O'Keefe, Higby Charged in Minnesota Election Stunt

Two men face up to five years in prison and fines of $10,000 each for alleged election offenses in Minneapolis.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the charges on Wednesday. James O'Keefe and Cam Higby each face one count of unlawful voting and one count of identity theft. Neither man is currently in custody, according to the charging documents.

The charges stem from an undercover video the pair posted in August. The clip, titled "I Wore Burqa To EXPOSE Election FRAUD In Minneapolis," remains pinned to Higby's X account. In the video, the two men wear burqas and use fake accents to approach election judges at several voting precincts in Minneapolis. They allegedly misrepresented their identities to test how judges verify the identities of voters who use resident witnesses.

Prosecutors stated that O'Keefe and Higby deceived election judges by using the identities of real Minnesota voters without the voters' knowledge or permission. This conduct violated state law. No ballots were actually cast during the interaction.

O'Keefe, who describes himself as a guerrilla journalist, called the charges "weaponized lawfare" in a statement. He described the video as constitutional journalism and vowed to fight the case. "This is not political," O'Keefe said. "It is fundamental. It is about whether citizens still have the right to question their government."

Higby, a social media influencer, posted a response on X. "No laws were broken," he wrote. "They want me in PRISON for exposing election vulnerabilities in their state."

Steve Simon, the state's top election official, said in a statement that attempts to disrupt or deceive election workers will not be tolerated. Moriarty added that protecting elections is a top priority and that individuals engaging in unlawful conduct will be held accountable. This is not O'Keefe's first legal issue; he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in Louisiana in 2010 for entering federal property under false pretenses.