported
The stipulated-injunction fight re-surfaces on the federal docket. In the removed federal case (BAM Franchising Inc v. Schneider, No. 2:26-cv-00593 [reported -CMR], D. Utah — see the Jun 26 row), a "Joint Motion for Temporary Restraining Order Modification and Entry of Preliminary Injunction" appears as a docket entry dated 06/30/2026, tagged as filed by defendants Victor Nguyen, "Reckless Ben," and Benjamin Paul Schneider. On its face this carries into the federal forum the same effort — begun in state court on Jun 24 (see that row) — to convert the May 28 TRO into a speech-permitting stipulated preliminary injunction that Judge Graf declined to sign; if entered, such an order would lift the speech bar Schneider cited for withholding "Part 3" (see the Jun 9 "bad news" row). This is the first docket entry dated after Jun 26 to surface (the Jun 29 row had noted none was yet visible). ⚠ Multiple caveats. (1) Docket-tracker / snippet only: the entry recurs verbatim across searches in CourtListener/PacerMonitor docket format (docket 73542292 / case 65408971; also Justia 165286), but the tracker pages 403'd this pass — no live docket-sheet read — and no news outlet reports a discrete Jun 30 motion. (2) ⚠ Date conflict: every news outlet dates the joint stipulation move to Jun 24, with Jun 30 appearing in reporting only as the hearing the parties asked to vacate (see the Jun 22 / Jun 24 rows) — so "06/30/2026" may instead be a federal re-filing/re-entry of the Jun 24 state stipulation after removal, but that is unconfirmed. (3) ⚠ "Joint" ambiguity: the docket tags the three defendants as filers, while the Jun 24 news framing describes a both-sides / stipulated motion — whether "joint" means jointly with the plaintiffs vs. among the defendants is not resolvable from the snippet. The magistrate (Cecilia M. Romero) had not ruled. ⚠ Separately, Schneider's Jul 1 criminal hearing (see the ⚠ Jun 8 row) fell on this archive's compile date; no outcome is reported yet. Cross-check the PACER docket sheet (D. Utah).
CourtListener (docket 73542292 — No. 2:26-cv-00593); PacerMonitor (case 65408971); Justia (2:2026cv00593, D. Utah)
Jul 1, 2026 (federal docket-tracker-reported)Reported
A non-party asks to intervene in the federal case to vacate the speech restrictions. On the removed federal docket (BAM Franchising Inc v. Schneider, No. 2:26-cv-00593, D. Utah — see the Jun 26 row), Gregory C. Belmont — founder of an AI legal-tech venture, "CereBel Legal Intelligence", and a stranger to the underlying dispute (not a party) — files for limited intervention, asking the court to vacate the speech restrictions (the May 28 TRO) as to all speakers. Per the movant's own account, the motion rests on Rule 24 (intervention), Rule 65A, and the First Amendment, asserts "listener standing" (citing Virginia Pharmacy Bd. v. Virginia Consumer Council), and requests immediate/expedited consideration; a docket entry — a "Notice of Changed Circumstances and Narrowed Request for Limited Intervention" by Gregory C. Belmont (with an exhibit + certificate of service) — is entered 07/01/2026. This is a separate track from the parties' own Jun 24/Jun 30 stipulated-injunction effort and from the non-party Jun 16 Law-Gorman intervention (see those rows) — a third would-be intervenor. If granted, it could bear on the same speech bar Schneider cited for withholding "Part 3," but the court had not ruled, and whether a stranger to the case may intervene at all is unresolved. ⚠ Thin, self-interested sourcing. The filing recurs in CourtListener/PacerMonitor docket-format snippets (docket 73542292), but the only substantive account of what it argues is the movant's own blog (blog.cerebel.law, "Motion Filed to Vacate Speech Restrictions on Reckless Ben") — a self-promotional primary source for an AI-legal startup — plus a community YouTube title; no mainstream news outlet reports it, and all trackers/the blog 403'd this pass (snippet-level only). Cross-check the PACER docket sheet (D. Utah). ⚠ Update (Jul 8, 2026; docket-verified Jul 15): the court set Belmont's non-party filings aside as "lodgings" — two distinct docket events. (a) On Jul 8, 2026 the clerk modified the entry for the Jul 1 Notice (docket #12) to add "LODGED" per Chambers, the modification entry explaining: "Document was filed in error as it was submitted by someone who has not been granted leave to intervene. … The entry has been marked as 'LODGED' per Chambers. If the Motion to Intervene is granted, then Gregory C Belmont may file in this case" (entry #12's