By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 14 years ago

Brooklyn DA clears ACORN in video scandal

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s said Monday that ACORN employees caught on tape advising conservative videographers James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles did not commit a crime. That’s right, the video that was used as evidence to halt federal funding to ACORN and nearly led to the community organization’s collapse doesn’t actually contain criminal activity.
From a source inside law enforcement:

“They edited the tape to meet their agenda,” said the source.

No! I’m shocked. Shocked! You’re saying editing can be used to manipulate information? And that folks trying to take down ACORN weren’t fair in their editing of their own video? That was completely not obvious at all!
*headdesk*
The editing process included splicing shots of James O’Keefe wearing an absurd pimp costume into the footage. O’Keefe never wore the costume inside ACORN offices, yet the outlandish outfit was used to draw attention to the video stunt. And the New York Times not only reported this false information, but is unwilling to retract those reports, saying of O’Keefe, “We believe him.” Yeah, that guy’s totally a trustworthy source.
I’m consistently baffled that politicians just accepted the contents of this video, that Republicans could use it to nearly destroy an organization providing vital services to low income people, and that Democrats played right along. And then I think about who ACORN serves and I remember racism, sexism, classism…

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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