Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe sues the FBI after agency denied him his Second Amendment right

You’ve probably heard of James O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, the undercover journalism group that exposes the Left like no one else. 

What you likely don’t know is that he’s a convicted felon who’s not allowed under federal law to legally purchase a firearm.

Except that he’s not a convicted felon and he therefore should be able to buy any gun he can legally own.

But for some reason, the FBI says otherwise — and now O’Keefe wants to know why.

Last week, the investigative journalist tried to buy a shotgun on multiple occasions from different gun shops near where he lives. But in each case, he was denied; his FBI background check came back showing that he is unqualified to buy a gun because of an alleged felony record.

Now, O’Keefe does have a criminal record. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor but that is not a disqualifying reason for a gun purchase.

So now, he’s filed a lawsuit against the FBI to get himself removed from the bureau’s list of people who are not able to purchase a firearm.

According to the Project Veritas site: 

When asked why the FBI has denied his ability to purchase a firearm, the FBI disclosed O’Keefe is falsely identified as a convicted felon on the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check) list. He has never been convicted of a felony.

“The lawsuit is being filed in the Southern District Court of New York seeking an order requiring the FBI to remove him from this list as required by law under 18 U.S.C. § 925A,” said Jered Ede Esq., who is representing O’Keefe.

“Notably, the FBI has not disclosed what information it is relying on to place him on its watch list,” Ede stated in the complaint that was filed in court last week.

During his efforts to purchase a firearm, one store owner said it’s likely he has a lawsuit over being misidentified. (Related: Project Veritas catches Facebook employees, contractors admitting to political censorship.)

In regards to the situation, his attorney noted further: “This is patently false. Mr. O’Keefe has never been convicted by any court anywhere of any crime punishable by more than a year of imprisonment.

“Simply put, the FBI’s placement of Mr. O’Keefe on the NICS deny list for felons is wholly and unequivocally improper and based on demonstrably false information. Notably, the FBI has not disclosed to Mr. O’Keefe what information it is relying on to place Mr. O’Keefe on its watchlist,” he added, according to Law & Crime.

The site adds: 

In 2010, O’Keefe and three of his associates were arrested for entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony. The group dressed as telephone repairmen to gain access to the offices of then-Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in a New Orleans federal building. 

O’Keefe pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of entering a federal building under false pretenses and was sentenced to three years probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.

The outlet further noted that while false rejections by the FBI are rare, they do happen. According to a 2016 audit performed by the Justice Department’s office of inspector general, of 447 random gun transactions reviewed, there was a single denial in error for an accuracy rate of 99.8. 

O’Keefe said he attempted to buy a gun in New York in July but was told that he could not because he’d been listed as a convicted felon under 18 United States Code 922(g). 

In his suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, the Project Veritas founder alleged that the FBI “has subsequently repeatedly, wrongfully, and without justification denied [him] the ability to purchase a firearm.”

Here’s another problem. O’Keefe is not exactly popular on the deranged Left; as it stands currently, he’s unable to purchase a weapon to defend himself.

Sources include:

LawAndCrime.com

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com