own note reads "'LODGED' added to entry per Chambers as party has not granted leave to intervene and should not be submitting filings" [sic — the clerk's text]). (b) A second Belmont document, received Jul 7, was entered 07/08/2026 as docket #24 and likewise lodged: "DOCUMENT LODGED received from movant Gregory C Belmont - he has not been granted leave to intervene so document is lodged per Chambers. Note: attached document lodged for reference purposes only; no response required unless specifically ordered by the court." So the court is declining to entertain his non-party filings pending any grant of leave — but it had not ruled on the underlying Motion to Intervene (docket #10, entered Jun 30): no grant or denial appears through the trackers' last refresh (Jul 14–15), and no docket entry after Jul 8 appears at all. ⚠ Sourcing upgraded at consolidation (Jul 15): the lodging entries were read directly — full docket-page reads of two independent PACER-sourced trackers (CourtListener docket 73542292, "Last Updated: July 14, 2026"; PacerMonitor case 65408971, refreshed ~Jul 14–15) by two agents independently (Justia still 403'd); no news outlet reports the lodgings.
CourtListener (docket 73542292 — No. 2:26-cv-00593; entries #12 ["LODGED" added 7/8/2026 per Chambers] + #24 [DOCUMENT LODGED, entered 07/08/2026] — direct read Jul 15); PacerMonitor (case 65408971 — direct read Jul 15); ⚠ Justia (2:2026cv00593, 165286 — 403'd); ⚠ blog.cerebel.law (movant's own site); ⚠ community YouTube ("…Gregory C. Belmont", hny_Wsxinto)
Jul 1, 2026Reported
American Fork criminal hearing continued to Aug. 12, 2026. The Utah Fourth District Court hearing in the American Fork case (stalking, class A misdemeanor; targeted residential picketing, class B misdemeanor) — the long-tracked "July 1" date (see the ⚠ Jun 8 row) — was continued to Aug. 12, 2026. Per KSL, Schneider's attorneys Jeremy Delicino and Jon Williams were in a federal trial in St. George the prior week and asked for more time to review the case (KSL also reports Schneider is now represented by counsel in both criminal cases, updating the earlier "pro se" note). This is the first reported outcome of the July 1 date, which the archive had repeatedly flagged as "unreported by any outlet." ⚠ Single mainstream outlet/network (KSL.com art. 51595241 + KSL NewsRadio — no independent second outlet reports the criminal-hearing dates); cross-check Utah XChange.
KSL.com (art. 51595241, "Lego saga updates," ~Jul 7–8, 2026)
Jul 2, 2026 (federal docket-tracker-reported)Reported
Both defendant groups ask for more time to answer in the removed federal case — still no ruling on the stipulated-injunction motion. On the federal docket (BAM Franchising Inc v. Schneider, No. 2:26-cv-00593, D. Utah; Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero — see the Jun 26 row), two unopposed "Motion for Extension of Time to File Answer" filings appear dated 07/02/2026: one by defendant Bryan Mansell (with a memorandum in support and a proposed order), and one by defendants Victor Nguyen, "Reckless Ben," and Benjamin Paul Schneider (likewise with a proposed order). Both concern the deadline to answer following the Jun 26 Notice of Removal. They follow a Jul 1 third-party intervention filing on the same docket (see the Jul 1 row). They are routine post-removal pleading-stage motions and their substantive signal is limited, but they do indicate: (a) the case is still at the answer/pleading stage (no answer filed yet); (b) both filings being "unopposed" indicates the plaintiffs (BAM) did not object — consistent with the parties' Jun 24 mediation posture; (c) Mansell filing his own motion shows him actively litigating in federal court (consistent with his Jun 28 notice of consent), i.e. still a live defendant notwithstanding BAM's Jun 4 "prepared to discuss dropping" offer; and (d) as of this entry no order on the Jun 30 stipulated-injunction motion, and no motion to remand, had surfaced — so the speech bar Schneider cited for withholding "Part 3" is not yet lifted and the case remains in federal court. ⚠ Docket-tracker / snippet only: the two entries recur verbatim across searches in CourtListener/PacerMonitor/Justia docket format (docket 73542292 / case 65408971 / Justia 165286), but the tracker pages 403'd this pass — no live docket-sheet read — and no news outlet reports these motions. Cross-check the PACER docket sheet (D. Utah). ⚠ Separately, Schneider's Jul 1 criminal hearing (see the ⚠ Jun 8 row) outcome remains unreported by any outlet as of this pass.
