An "urban explorer" has shared clips on TikTok from when he infiltrated Jeffrey Epstein's abandoned island in August 2020.
Andy Bracco originally shared clips from his trip to the island with a friend to TikTok last year, but he claims his account was later removed by the app. In April, Bracco reposted a clip of the exploration to his new TikTok account.
After a viewer commented, dubbing the clip "bs," Bracco responded with further footage on May 23, gaining over 200,000 views in two days. The clip shows Bracco at Epstein's island, with the infamous blue and white striped building visible.
The building previously featured a gold dome above it, and sparked various online theories about its purpose, along with rumours of secret underground tunnels. According to permit records obtained by NBC, the building was intended to be a music pavilion.
The "urban explorer" also referred viewers to his YouTube channel, which has vlogs from the trip available to watch. At the end of "part 2," viewers noticed an image of tunnels flash onto the screen without a description.
Bracco claimed to Newsweek that the image was unrelated to the island, but that, "If I was to have entered the unlocked temple, that I clearly came into close contact with, I would never self incriminate by showing my audience how I got in. Getting in would then subsequently have allowed me to access the tunnels. Between my two visits to the island I did peer into the temple from the outside and noticed the staircase descending downwards."
Bracco ventured to the private island in August 2020, after flying from JFK airport in New York to the U.S. Virgin Islands, but didn't divulge exactly how he got onto the island. Reportedly, some of the island had working electricity, along with a clean pool and manicured palm trees. The tennis court had allegedly been recently demolished.
The YouTube video is edited alongside clips of Epstein, including his deposition tape. The pair are shown in the vlog arriving at the island at 6:30 a.m., but left after almost being caught. They returned "12 hours later," according to the video.
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Little St. James was the 70-acre private island owned by Epstein, and it was raided in 2019 by the FBI while building a case against him. According to many accusers, the island played home to an abundance of his alleged crimes.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking, after being accused of trafficking minors. The millionaire ran with a high-profile circle, many of whom became the centre of the popular Netflix series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, which explored the allegations against Epstein and the island.
In August 2019, he died while in a New York City jail, and his death was ruled as a suicide. Epstein's former girlfriend, and alleged "madam," Ghislaine Maxwell, is currently awaiting trial.
The island, located in the tax haven Virgin Islands, was purchased by Epstein in 1998, and only approachable by private plane or boats.
"Security most definitely existed on the island during both of my visits. The months of effort that went into planning for just a few hours of exploring are so disproportionate. I took in account so many things, asked as many resources available as I felt we needed to know while still attempting to remain surreptitious. On both of my visits we remained completely undetected due to following our very careful planning and other convert entry procedures. We stayed away from the main dock, the main house, and the infrared cameras," Bracco alleged to Newsweek.
Bracco also advised against anyone following in his footsteps to visit the island, claiming that they will likely have upped security after his trip went viral. "I have had multiple 'copycat' explorers contact me telling me they attempted to gain entry to the island recently. All have been stopped by either coast guard, armed private security on boats, or the 2 that made it to the island both told me an automated PA system yelled at the saying coast guard has been contacted and to turn back immediately.," he said.
The "urban explorer," has claimed in comments online that the videos have been shadowbanned by YouTube, after viewers questioned why the clips had not gone viral.
Newsweek has contacted YouTube for comment.
05/26/21 02:15 a.m. ET: This story was updates to include comments from Andy Bracco.
