It reminded me of Vanity Fair's Contributing Editor Alex Shoumatoff's ill-fated attempt to "infiltrate" the Grove in 2008 - he got arrested. I've still got his mug shot here!
The Meltzer / The History Channel TV segment was embarrassingly bad and devoid of any real information about the club, except to repeat old and false statements about rituals and sacrifices that are alleged by both left and right wing extremists like Alex Jones.
Without breaking the gentlemanly code of silence at The Bohemian Club, I have been there, I'm a friend, and I'm obviously black (in case you're keeping score) and I can tell you the club is about friendship, jazz, theater, the arts, poetry and current events.
The only "sacrifices" that go on are the state of one’s liver and wasteline from the drink and food that are copiously consumed. (Seriously. It's one reason I've cut back on drinking!)
I contacted The Club after seeing The History Channel story and asked if they provided any information about the history of the organization, the annual ‘Cremation of Care” ceremony at the Grove, to Brad Meltzer or The History Channel. The Club said they declined to be interviewed on camera, but gave The History Channel a backgrounder that explains the Club, its ceremonies and its history.
It’s too bad The History Channel and Brad Meltzer didn’t read the materials they were given or looked online at The Monte Rio Show, the annual fundraiser the Bohemian Club puts on the Monte Rio community in which The Grove is located.
That website explains the Club’s background. And if The History Channel and its Decoded crew (which decoded nothing) had read that perhaps they would not have been arrested for trespassing at heavily guarded Grove during their filming of the show.
A little research goes a long way.