CourtListener (docket 73542292 — No. 2:26-cv-00593); PacerMonitor (case 65408971); Justia (2:2026cv00593, D. Utah, 165286)
Jul 6, 2026 (federal order; entered Jul 7)Confirmed
A federal judge enters the modified stipulated preliminary injunction — lifting the speech bar, freeing "Part 3." In the removed federal case (BAM Franchising Inc v. Schneider, No. 2:26-cv-00593, D. Utah — see the Jun 26 row), U.S. District Judge David Barlow reportedly grants the parties' joint motion for a preliminary injunction, converting the May 28 TRO into a stipulated preliminary injunction. The modified order expressly permits the defendants to discuss the plaintiffs, comment on the litigation, publish court filings, and engage in investigative journalism / commentary / criticism / satire across platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, podcasts, TV, radio), while retaining bars on threats, doxxing, trespassing, impersonation, interference with stores, and soliciting leaks / staged confrontations (the source's concrete language includes a stay-away of offices/stores/owners and not blocking customers; ⚠ the distance conflicts by source — Dexerto — and the Salt Lake Tribune (Jul 10, 2026) — render it "within 100 yards," while KSL (art. 51595241) describes the federal PI as "at least 100 meters" — note the earlier state TRO/agreement used 100 yards, so the federal order's figure is unsettled between outlets: two now say yards, KSL alone meters, and ⚠ SLTrib's "100 yards" is that newsroom's own paraphrase, not a quote of the order); the PI remains in effect until further order of the court. On its face this lifts the speech restriction Schneider had cited (in his Jun 9 "bad news"/"final message" video) for withholding "Part 3." ⚠ No source confirms "Part 3" has actually been released/uploaded — only that the legal barrier was removed. This entry also surfaces a structural docket fact: the case was reassigned from Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero (see the Jun 29 row) to District Judge David Barlow — per a docket-format snippet, because the motion for immediate injunctive relief rendered the case ineligible for magistrate-judge jurisdiction, so it was randomly assigned to a district judge. A related order reportedly extended the defendants' deadline to respond to the complaint through Aug 3, 2026 (consistent with granting the Jul 2 unopposed extension-of-time motions already recorded — see that row); ⚠ per a docket snippet this extension order was signed by Magistrate Judge Romero (7/6/2026), distinct from Barlow's PI order. Per docket-format snippets the injunction order was signed 7/6/26 and entered 07/07/2026. ⚠ News sourcing (updated Jul 11, 2026): the Jul 6 grant was originally flagged single-origin (Dexerto, story 3383948), but the federal action now has independent mainstream corroboration — the Salt Lake Tribune (Jul 10, 2026; staff byline Jordan Miller) independently reports that U.S. District Judge David Barlow "signed off on the order Monday" (i.e. Jul 6, 2026), the new federal order that replaced Judge Graf's Jun 2 state-court TRO and now lets Schneider comment on the litigation "through any lawful means or methods they choose." It is a genuine independent Utah newsroom report with no Dexerto / syndication footprint — resolving the earlier "no mainstream second outlet" flag (KSL, art. 51595241, likewise touches the Jul 6 order). ⚠ SLTrib calls it "the order" / "the new order," not literally a "preliminary injunction" — keep the PI label sourced to Dexerto et al., not to SLTrib. The docket detail was read at CourtListener/PacerMonitor snippet level only (tracker pages 403'd — no live docket-sheet read). Cross-check the PACER docket sheet (D. Utah). ⚠ Update (Jul 15, 2026): the grant is now docket-verified, and the "preliminary injunction" label is docket-anchored. At consolidation, two agents independently made direct full reads of the federal docket via two independent PACER-sourced trackers (CourtListener docket 73542292; PacerMonitor case 65408971) — resolving the earlier "no live docket-sheet read" flag. Entry #21 reads: "ORDER GRANTING 11 JOINT MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION - granting 11 Motion for TRO and Entry of Preliminary Injunction. See Order for details. Signed by Judge David Barlow on 7/6/26" (entered 07/07/2026) — the docket itself styles the grant a preliminary injunction, so the "PI" label no longer rests on Dexerto alone (SLTrib's "order"-only phrasing stands as that newsroom's word choice, not a conflict with the record). BAM's own Jul 10 statement likewise "appreciate[s] the federal court's issuance of a Preliminary Injunction" (a party's characterization — see the Jul 10 row). The same read directly confirms the answer-deadline extension "to and through August 3, 2026" (entry #20, Magistrate Romero) and the Romero→Barlow reassignment (entries #16/#17). ⚠ The order's own PDF was not read — this is docket-entry-level verification; the stay-away yards-vs-meters conflict between outlets remains unresolved.
