Felony Charge over Minneapolis poll antics

Conservative activists O’Keefe, Higby charged over Minneapolis poll antics

The pair were charged with identity theft and unlawful voting over a hidden camera stunt during the Aug. 11 primary.

By Jalen Beckford

A pair of firebrand conservative activists are facing felony identity theft and voting law charges in Minnesota over a stunt they said was intended to expose flaws in the state’s election system.

State prosecutors say James O’Keefe and Cam Higby used real people’s identities to pose as voters and began applying for ballots — but they did not actually cast votes. The pair were charged Wednesday with identity theft and unlawful voting over the hidden-camera ploy filmed during Minnesota’s Aug. 11 primary and later posted to social media.

“It is not against the law to be performative. It is not against the law to be offensive,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a press conference announcing the charges. “The fundamental issue here is you cannot go into a polling place and misidentify yourself, use other people’s identity and say that to our election judges as you apply for a ballot — whether or not you intend to vote.”

Higby railed against the charges as “lawfare,” writing on social media: “They want to scare all independent journalists who may challenge them. This is FASCISM.” He also claimed authorities wanted to take away his right to vote.

O’Keefe, who was removed from Project Veritas in 2023, denied applying for a ballot and accused prosecutors of retaliating against his reporting in a video posted to X. “We stand by our reporting. This is an attempt to criminalize investigative journalism,” he said.

“Our defense is the shield of the First Amendment to hold government accountable to the people. We didn’t apply for a ballot; we were there talking to election clerks, posing hypotheticals, and getting answers so that Americans could know what was happening in the elections,” O’Keefe added.

Their actions targeted Minnesota’s “vouching” system, which allows a registered voter to confirm the address of someone registering to vote in the same precinct by signing an oath. Prosecutors said the men stopped short of signing the required oaths but had already broken the law by using other voters’ identities to start applying for ballots.

The complaints describe visits to four Minneapolis polling places, where the men and others wore disguises, altered their voices and recorded with hidden cameras. In one of the videos O’Keefe later posted, his attire appears to mimic traditional Islamic garb. Higby is accused of using two voters’ identities, and court documents say O’Keefe used two others.

At one stop, Higby gave a voter’s name and address and asked about vouching for a woman accompanying him before pretending to take a phone call and leaving, according to the complaints. At another, an election worker said he asked about identification requirements roughly 10 times.

Moriarty disputed that the operation exposed weaknesses in Minnesota’s elections. Poll workers asked the men to sign the required oaths, and in one of the incidents mentioned in the charging documents prosecutors said the staff asked Higby for ID. Workers also documented the encounters, which she said would have allowed prosecutors to bring the cases even without the men’s videos.

O’Keefe has built his career on hidden-camera stings targeting liberal groups and media organizations, dating to before he founded Project Veritas in 2010. He first gained national attention in 2009 with undercover videos targeting ACORN, the community organizing group.

This isn’t the first time O’Keefe’s undercover tactics have landed him in legal trouble. In August, a federal appeals court tossed a $130,000 judgment against him and Project Veritas over a sting targeting Democratic consulting firm Democracy Partners. The court said the award improperly combined the consequences of lawful reporting with unlawful conduct during the operation.

O’Keefe’s home was also raided in 2021 over a federal investigation into the alleged theft of a diary belonging to former President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.

Neither O’Keefe nor Higby are in custody, and both were charged by summons. Each count carries up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, though Moriarty said she expected probation under Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines, with local jail time possible.