James O'Keefe Attacks Reporter Deborah Dupré's Children

Many readers have asked Deborah Dupré, a human and Earth rights reporter, and her son and daughter-in-law, human and Earth rights filmmakers, if there’s ever been retaiiation. It’s with great concern that part of that answer was been made public Tuesday: Dupré’s two grown children became overtly attacked as targeted individuals.

“As of right now, we – and everything that Green Planet stands for – are under a coordinated, well-funded and baseless attack,” Dupré’s son, Josh Tickell admitted in a public statement Wednesday.

While aware a crisis was occurring, Josh and his wife Becca seemed to be sparing Dupré of what they called a “crisis” last week and the source of the traumatic experience or any other details regarding it. Nothing hurts a mother more than knowing her children are hurting. In this business, it’s an unspoken but justifiable deep concern.

Set Up

“A man named James O’Keefe illegally filmed and reedited a video of me and Rebecca (at 9 months pregnant) to discredit us and a new movie we’ve been working on, ‘FRACKED,’ Josh wrote today. “The movie is about how to stop fracking in your town – something we now realize is very dangerous to the powers that be.”

O’Keefe’s been arrested for trying to illegally tap a US Senator’s phone lines. He has tried to frame NPR, CNN and other organizations.

His new target, however, hits hard at home, this writer’s family.

His new target are people “who care about the safety of their water,” Josh said today.

“We moved out of the city to find a safe place to have our baby – only to find out the water in our new town may be threatened by chemical poisons from fracking,” he and his wife, Becca said.

Now, less than two months after the birth of this reporter’s first grandchild, Athena, Josh says they have all been royally attacked. The young call it being ”punked.” Like many targeted individuals, they were set-up, framed, and personally attacked by someone using a hidden camera when Becca was nine months pregnant.

Josh has worked to promote green energy for decades. This is not the first time that those who have a vested interest in outdated, polluting technologies have attempted to thwart his and then his and Becca’s efforts. We’ve all kept that under wraps, spoken only in whispers about it.

Their reason for not discussing it was based on the rather naive teaching, ”We attract negativity by thinking and talking about it,” as if it’s the victim’s fault and the opposite actions, not thinking or discussin it, would make it all go away. Once targeted, however, as most all Targeted Individual will tell you, the targeting rarely comes to an abrupt halt. Instead, the tactics become more covert.

Josh and Becca’s Green Planet Productions Film Company

“We’re big proponents of breaking America’s addiction to fossil fuels and shifting our country’s focus towards homegrown clean renewable energy,” Josh said Wednesday. “I’ve written two books on the subject – we’ve made four documentaries about it.”

They weren’t your average docos, either. FUEL won Sundance Fil Festivals’ Best Documentary Audience Choice award. Mr. Robert Redford showed it an unprecedented 11 times during the festival. Furthermore, it won 11 long-standing-ovations after every screening. 

The Big Fix was selected to make its world premiere at the Canne Film Festival, where “even” the French audiences gave it standing ovations. (The French standing and clapping for anything is rare.)

“Last year we moved to a small California town called Ojai and set up a production facility on an old avocodo farm. We were about to have our first child and wanted to raise her in a healthy environment,” Josh explains.

And then, they learned that fracking was happening just down the road from their house.

Fracking is a method of oil and gas extraction that involves blasting vast quantities of water and toxic chemicals deep underground.

“And, not surprisingly, it has a serious downside – fracking wells can leak. And when they do they leach poisonous chemicals into our groundwater,” Josh says. “And the people most susceptible to these poisons? Pregnant women – and small children.”

In Josh’s first film, he says that’s why he made it, as seen in the clip below. His mother, Dupré lived the fist years of her life less than two blocks from a giant Exxon refinery in Baton Rouge, leaving invisible scars throughout her life, including but not limited to miscarriages, more than any woman’s share, as many women in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley know only too well.

That’s why across the United States and elsewhere, citizens are working to ban or suspend it until industry can prove it can safely seal its wells. 

“We saw our new neighbors trying to oppose fracking and realized this same fight is happening in almost every state,” Josh said. “But the people fighting this battle are up against such powerful forces. What can they do to stop this new and dangerous source of pollution that’s happening literally in their own backyards?”

That’s Josh and Becca realized their story for a new documentary.