Dexerto (story 3383948); Salt Lake Tribune (Jul 10, 2026, Jordan Miller — "'Reckless Ben' can keep posting… but he faces new restrictions" / "…lands in court"); KSL.com (art. 51595241); CourtListener (docket 73542292 — No. 2:26-cv-00593, D. Utah; order "signed by Judge David Barlow 7/6/26, entered 07/07/2026"); PacerMonitor (case 65408971)
Jul 6, 2026Reported
Provo criminal-case pretrial held; next hearing Sept. 15, 2026. At the Provo Justice Court case's pretrial (disorderly conduct, class C; criminal trespass, class B; over the Dec 10, 2025 corporate-office visit — continued from Jun 8 → Jul 6, see the ⚠ Jun 8 row), Schneider told the judge he would comply with the requirement to be fingerprinted, and his next hearing was scheduled for Sept. 15, 2026. This mainstream-sources the Provo Jul 6 pretrial, which the archive previously carried only from a community-mirror docket snippet. ⚠ Single mainstream outlet/network (KSL); cross-check Utah XChange. Distinct from the same-day Jul 6 federal civil preliminary-injunction order (see that row).
KSL.com (art. 51595241, ~Jul 7–8, 2026)
~Jul 7–8, 2026 (reported)Reported
"Part 3" surfaces — Schneider releases the third installment to Patreon patrons. Following the Jul 6 federal preliminary injunction that lifted the speech bar (see that row), a new post titled "They Tried to Throw Me in Jail Before This Documentary Came Out (Episode 3)" appears on Reckless Ben's own Patreon (post 163172902, reported ~8–9 hours old as of Jul 8) — the first release signal for the long-withheld "Part 3" Schneider said (in his Jun 9 "bad news" video) he could not post "or I will go to jail." A wave of community reaction and reupload videos on YouTube ("…Part 3 Is Out… And It's Devastating" EdUd1vIbF50; "@RecklessBen Releases Part 3 Lego Video On Patreon…" GFdBxKFW1vM; "…PART 3 REUPLOAD" RQLJv5SUJyA, vWfUkWyWUKY) and TikTok ("…Patreon Part 3 Live") — plus an X/Twitter share — corroborate that the video went out to patrons. ⚠ Patron-only, community-signal only. ⚠ Update (Jul 7–8): a mainstream outlet now corroborates the release — KSL.com (art. 51595241, "Lego saga updates: Reckless Ben posts new video as federal court lifts ban," ~Jul 7–8) reports that after the Jul 6 injunction Schneider "posted the next update to paid subscribers on Tuesday" (~Jul 7) and that the video "at least for now is only available to Patreon subscribers" — mainstream confirmation that a paid update went out, but still patron-only (no confirmed public YouTube upload, the article's headline phrase "posts new video" notwithstanding). Earlier same-day coverage had stopped at Schneider being "free to" / "could finally" upload (Dexerto/Express Tribune/KSL, Jul 6). The Patreon post is paywalled and was not readable directly; the earlier "Episode 3:" / "Part 3 update" posts (159628969 / 159961156) predate the Jul 6 order as withheld placeholders and are not proof of release — the new-release anchor is post 163172902. The circulating YouTube items are unauthorized reuploads of patron content (one flagged as "less than complete"), so their contents are not a reliable record — this archive does not host or catalog the paywalled video's substance, only the neutral fact that a release was posted. ⚠ Update (Jul 8, 2026): Part 3 has now also been uploaded publicly to YouTube (video auf_-bVs2WA, ~1.0M views within ~a day) — resolving the prior "public upload not yet established" flag; see the new ~Jul 8, 2026 row below. ⚠ Separately, Schneider's Jul 1 criminal hearing outcome (see the ⚠ Jun 8 row) is now reported (continued to Aug. 12, 2026) — see the new Jul 1, 2026 row below.
