On Saturday, September 21st, Vermont State Trooper Daniel Bohnyak held O'Keefe for asking for comment on Border Patrol Agent Zachary Apotheker's whistleblower case. Apotheker details in the film "Line in the Sand" how underage girls are being sent to unknown locations without proper biometrics and MS-13 gang members are receiving free healthcare. O'Keefe visited the homes of three Border Patrol supervisors—Michael Shick, Richard Fortunato, and Robert Garcia—seeking comment on the circumstances behind the cease-and-desist letter sent to Apotheker, who exposed misconduct at the northern Vermont-Canada border.
At Shick’s home, O'Keefe asked, “Are you Michael Shick?” Shick, visibly uncomfortable, responded, “No, I’m not.” As O'Keefe pressed further, showing Shick’s photograph to confirm his identity, Shick got on an ATV parked nearby and hurriedly drove away, avoiding further accountability.
At Richard Fortunato's residence, O'Keefe and his crew were met by Fortunato’s wife, who opened the door and immediately ordered, “You need to leave!” As O'Keefe attempted to explain that he was there to speak to her husband, she became more hostile, threatening, “I’m going to call the police!”
When O'Keefe arrived in Garcia's neighborhood, the Vermont State Police were waiting in the street, in the front of his house. "We’re simply asking for comment," O'Keefe stated, emphasizing his rights as a journalist. Initially, Vermont State Trooper Daniel Bohnyak told O'Keefe and his crew they were “free to leave,” but moments later changed his stance, saying, “Right now, you are not free to leave.” The stated reason for detaining O'Keefe was that his car was allegedly “parked in the middle of a public highway," though it was actually on a neighborhood side street.
Despite standing on public property, O'Keefe was issued a trespassing notice, warning him not to return to the homes of the Border Patrol officers. Reflecting on the incident, O'Keefe remarked, "In a world where 500,000 children are being moved in three years... the Vermont State Police are spending their days detaining journalists for asking questions.
Initially, Newsweek reported that Vermont State Police claimed O'Keefe "was not detained." However, the publication has since issued a correction, acknowledging that O'Keefe was indeed detained, supported by video evidence of the incident.
“The border’s always been wide open. When I first got here, all we had was a three-strand barbed wire fence, and most of it was down.”
Aaron Veckey, a 20-year Border Patrol veteran, recalls smugglers driving vehicles loaded with thousands of pounds of contraband straight into the U.S., and ultralight aircraft dropping loads “daily, post-9/11.”
James O'Keefe adds, “It’s amazing what people will ignore when they’re told to look the other way.”
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Rick Addante says the mission of higher education has been abandoned and sacrificed for money. From Florida Tech to the media to government, the same story plays out: shut up, or shut down.
James O'Keefe sits down with Addante on My Price Is My Life to uncover what’s really being sold, and what it costs to tell the truth.
Listen to Episode 6 of My Price Is My Life now on all major platforms.
According to a Senior State Department Official, “The incident is under investigation. The Department has zero tolerance for individuals who jeopardize national security by putting their personal interests ahead of our great nation.”
