LIVINGSTON TOWNSHIP, NJ – On Wednesday, August 30th, O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) released a 20-minute long police officer bodycam footage showing New Jersey school board officials calling the police on citizens they don’t recognize, saying they look “Trumpish.”
OMG obtained the recordings through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. James O’Keefe said, “The police colluded with school officials to scan license plates of school board meeting attendees who looked different.”
During the video, Toni McLaughlin, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, can be heard saying to the police officer, “There’s about eight of them. And all the different administrators, that have been principals and stuff, none of them recognize them as past students … they’re not parents. They’re different looking. Some – they look Trumpish. They look a little scary.”
McLaughlin and the officer can be heard comparing journalists with OMG to Antifa. James O’Keefe himself then confronted McLaughlin in the parking lot after he reviewed the bodycam footage. He asked her, “You said there’s ‘Trumpish’ people. What did you mean by ‘Trumpish’ at the school board meetings?”
She ignored his questions and walked rather quickly past him. The 911 dispatch call from August 8, 2023 from the Livingston Board of Education confirms that they subjectively stereotyped these individuals.
“There’s a group of about nine men,” the woman on the phone said.
To which the dispatcher asked, “Yeah, what are they doing?”
The woman answered, “They’re on their phones. They’ve never been here before. It was just a little bit of concern.”
The bodycam footage captured nearly 40 minutes of conversation between the officer, McLaughlin and other employees at the board of education.
The officer can be heard asking McLaughlin about these “unusual” people; people that they claim they have never seen before at these board of education meetings.
McLaughlin says, “…They don’t look like Livingston. They might be.”
The officer can then be heard saying to McLaughlin, “Do you think they might be part of some kind of like, Antifa, not Antifa, but something along those lines?”
McLaughlin then said, “That’s exactly what we’re thinking. That they’re going to all different board meetings. I’m not sure. So, I just thought it’d be safe that I call you.”
Another call went to 911 dispatch on August 8, 2023, from a different woman, who called and said, “I am calling to see if I can request a police presence at the board of ed.”
The bodycam footage also shows the officer asking McLaughlin if the people she was talking about “looked shady,” to which she responded by saying, “Yes. They definitely look like there’s something up.”
When O’Keefe confronted McLaughlin as she arrived at work about her “Trumpish” remarks and comments suggesting the eight men where “intimidating,” she didn’t have much to say.
O’Keefe said, “What is intimidating about citizens showing up at a school board meeting talking about diversity, equity and inclusion?”
McLaughlin replied, “I did not know what the citizens were going to talk about. Usually, we have people commenting on items on the agenda.”
O’Keefe then asked, “Why did you call the police?”
“Because I was directed to do so," she answered.
In response to the “trash-talking”that was done by the officer, O’Keefe said:
“What’s remarkable is that the officer is still wearing the bodycam but apparently forgets that he’s wearing it because it captures his blasé, mini-tyrannical side, saying that he doesn’t answer to citizens, he doesn’t answer to citizen journalists and he doesn’t care that we are journalists.”
OMG obtained the recordings through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. James O’Keefe said, “The police colluded with school officials to scan license plates of school board meeting attendees who looked different.”
During the video, Toni McLaughlin, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, can be heard saying to the police officer, “There’s about eight of them. And all the different administrators, that have been principals and stuff, none of them recognize them as past students … they’re not parents. They’re different looking. Some – they look Trumpish. They look a little scary.”
McLaughlin and the officer can be heard comparing journalists with OMG to Antifa. James O’Keefe himself then confronted McLaughlin in the parking lot after he reviewed the bodycam footage. He asked her, “You said there’s ‘Trumpish’ people. What did you mean by ‘Trumpish’ at the school board meetings?”
She ignored his questions and walked rather quickly past him. The 911 dispatch call from August 8, 2023 from the Livingston Board of Education confirms that they subjectively stereotyped these individuals.
“There’s a group of about nine men,” the woman on the phone said.
To which the dispatcher asked, “Yeah, what are they doing?”
The woman answered, “They’re on their phones. They’ve never been here before. It was just a little bit of concern.”
The bodycam footage captured nearly 40 minutes of conversation between the officer, McLaughlin and other employees at the board of education.
The officer can be heard asking McLaughlin about these “unusual” people; people that they claim they have never seen before at these board of education meetings.
McLaughlin says, “…They don’t look like Livingston. They might be.”
The officer can then be heard saying to McLaughlin, “Do you think they might be part of some kind of like, Antifa, not Antifa, but something along those lines?”
McLaughlin then said, “That’s exactly what we’re thinking. That they’re going to all different board meetings. I’m not sure. So, I just thought it’d be safe that I call you.”
Another call went to 911 dispatch on August 8, 2023, from a different woman, who called and said, “I am calling to see if I can request a police presence at the board of ed.”
The bodycam footage also shows the officer asking McLaughlin if the people she was talking about “looked shady,” to which she responded by saying, “Yes. They definitely look like there’s something up.”
When O’Keefe confronted McLaughlin as she arrived at work about her “Trumpish” remarks and comments suggesting the eight men where “intimidating,” she didn’t have much to say.
O’Keefe said, “What is intimidating about citizens showing up at a school board meeting talking about diversity, equity and inclusion?”
McLaughlin replied, “I did not know what the citizens were going to talk about. Usually, we have people commenting on items on the agenda.”
O’Keefe then asked, “Why did you call the police?”
“Because I was directed to do so," she answered.
In response to the “trash-talking”that was done by the officer, O’Keefe said:
“What’s remarkable is that the officer is still wearing the bodycam but apparently forgets that he’s wearing it because it captures his blasé, mini-tyrannical side, saying that he doesn’t answer to citizens, he doesn’t answer to citizen journalists and he doesn’t care that we are journalists.”
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