Anti-ACORN Filmmaker’s Hijinks Lead to Arrest

Posted on Jan 27, 2010

AP/Patrick Semansky

James O’Keefe, left, and Stan Dai, one of three people arrested with him, leave the St. Bernard Parish jail in Chalmette, La., on Tuesday.

Budding filmmaker and right-wing sting operator James O’Keefe was among a group of four people arrested in New Orleans on Monday for entering the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu under false pretenses. The 25-year-old O’Keefe had previously been heralded by GOP types for shooting footage of ACORN employees allegedly involving themselves in the cover-up of a (fabricated) prostitution business.  —KA

The Washington Post:

The 25-year-old O’Keefe, hailed as a conservative hero last fall for his undercover videos that damaged a liberal group, was among four arrested and charged Monday in New Orleans with entering a federal office on false pretenses. Documents outlining the charges were unsealed by prosecutors Tuesday.

Conservative supporters of O’Keefe claim he and two others entered Landrieu’s office in an effort to conduct another undercover video sting—to show on video that citizens trying to call the senator’s phones to complain could not get through. Two of O’Keefe’s partners, prosecutors allege, pretended they were telephone repair workers to get access to the office receptionist’s phone, while O’Keefe was inside the office and using a cellphone to record them trying to call the line.

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