Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is throwing the book at a group of Black Lives Matter protesters, charging them with terrorism, rioting and assault after they launched violent protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
“This is not Seattle. We’re not putting up with this lawlessness here,” explained Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater. He added that he chose to hit the rioters with these charges because he does not support the anti-police lawlessness that is currently plaguing our nation, according to the Washington Examiner [1].
This comes after video showed rioters launching an assault on a police station and hurling unknown objects at police officers.
The strictest charges were handed down against Isael Antonio Ortiz, 21, Eric Christopher Ruffin, 26, and Malachai Davis, 18, who were all charged with terrorism. Police have accused Ortiz of burning an Oklahoma County sheriff’s van during protests that took place on May 30, five days after Floyd was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Ruffin stands accused of encouraging “wanton destruction” by streaming Ortiz on a Facebook Live post in which he was also caught saying that cops who hurt black people should be killed. As for Davis, he’s accused of teaming up with Ortiz to burn a bail bonds shop. Davis was allegedly captured on camera, breaking the bond shop’s windows with brass knuckles.
David McKenzie, a lawyer representing Davis, has called the charges “unconstitutional,” claiming that while the young man did punch the window, he did not break it. He also said that Davis’ father was killed in the September 11 terrorist attack, which makes the terrorism charge particularly upsetting to him.
Those who have been charged with rioting have been identified as Deshayla Dixon, 24, Adam Warner Hayhurst, 19, Daniel Ray Dickerson, 27, and James Lovell Holt, 31, all of whom have been accused of committing violent acts, many of which were captured on camera. Prater has said that most of the people who were arrested are affiliated with Antifa or other far-left groups.
“Several people were carrying flags that were identified as belonging to the following groups: Antifa, Soviet Union (communism), American Indian Movement, Anarcho-Communism (solid red) and the original Oklahoma flag…currently adopted by Oklahoma Socialists,” the police report explained. “Several known supporters of anti-establishment organizations were present in the crowd.”
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on June 29, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette [2] and is used by permission.
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