A house linked to a pastor presented in the Netflix Docuseries “Dancing for the Devil: The 7m Tiktok Cult” Federal agents were attacked on Friday on an investigation into sexual traffic, money laundering and other accusations, authorities on Friday.
The property files show that the house in the 7700 block of McGroarty Street in Tujunga is linked to several owners, including Robert Shinn, pastor of the Shekinah church and the subject of documentation in 2024. He operates a talent agency that allegedly helps the social media stars and Tiktok dancers to find jobs in Los Angeles.
For the file:
6:03 p.m. July 25, 2025A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the pastor of the Shekinah church. His first name is Robert.
Those presented in docuseries call Shinn an abusive cult leader. They say that he has moved them away from their family by telling them that to be saved, they had to “die” to their loved ones who did not follow his teachings. He would have told them that if they were sufficiently “pious”, they would also save their family of damnation.
Early Friday morning, the McGroarty Street property in Tujunga associated with “cult Tiktok” was attacked by federal officers. The police would have struck the two doors of the property above.
(Katerina Portela / Los Angeles Times)
Friday, agents of the American postal service, the internal income service and the American labor department served a mandate at home around 6 am, according to the police department of El Monte, which provided assistance with the FBI.
The search was linked to the allegations of sexual traffic, money laundering, tax evasion and fraud at the pandemic pandemic. Swat officers were on the scene to help, according to the El Monte police department.
Postal Inspector Patricia Mendoza said in a prepared statement that managers will provide more details as the investigation progressed.
“The American postal inspection service is working in close collaboration with our local, state and federal partners to apply the law on this current survey. This remains an active case, and we continue to collect and examine the information,” said Mendoza.
Sources of application of the law familiar with the investigation indicate that the federal mandate is linked to the alleged worship presented in the Docuseries of Netflix, but the details of the investigation remain under Seal before the Federal Court.
Images of news from KTLA showed several people handcuffed outside the residence, but sources familiar with the investigation say that there has not yet been an arrest.
Friday afternoon, the Tujunga house fell from spectators, curious neighbors and new vehicles. The closed entrance of the house was visibly twisted and distorted, having been struck by federal agents early that morning, according to neighbors.
“I was preparing for work when I heard the flash-bangs trigger,” said a neighbor, Jake Hartmann. “Then a strong speaker …” You have to get out, hand. “All the neighbors went out to find the FBI, the Sheriff department and the police taking the whole region.”
An open door is apparently unusual for the house. Several neighbors said that in the past few years that the alleged cult lived on the property, it was constantly blocked. The owner would have built higher walls and cultivated trees to further block the view of the house.
“When they moved, it was weird,” said neighbor Marge Wagner. “They were very secret, then they sent a leaflet of what they wanted to do. They said they wanted to do all these things for our community. Like let the scout troops meet at home, make prayer meetings at night, let people swim in the pool. It was so weird. ”
McGroarty Street resident Jake Hartmann said shortly after the owner of the property, Robert Israel Shinn, moved to his street, he received this leaflet, presented on Friday. Hartmann said that another neighbor circulated leaflets to warn the street of alleged crimes occurring next to it.
(Katerina Portela / Los Angeles Times)
The property is large, wrapped in a street corner and doubled with a thick wall of trees. Wagner remembers that the owner with initial offers for a community space and giving mixed messages on the objective of ownership, a decision that has confused several in the community.
“The owner said rather in local meetings that they would hold a prayer for men every Tuesday,” said Wagner. “For him, saying that it was a church and that you only have one event per week for men … I thought it was not good. Nothing looked good. ”
Anthony Jackson, who has lived next to years, interacted with residents of the property several times. Jackson described the neighborhood as silent, with most older residents, and says he has never seen red flags.
“”[Shinn’s] The woman is very kind. I have never seen anything from the ordinary, heard anything ordinary, “said Jackson.” So when I saw the accusations to the news, I couldn’t even believe it. I mean, I still don’t believe it.
Others, like Wagner, said they had found the presentation of the suspicious property residents.
“My daughter said,” Mom, did you hear about it … Documentary? Mom, you have to come and watch this “, said Wagner. “I didn’t feel surprised. They have ostracized people around. “
A man who refused to be named came out of the property as the journalist approaches.
“It’s just a misunderstanding,” he said, shaking his head at the damaged door. “A misunderstanding that led to destroyed property.”
In response to an interview request, the man replied: “I don’t want to be taken in all of this. I just live here. They will soon see that it was just a misunderstanding. ”
It was not immediately clear if Shinn had a legal representation.
The documentation follows former members of the Shekinah church who worked with the 7m Talent Agency films, which was founded by Shinn in 2021.
The series reveals that the dancers who were represented by the talent agency began as social media collaborators who frequently published dance videos together on Tiktok, but this group found itself attending a biblical study with Shinn. These dancers invited friends to join what has finally become the central group of the alleged cult. Shinn would have called himself “the man of God” and said that his teachings would give his disciples salvation.
The staff of Times Brittny Mejia and Kimberly Aguirre have contributed to this report.