Reckless Ben Patreon (post 163172902 — "They Tried to Throw Me in Jail… (Episode 3)", ~Jul 8, 2026); KSL.com (art. 51595241, ~Jul 7–8 — "posted the next update to paid subscribers on Tuesday … only available to Patreon subscribers"); community reaction/reuploads (YouTube EdUd1vIbF50, GFdBxKFW1vM, RQLJv5SUJyA, vWfUkWyWUKY; TikTok "…Patreon Part 3 Live")
Jul 7, 2026 (federal order; signed 7/7/26)Confirmed
The federal court questions its own jurisdiction — defendants must prove diversity by Jul 21 or the case is remanded to state court. One day after entering the stipulated preliminary injunction (see the Jul 6 federal row), U.S. District Judge David Barlow issued a memorandum decision and order in the removed federal case (BAM Franchising Inc v. Schneider, No. 2:26-cv-00593, D. Utah) finding that the defendants' Jun 26 Notice of Removal did not state the citizenship of each member of defendant Reckless Ben LLC — the fact that determines an LLC's citizenship for diversity-jurisdiction purposes (28 U.S.C. § 1332). The order directs the defendants to "show the citizenship of each of the members of Defendant Reckless Ben LLC to show diversity" on or before Jul 21, 2026; "otherwise, this case will be remanded for lack of jurisdiction." This is the first sign the federal court is testing the removal sua sponte — distinct from a plaintiffs' motion to remand — and it puts the case's continued presence in federal court (and thus which forum hears the stipulated-injunction/mediation posture) in genuine doubt pending the Jul 21 showing. It also updates the Jul 8–9 row's note that "no order followed the Jul 6 injunction / no remand surfaced": an order did follow, and remand is now expressly on the table (though not ordered). ⚠ Docket-tracker + single-outlet, snippet-level. The order's date/signer/deadline/remand-threat and the "each member" citizenship language were read from CourtListener/Justia docket-format snippets (docket 73542292 / Justia 165286) — the tracker pages 403'd this pass, so no live docket-sheet read. Independent mainstream corroboration that the court is questioning jurisdiction comes from KSL (art. 51595241), which reports Barlow "signed a preliminary injunction but has not yet decided whether the case should be in the federal courts and asked for information about where employees of Schneider's company, Reckless Ben, live" — ⚠ note KSL's looser "employees" vs. the order's legally correct "members" (an LLC's citizenship follows its members, not its employees); attribute each term to its source. No response to the order, and no remand ruling, had surfaced as of this pass. Cross-check the PACER docket sheet (D. Utah).
CourtListener (docket 73542292 — "memorandum decision and order signed by Judge David Barlow on 7/7/26"; "on or before July 21, 2026, Defendants shall show the citizenship of each of the members of Defendant Reckless Ben LLC to show diversity … Otherwise, this case will be remanded for lack of jurisdiction"); Justia (2:2026cv00593, D. Utah, 165286); PacerMonitor (case 65408971); KSL.com (art. 51595241)
~Jul 8, 2026 (public YouTube release)Confirmed
"Part 3" is uploaded publicly to YouTube. Schneider posts the third installment to his own official channel (@RecklessBen, UC_UE7maDDe8OqqC8-TtXaKg; availability "public") as "Bricks and Minifigs Tried to Get Me Arrested to Stop This Video" (video auf_-bVs2WA, ~47 min) — the public counterpart to the patron-only Patreon release (see the ~Jul 7–8 row), and the first public airing of the long-withheld "Part 3" that the Jul 6 federal preliminary injunction freed (see that row). It drew ~1.0M views / ~154K likes within ~a day (channel ~1.53M subscribers). The video is Schneider's dramatized recounting of the two criminal cases (American Fork + Provo), the May 28 TRO/gag, and its lifting; it closes by promoting satirical merch and teasing a Patreon "Part 4." ⚠ A partisan primary source for his own narrative, not for the underlying facts. It frames the Provo case as a "second-degree felony" ("aggravated commercial obstruction," up to 15 years) — ⚠ conflicting with the mainstream (KSL) record, which lists the Provo charges as two misdemeanors (disorderly conduct, class C + criminal trespass, class B; see the Apr 7 / Jul 6 rows); treat the felony framing as his dramatization, not the filed charge. He also alleges BAM subpoenaed Google for records tied to his email (his uncorroborated ALLEGATION). ⚠ Date: yt-dlp's upload_date (UTC) reads 