A Florida judge has overturned the firearms prohibition placed on journalist James O’Keefe just one day after West Palm Beach police entered his newsroom headquarters and confiscated all of his firearms.
O’Keefe announced the victory on social media. “Judge Marie E. Mato has just OVERTURNED the firearms prohibition placed upon me in the state of Florida,” O’Keefe wrote. “Order forthcoming. At a hearing in Miami this morning, the Judge Mato stated: ‘Mr. O’Keefe you are free to pickup your firearms in West Palm Beach at the Sheriff’s Office.'”
Judge Marie E. Mato has just OVERTURNED the firearms prohibition placed upon me in the state of Florida.
Order forthcoming. At a hearing in Miami this morning, the Judge Mato stated:
“Mr. O’Keefe you are free to pickup your firearms in West Palm Beach at the Sheriff’s Office.”…
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) April 24, 2026
Judge Marie E. Mato acknowledged O’Keefe’s compliance with the prior order despite his objections. “I appreciate your compliance Mr. O’Keefe with this court’s order despite your objection,” Judge Mato said. “But I’m deleting those provisions.”
The episode stems from a bitter dispute between O’Keefe and Matthew Tyrmand, a former Project Veritas board member. In February 2026, O’Keefe released undercover footage in which Tyrmand allegedly admitted to being an FBI informant against conservative organizations and made statements about wanting to kill O’Keefe. The footage also showed Tyrmand having shot rifle bullets through a physical copy of O’Keefe’s book Breakthrough, through the image of O’Keefe’s heart on the cover.
Rather than face legal consequences for these statements, Tyrmand filed a domestic violence stalking temporary restraining order against O’Keefe in Miami-Dade family court. O’Keefe has described the move as a “heckler’s veto” and a form of legal harassment.
A Miami-Dade family court judge initially granted and later extended the restraining order. The order included a firearm surrender provision compelling O’Keefe to disclose and hand over all of his weapons. On the evening of April 23, West Palm Beach Police entered O’Keefe’s newsroom at his O’Keefe Media Group headquarters and physically confiscated all of his firearms. O’Keefe livestreamed and documented the entire event.
O’Keefe’s attorneys immediately sought emergency relief. They argued that Florida law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent do not permit firearm confiscation based on mere hunches without evidence of a credible direct threat. “In Florida law, it’s very clear, it’s consistent with what the Supreme Court has said about this,” O’Keefe’s attorney Benjamin Barr explained. “You can’t just deprive people of firearms based on hunches and guesses.”
The very next day, Judge Marie Mato held a hearing in Miami and reversed the firearms prohibition. She ordered O’Keefe’s guns returned to him at the West Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
O’Keefe’s legal team called the ruling a Second Amendment victory, explicitly linking the case to the Supreme Court standard that firearm rights cannot be stripped absent a real, credible, demonstrated threat of violence. However, the broader restraining order remains in place. This includes First Amendment restrictions on O’Keefe’s continued investigative reporting. His team has filed an emergency appeal and emergency stay, citing the First Amendment.
O’Keefe has invoked landmark First Amendment cases including Near v. Minnesota and New York Times v. United States, calling the injunction unconstitutional prior restraint against a newsroom.
The broader Second Amendment community has raised concerns that red flag gun confiscation orders can be used to strip gun rights from people who have not committed any crime and against whom no credible direct threat has been established. Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation have been extremely active in 2026, challenging firearm confiscations tied to restraining orders and red flag procedures.
The O’Keefe case serves as a stark reminder that threats to Second Amendment rights exist in every state, including those with reputations for being gun-friendly. Florida may have strong firearms protections on the books, but civil court mechanisms like temporary restraining orders can still be weaponized to strip law-abiding citizens of their constitutional rights without any criminal charge or conviction.
Gun owners across America should recognize that the battle for the Second Amendment is never truly won and that vigilance is required, whether you live in a red state or a blue state. The legal infrastructure for disarmament exists everywhere, and only constant pushback prevents it from being used against you.
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About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
Stay safe Mr. O’Keefe.