But the fracking movies have been made already, the reader might say.

“There have been other films made about the dangers of fracking and those films have done a great job in raising awareness of the issue,: Josh said. “What we thought was missing, was a film that would specifically show people how they might engage in this fight. And win. Sort of a “how to” protect your own neighborhood from this new toxic threat.”

Then, out of the blue, Josh got a call from a man, Brandon Turner, saying he wanted to donate to our documentary. 

Almost every Targeted Individual Dupré’s known since 2006 says their targeting began with someone “out of the blue” or someone they’d known offering to be extremely helpful, often bearing generous gifts that seem “too good to be true” and asking that the gift remain a secret.

“We agreed to meet with Brandon’s partner Steven Sanchon and with their investor, “Mohammed,” at the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel on March 28. Becca was 9 months pregnant and past due at the time,” Josh recounts. “In fact she went into labor 48 hours after our meeting. It was a big imposition for her to be at that meeting.

“They asked us to sign a legally binding Non Disclosure Agreement which we did. They said they wanted to keep the conversation private. Mohammed said he was not in fact the investor, but he represented an anonymous party whose money came from oil interests in the Middle East. 

“He asked us if we had a problem accepting this money. And he asked us – if we could keep the source of the money a secret,” Josh said, as this reporter’s heart sank.

“It was understood that the investor would have no control over the content of the film and that we, the directors, would have final cut,” Josh said. “We thought to ourselves, “Oh the irony! We’ll use the funding from an oil company to make a film that promotes green energy!”

“And where does all that oil money actually come from? Right from our own wallets,” according to Josh in the former award-winning films he’s directed.

“Every time an American pumps gas he’s sending money to the middle east,” Josh says. “Folks like you and me send about a billion dollars a day over there – just by gassing up our cars. We figured, ‘What better use of our money than to make a film to encourage changing that whole screwed up system?’”

Set-up

Becca, a child actor, sensed something was up. She even said they seemed like they were acting… badly. 

She was right, again. The story got worse.

“We received an anonymous tip from a man who said he had seen hidden video camera footage of our meeting. He said Mohammed, Steven and Brandon were actually actors – front men for a guy named James O’Keefe,” Josh said. 

O’Keefe’s objective?

“To secretly record well known environmentalists saying they’d take oil money and keep it under wraps. O’Keefe runs a web site called Project Veritas. He’s the guy who does those crude and often illegal ‘gotcha’ videos. 

So what kind of a person tries to trick a pregnant woman who’s about to give birth? A woman who’s only trying to protect the environment for her newborn child? 

 O’Keefe tried to set up NPR, CNN, and US Senators. In fact, he was arrested for posing as a telephone repairman and trying to illegally tap Senator Mary Landrieu’s phone lines. He had to pay $100,000 to somebody else he illegally recorded. And he’s being sued by one of his own employees for misconduct. 

We asked our attorney to send O’Keefe a letter of inquiry – asking if he was behind the Mohammed meeting and if he had illegally videotaped us. In response, O’Keefe put out a newsletter saying he was about to break his biggest story ever – he claimed he had high profile environmentalists on camera agreeing to take oil money in order to attack American energy independence.

After talking with other environmentalists, Josh and Becca learned these actors had been meeting with other people in New York and California.

“This was a coordinated sting operation –  an attack against American citizens concerned about the quality of their water and the health of their families,” Josh said.

“We thought a movie that shows how to stop fracking could be helpful, but we never imagined how dangerous this movie might seem to the powerful pro-fracking interests.. 

Apparently, its such a threat, they felt a need to try and discredit Josh and Becca, to scare all of us, and prevent this movie from being made.

“It seems they think this movie – and the successful movement it aims to document – might be the most dangerous thing the fracking industry has ever seen,” wrote Josh. “We see that as a vote of confidence that we should make this film.”

So should Josh and Becca allow the goons’ scare tactics to prevent making the film? Or should they continue making their movie?

Josh and Becca did something they have rarely publicity done. They’ve called on all of us, parent, other family members and friends - to help them make their movie that Big oil and gas don’t want you to see.

“Let’s show these guys that fear is no match for the power of the global environmental movement and the good people behind it,” Josh concluded. “In solidarity for a cleaner world for everyone.”

For support, the couple and their company have resorted to campaigning on IndieGogo.