2026-07-09; the embedded publish timestamp (1783555571) is 2026-07-09 00:06 UTC = Jul 8 ~17:06 US-Pacific — i.e. uploaded late Jul 8 US-time, just past midnight UTC. Labeled ~Jul 8 here (US-local; Jul 9 UTC). ⚠ Public release verified by direct observation of the live public video + its metadata (independently re-pulled by a second agent: 1.07M views, availability "public"); mainstream secondary coverage of the public upload itself was still lagging this pass (Dexerto's Jul 7 story covered only Ben being "free to post"; KSL noted the paid/Patreon post; a WebSearch result put Part 3 "reposted on YouTube ~1 day ago"). ⚠ Update (Jul 9): mainstream secondary coverage of the public upload has since arrived (Dexerto story 3384634; UNILAD Tech Jul 9; The Express Tribune 2617367) — see the new ~Jul 8–9 row below.
Reckless Ben — "Bricks and Minifigs Tried to Get Me Arrested to Stop This Video" (YouTube auf_-bVs2WA, official @RecklessBen channel UC_UE7maDDe8OqqC8-TtXaKg, public); cf. Dexerto (story 3383948, Jul 7 — "free to post"); KSL.com (arts. 51595241, 51509919 — Provo charges are two misdemeanors)
~Jul 8–9, 2026 (reported Jul 9)Confirmed
Mainstream outlets cover the public "Part 3" release, and Schneider gives his first interviews since the speech bar lifted. After the Jul 6 federal preliminary injunction and the ~Jul 8 public YouTube upload (see those rows), mainstream secondary coverage of the public release arrived — resolving the "coverage lagging" note on the ~Jul 8 row: Dexerto ("Reckless Ben releases Bricks & Minifigs Part 3 after court delay," story 3384634), UNILAD Tech (Jul 9 — "…could face 15-year felony charge in explosive final Lego documentary"), and The Express Tribune (story 2617367). They report the video (which they describe as "nearly hour-long"; the ~47-min runtime elsewhere in this archive is our own metadata read, see the ~Jul 8 row) uses official courtroom audio to recreate hearings (cameras were not allowed in court) and includes a recorded phone call with a person who identifies himself as prosecutor Nick Miel, who — per the video — says he had not personally viewed footage submitted as evidence. ⚠ These are the contents of Schneider's edited documentary — a partisan primary source for his own narrative, not an independent finding. ⚠ On the video's "second-degree felony / up to 15 years" framing: per UNILAD Tech this refers to "aggravated commercial obstruction" (Utah Code § 76-9-114), which law enforcement reportedly "highlighted" / discussed as a possible added charge but which has not been filed — the actual filed charges remain misdemeanors per KSL (see the Jul 8 / Apr 7 / Jul 6 rows); treat the felony as dramatized stakes floated in police discussion, not a pending charge. Separately, in his first mainstream interviews since the gag order lifted, Schneider appeared on NewsNation's Jesse Weber Live ("YouTuber 'Reckless Ben' speaks out, faces $10M demand"; also on YouTube AsgK8y1rcik) — where, wearing a suit printed with BAM CEO Ammon McNeff's face, he said "I'm just happy to have my freedom of speech back" — and gave a separate ABC4 digital-exclusive interview explaining why he got involved (framing it as "the little guy versus the giant corporation"). ⚠ The "freedom of speech" quote and the McNeff-face suit are anchored to the NewsNation appearance; the ABC4 exclusive is confirmed but carries its own distinct on-record remarks. ⚠ He relayed his attorneys' characterization that damages "could easily get over $10 million per person" across "16 defendants," and that he had "hired five attorneys in the last two weeks." These damages / defendant-count / attorney figures are Schneider's and his lawyers' characterizations — single-origin, unadjudicated, and not docket-verified (the removed federal case names four named defendants — Schneider / Reckless Ben LLC, Mansell, Nguyen — plus Does 1–15). (The ~$1.3M figure repeated in some coverage is the separate amount Mansell is reported to be sued for — see the Jun 10 Coffeezilla row — not a fresh figure pinned to this interview.) In the NewsNation segment he also repeated his claim that the AFPD body-cam footage was "hacker-leaked" (⚠ his characterization; provenance is contested — see media/community-sources.md). ⚠ No new court ruling, settlement, or remand surfaced this pass — mediation remains pending and no order followed the Jul 6 injunction. ⚠ All read at WebSearch-snippet level (outlet pages 403'd this pass).
