Two say new video rebuts Phila. ACORN assertions

Two conservative activists yesterday released a new undercover video targeting the community organizing group ACORN in Philadelphia and challenging statements by ACORN regarding a summer incident. The video shows filmmakers Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend, asking an ACORN worker for advice on buying a home.

At a news conference in Washington, O'Keefe and Giles said the video countered assertions by the Democratic-leaning organization that the couple were ordered by ACORN workers to leave the office, on Broad Street near Parrish Street in North Philadelphia, on July 24.

The heavily edited video showed the pair talking with ACORN worker Katherine Conway-Russell. The video, which did not cover the entire meeting, did not show them being told to leave. In the video, the pair are heard talking; however, there is no audio of Conway-Russell during the encounter for legal reasons.

Neil Herrmann, head organizer for ACORN in Philadelphia, said in an interview yesterday, "If you watch the video you never hear what Katherine says. . . . The video never mentioned that we called the police. We called the police and filled out a police report." - Vernon Clark and wire reports