Conservative blogger Nadia Naffe accused O’Keefe of sending her harassing messages after she backed out of an upcoming hidden camera sting on the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in New York City. Judge Alan Karch dismissed the criminal complaint against O’Keefe because there was insufficient evidence showing the harassment originated in Westwood, where O’Keefe lives with his parents.
“Ultimately, he couldn’t prove that all of it stemmed or originated from his jurisdiction,” Harris explained. “So therefore the charges wouldn’t stick in his court.”
But the judge informed her that she could pursue a civil complaint.
It really sounds like the judge believes there is a case here, but his hands are tied. What’s interesting is that O’Keefe is still on federal parole, so if charges do end up sticking against him he could be found to have violated that.
Some other details Naffe had provided in court really makes it look like O’Keefe was up to something slimy. From North Jersey:
Naffe, represented by lawyer John Weichsel in her Nov. 21 complaint, told Karch O’Keefe picked her up from the train station in Newark on Oct. 2. The two drove to O’Keefe’s home, where he lives with his parents, picking up alcohol along the way.
While at his house, Naffe said, she became involved in a dispute with O’Keefe and told him she no longer wanted to be involved in the film and wanted to be dropped off at the nearest train station.
She told the court O’Keefe initially refused to bring her to a train station and insisted she stay overnight in a barn at his parent’s property. Naffe said she threatened to call the police.
She testified that at one point in the evening, “I found it hard to move and control my muscles.”
“It was his intent to persuade me to spend the night in the barn,” Naffe said.
Naffe said O’Keefe and a friend eventually drove her to Pennsylvania Station in New York. She said O’Keefe and his friend had to support her into the car and she passed out during the ride, awakening at the train station.
She said she took a train to Boston, where she later found luggage items had been stolen, including underpants and a wireless mouse.
The file they are referencing was one to “expose” Occupy Wall Street. The article then goes on to give us even more disturbing details:
Naffe said not long after, she declined a money offer from O’Keefe. She said she didn’t know why O’Keefe offered her the money, but that a pattern of harassment began days later.
Naffe said she got harassing messages from O’Keefe for weeks and other messages were relayed to her through mutual friends.
She said that on Nov. 17, O’Keefe posted a video about her on his website, calling her “filthy” and “dirty;” the video has since been removed, Naffe said.
“He made me out to be a tramp,” she testified. “He used other people to torment me.”
Money? Was O’Keefe trying to live up to his pimp persona? And then to go into an online smear campaign against the girl….well that is so wingnut of him!
The big problem for O’Keefe, and by extension his mentor Andrew Breitbart, is that this wasn’t charges levied by some left winger, possibly for political gain. Instead this is one of their own – a person who it appears looked up to O’Keefe. No liberal media smear here or anything, just a serious problem emerging between two in the right.
But any case of sexual harassment should be taken seriously. If what is alleged did happen and O’Keefe got off on some technicality, then you can bet he will do it again. Hopefully Naffe does proceed civilly and if the charges are true, nail this guy. There’s no room for this kind of behavior and whoever is guilty needs to be reminded that we are a nation of laws.