Dexerto (story 3384634); UNILAD Tech (Jul 9 — …felony-charge-final-lego-documentary-191815-20260709); The Express Tribune (story 2617367); NewsNation Jesse Weber Live (newsnationnow.com/jesse-weber-live/reckless-ben-bricks-and-minifigs-missing-legos/; YouTube AsgK8y1rcik); NewsNation (…/jesse-weber-live/reckless-ben-lego-american-fork-police/); ABC4 (digital exclusive — abc4.com/news/digital-exclusives/youtuber-reckless-ben-lego-dispute-interview/)
~Jul 10, 2026 (reported)Reported
Schneider signs with talent agency CAA. YouTuber Ben Schneider ("Reckless Ben") signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation, per a Hollywood Reporter exclusive ("YouTuber Ben Schneider Signs With CAA (Exclusive)"). In a statement, CAA calls him "a pioneer in independent investigative filmmaking" and "a documentary creator and digital media personality whose fearless approach to storytelling has made him one of the most talked about creators on the internet," and says his Bricks & Minifigs investigation series has generated "28 million views and counting." This is a career/business development tied to the controversy's virality — not a legal development in the case (no bearing on the civil suit, the criminal cases, or the collection dispute). ⚠ Single original outlet: THR's exclusive rests on CAA's own PR statement; Yahoo carries the identical THR piece (same "(Exclusive)" headline — a syndication) and Primetimer rewrites it — so despite three URLs this is not multiple-independent-outlet corroboration. ⚠ The ~Jul 10 date is the article's apparent publication date (THR indexed "~1 day ago" as of Jul 11), not a stated signing date; all read at WebSearch-snippet level (THR/Yahoo/Primetimer 403'd direct fetch this pass).
The Hollywood Reporter (exclusive — "YouTuber Ben Schneider Signs With CAA"); Yahoo (THR syndication); Primetimer (rewrite)
Jul 10, 2026Confirmed
BAM publishes "An Update on Brand Improvements and Pending Litigation" — its first public statement after "Part 3" went public. On its own site (posted "by marketingteam," Jul 10, 2026, ~21:20 UTC; ⚠ the URL slug reads "an-update-to-our-customers-and-community," differing from the on-page title), Bricks & Minifigs announces seven operational changes — field coaches for franchisees; stricter franchisee qualification (dated by BAM to 2023); a newly required standardized inventory/trade system; a mentorship program; a standardized franchisee offboarding process with third-party inventory evaluations "where possible"; board expansion including a franchisee voice; and a communication commitment — and apologizes for "the concern, confusion, and loss of confidence this situation has caused." On the litigation, BAM says it will not drop the suit: "The answer is that accountability and integrity must run both ways. We remain open to a mediated, amicable resolution, and we don't view litigation as the preferred path. We're also not willing to submit to manipulation, threats and unsupported accusations." It adds "[w]e will not try this matter on social media," describes conduct it believes has "crossed the line from fair criticism into harassment, misrepresentation, and targeted harm" (⚠ BAM's own unadjudicated characterization — one side's contention, the mirror image of Schneider's own allegations), and "appreciate[s] the federal court's issuance of a Preliminary Injunction" — the party's own "PI" label for the Jul 6 federal order (see that row). Independently noted by Techdirt (Jul 13), which criticizes the post as "tone deaf" (see media/news-articles.md). Surfaced during consolidation verification of the Techdirt item and verified by direct full reads of BAM's page by two agents (Jul 15) — the quotes above are verbatim from the page.
BAM blog (bricksandminifigs.com — "An Update on Brand Improvements and Pending Litigation," Jul 10, 2026); Techdirt (Jul 13, 2026)