James O’Keefe Says West Palm Beach Police Seized All His Firearms Following Restraining Order Filed by Former Project Veritas Board Member

James O’Keefe, the conservative investigative journalist and founder of O’Keefe Media Group, announced late Thursday that law enforcement officers entered his West Palm Beach office and confiscated “all” of the firearms he possessed there. O’Keefe posted the claim on X (formerly Twitter), saying simply, “The police just came to my office and confiscated all my firearms. Just happened.” He added that video footage of the seizure exists and would be released the following day.

O’Keefe and the news outlet that published his statements framed the action as connected to a recent legal development. According to O’Keefe, the confiscation is “the direct result” of a Miami-Dade family court temporary restraining order described in his account as a “domestic violence stalking” order, which he says was filed by Matthew Tyrmand, a former member of the Project Veritas board.

O’Keefe said he was served with the restraining order earlier in April while livestreaming from his West Palm Beach headquarters. In his posts he identified the agency that served him as the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department and said the order originated in Miami-Dade County family court. O’Keefe alleged that the restraining order had been pursued by Tyrmand despite, he said, Tyrmand’s past threatening statements toward him.

In his public statements O’Keefe accused Tyrmand of previously stating on hidden camera that he wanted to kill O’Keefe. Quoting what he said Tyrmand told him, O’Keefe wrote that Tyrmand said, “I would kill him [O’Keefe]. Because he is one of the most evil people I’ve ever known.” O’Keefe also repeated an allegation that Tyrmand had “shot up” the cover of O’Keefe’s book, describing rifle bullets through the heart shown on the book’s cover, and said Tyrmand had admitted on camera to being an informant to the FBI’s Southern District of New York (SDNY).

The incident is being reported against the backdrop of a long-running dispute between O’Keefe and Project Veritas. The Gateway Pundit article notes that Project Veritas’ board removed O’Keefe as chairman in February 2023, an action described in the piece as a “coup.” The article recounts that after his departure from Project Veritas, O’Keefe launched O’Keefe Media Group, which the article says has since grown into another successful media venture. The piece also states that O’Keefe has been engaged in an effort since 2023 to regain control over Project Veritas, while simultaneously building his new company.

O’Keefe’s account of the firearm seizure and the restraining order raises several questions about the sequence of events and the legal basis for the law enforcement action. In his posts he framed the incident in broad terms, describing it as part of an assault on free speech and gun rights; the article characterized the situation as “The war on the First Amendment” having “turned into an all-out assault on the Second.” However, the account in the Gateway Pundit article attributes these characterizations to O’Keefe and his supporters rather than presenting them as established fact.

O’Keefe also said that footage exists showing officers removing firearms from his office and that the material would be made public the next day. The Gateway Pundit article repeats that promise but does not publish the video itself. The report includes no independent confirmation from law enforcement agencies about the seizure or from court records regarding the restraining order. It likewise does not include responses from Matthew Tyrmand or from Project Veritas representatives.

The story as reported so far rests primarily on O’Keefe’s public statements and the reporting outlet’s summary of his claims. As of publication, the law enforcement agency named in O’Keefe’s account had not been quoted in the piece, and no court documents were cited directly. Observers seeking verification will need to review official statements from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department, Miami-Dade family court records, or the video O’Keefe said he would release to corroborate the chronology and legal rationale behind the firearm seizure.

The dispute between O’Keefe and Tyrmand — including the alleged threats, the restraining order, and the seizure of firearms — is the latest development in an ongoing and acrimonious split stemming from Project Veritas’ internal governance changes in 2023. O’Keefe has been a polarizing figure in investigative journalism, and the new claims are likely to prompt scrutiny from both legal observers and political commentators as more documents or video evidence become available.

For now, the published account remains a report of O’Keefe’s allegations about police action at his office and the alleged role of a restraining order filed by Matthew Tyrmand. The Gateway Pundit article invites readers to await the promised video and to follow further reporting for independent confirmation and additional details.