Tony Farmer got out of his seat after Robert Kennedy Jr.'s speech Feb. 18 with the intention of asking the famous environmentalist a question.
Farmer stood in line and waited his turn. He knew Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora, famous donors and important decision makers were in attendance that night and were closely watching those who questioned the guest speaker.
Yet, he pursued. When Farmer stood up to the microphone, the more than 3,600 sets of eyes that were fixated on Kennedy, locked onto the Ball State graduate student.
Farmer, president of the Ball State Truth movement, knew exactly what he was doing. His question was about thimerosal; a potentially dangerous ingredient in some flu vaccines that studies have shown could lead to Alzheimer's disease or autism, that Kennedy was vividly opposed too.
Two weeks prior to the speech, the Truth Movement presented research to the Amelia T. Wood Health Center's Medical Director, Dr. Kent Bullis, about thimersol's possible side effects.
Farmer knew his question would get Kennedy talking, and hopefully that would move the subject to the rest of the administration.
"It was Kennedy who taught me about thimerosal," Farmer said. "That's one of his soap box topics and I knew that."
Kennedy took more than 20 minutes to answer Farmer's question, and all Farmer could do was smile.
If that question changed one person's mind about flu vaccines with thimerosal, Farmer knew it was worth it. If that question helped one person find "the truth," Farmer knew the group might gain another member in its ranks, he said.
What started as one of Farmer's ideas during a long car ride home to Connecticut is now a student-run campus organization that has caught the eye of people across the country and the world.
The group that put 150 combat boots in the David Letterman Communication and Media Building lobby, protested Ball State's flu vaccines and provided a different look at the legacy of Martin Luther King, has been highlighted on outlets like Michael Moore's Web site and international autism talk radio show.
Farmer said the group's first priority, however, is to help Ball State students to "wake up."
"I think we're out of the gates and building confidence and realizing that we can really do this," Farmer said. "At the first meeting we had four or five people, it's grown into something a lot larger than that now."
Waking up
Members of the Truth Movement have one universal subject they can talk about: the issue that woke them up.
Each person's definition of the term varies as much as the individual stories of their wake up moment.
Farmer defines the term as the point when people realize something isn't right and they're not being told the whole truth.
He said his wake up moment happened after reading a book called "Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About" by controversial author Kevin Trudeau.
In the book, Trudeau offers cures to many diseases and illnesses that do not require drugs or surgery. He also accuses major pharmaceutical companies of stifling these remedies for more of a profit.
Farmer said the solutions in the book benefited him, despite Trudeau being accused of fraud after the book was published.
"I lost just under 50 pounds and got rid of some bad acne, just by looking at the ingredients in food," Farmer said.
Vice President John Michael Boger, one of the Truth Movement's founders, said he had his 'wake up' moment in high school after listening to alternative news host Alex Jones. Boger said Jones talks about non-mainstream media news and promotes activism to get people to understand what is really going on in the country.
Boger said 'waking up' was realizing people are enthralled with subjects such as entertainment, football and fashion - things that don't matter - and getting them to pay attention to real issues.
"People need to better understand what is going on in the world to better understand who they are and who controls them," Boger said.
Criminal justice major Erika Brookhart said she never envisioned herself at a truth group before coming to Ball State.
After hearing and seeing evidence claiming a Sept. 11 cover-up, Brookhart, the once-staunch Republican, said she had more questions than answers.
"When somebody 'wakes up', I think it's when you know you are obligated to tell as many people as possible about 'other' information about a topic," Brookhart said. "You also ask yourself, 'why aren't people hearing this?'"
Conspiracy Theorist
A Truth Movement meeting looks like any other gathering at a rectangle wooden table in the upper floors of Bracken Library.
Members talk about sports, politics and news outside the meeting room. But once inside the door, members representing more than ten majors talk about further investigation of September 11, war profiteering and the role big corporations and media play to shape and manipulate people's perceptions of the world.
Farmer said some members within the Truth Movement might qualify as conspiracy theorists, but didn't think the majority of his group would fit properly under that category.
"I really don't like that label of conspiracy theorist," Farmer said. "That label is typically somebody who believes everything they hear or think everyone is out to get them and we don't feel like that. "
Boger said the difference between conspiracy theories and the Truth Movement is the presentation of research and facts.
"People consider us conspiracy theorists," Boger said, "but I don't. I consider us more conspiracy truths. We actually do the research and try to teach people things. We view people as lazy and not wanting look into things past what the media is telling them, so we try to do that for them."
Farmer said a good example was trying to change the thimerosal vaccine at the Health Center, despite the non-thimerosal option being $13 more expensive.
"It probably doesn't make a difference because nine times out of 10 and probably 99 times out of 100 [students are] going to get the cheaper one," Farmer said. "[The Truth Movement] feels that students can't make a true decision about which one to take without knowing both sides of the story and we feel the side of the story [students] are getting is the side of the story that the media and other outlets are giving them."
Farmer said the group has stayed true to its ideals since its creation.
"Before our first meeting we said we aren't going to have any fliers that say things like '9/11 was an inside job,'" Farmer said. "We're going to have fliers that say 'investigate 9/11.' We have to give people the opportunity to see both sides of the situation."
How it grew
The Truth Movement's first major event, the Eyes Wide Open exhibit, gave Farmer one overwhelming memory.
Within the first two hours of the exhibit, Farmer said he remembered watching a woman wade through the more than 150 pairs of boots, shoes, sandals and dog tags.
Farmer said he didn't know the woman or the name of the soldier she was trying to find. When she stopped and stared at a pair of boots, Farmer said a tear rolled down her face.
"She said 'thank you so much for remembering him,'" Farmer said. "Right then and there I got goose bumps all down my body and I thought, this is why I'm doing this. Some people may not agree with this or have their own opinions on it, but what we just did to give that woman that moment, that makes it all worth it."
After that the group grew, Farmer said. More people showed up at every Thursday night meeting. When the Truth Movement decided to take information to Bullis about thimerosal at Ball State, the group's popularity went to the world stage.
"Our e-mail account started getting e-mails from doctors doing autistic research and fathers and mothers of autistic children saying 'keep up the good work,'" Farmer said. "That caught me a little off guard."
Farmer said he received a phone call from a guy in Texas who wanted to talk to him about additional research pertaining to autism and vaccines, when he heard screaming from a 5-year-old child in the background of the conversation.
The Texan said the screaming was his 18-year-old autistic son and told Farmer and his group to keep fighting.
"He was convinced an early vaccine caused his son's autism," Farmer said.
Brookhart has recently learned her 1-year-old nephew might be autistic.
"If I knew everything I knew now, I feel like it could have been prevented or a different vaccine could have been done," Brookhart said. "It just makes me mad."
Boger is one of the founding members of the Truth Movement and admits he never thought the group would get so many members or so much attention.
"I always just thought this group would be a few people handing out fliers at the Scramble Light, but I like what it has become," Boger said.
As vice president, Boger is the likely candidate to take Farmer's position next year after he graduates.
Farmer said the Truth Movement is in strong hands for the years to come.
"I'm really, really comfortable that the Ball State Truth Movement will be here for a long time," Farmer said. "Anybody who thinks the Ball State Truth Movement will leave after I graduate or forget about thimerosal next year is sadly mistaken. We have some very passionate students here who want to create change and they have a taste for it now."
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