News/Commentary

James O’Keefe violently attacked on Skid Row while exposing ballot fraud in LA

March 21, 2026 | | Print Article

Days after casting light on a California NGO’s alleged ballot fraud, efforts by James O’Keefe and his team to confront petitioners found them “violently assaulted.”

Earlier this week, the journalist known for his undercover operations embarked on another sting dressed to blend in with Los Angeles’ homeless population. Days after capturing at least 28 instances of cash being offered after local indigents signed election materials, a follow-up exchange devolved with pepper spray, crew members being “punched in the neck and face,” and some forced to flee.

Joined by Cam Higby, O’Keefe posted the roughly seven-minute video where, moments after approaching the table where a petition was obscured from view, the pursuit to question one of the individuals alleged to be involved in committing state and federal felonies found the team assaulted.

“My team, myself & @camhigby were just violently assaulted on Skid Row, my camera crew were punched in the neck and face, we were pepper sprayed, but thankfully just escaped. Some members of our team had to run 10 blocks to get out,” O’Keefe captioned the video as he made mention of the Turning Point USA contributor Savannah Hernandez’s part in exposing the operation. “We were in the heart of Skid Row confronting the petitioners who @Savsays and my team caught on tape illegally offering drugs for ballot signatures. Please share this video to understand what we’re up against.”

Frontlines TPUSA had stated that Hernandez was the fourth “journalist in the latest string of independent journalists catching this organized criminal activity on the streets of Skid Row,” and that the Los Angeles County District Attorney had “charged nine individuals with felony election crimes for running the exact same operation” in 2018.

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It was explained that the harrowing moments, that had included a camera being slammed to the ground while one of the crew members was struck in the background, had occurred in the wake of calling out the nearby Weingart Center, “which received hundreds of millions in public funding, ” and was said to have been documented “directing people to where the fraudulent petitioners are located, and directing homeless individuals to petitioners & coaching plausible deniability,” all while “cash, cigarettes, and marijuana” were allegedly offered for signatures.

By the end of the video, and again on social media, Higby clarified that he was the one who had used the pepper spray against the men who had pursued them as they sought to question an individual from the petition table.

O’Keefe went on to detail, “We met with the police and we did [press charges]. In fact an LA police [officer] said he was a fan of mine and he said he saw the video about the ballots.”

The report comes amid ongoing Democrat opposition to the SAVE America Act, which, in part, would implement voter ID laws for federal elections. It also comes as investigations into fraud throughout the once-Golden State have stirred up evidence of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Medicare hospice fraud and more, dwarfing the fraud thus far exposed in Minnesota by comparison.

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In addition to gratitude for the efforts at exposing fraud, reactions to the video pleaded with the journalists to take all necessary safety precautions, expecting state and local officials to do little on that front.

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Kevin Haggerty
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