Statement from Sen. Kevin Matthews

Senator to attend Wednesday’s One Tulsa Rally-Justice

Sen. Kevin Matthews (D-Tulsa) will be joining his constituents from north Tulsa tonight for a peaceful rally calling for the resignation of Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz and major department changes to address the culture that has caused continual distrust of law enforcement within the black community.  The One Tulsa Rally-Justice will be held at 7pm in the Blue Dome Area in the 2nd and Elgin parking lot.

“The more interviews of Sheriff Glanz and Deputy Bates I read and see, the more disappointed I become with this agency and the obvious disrespect and lack of concern for the life of Eric Harris and his family’s loss.  The conflicting statements, along with the lack of transparency and the casualness concerning this tragic shooting, has left my constituents in north Tulsa with no trust in the current leadership of this agency, and I have to agree with them based on the information that we’re continuing to learn about on a daily basis.

I appreciate the District Attorney’s swift action in bringing charges against those involved in this case.  However, for the Sheriff’s office to continue to minimize the many completely avoidable mistakes they made that led to the tragic and unnecessary death of Mr. Harris is unacceptable to our community.  Furthermore, excusing the ineptness of the officers involved, as well as their training, by trying to divert to Mr. Harris’ actions is deplorable.

Regardless of his actions, Mr. Harris should have been allowed his day in court.  It is not law enforcement’s job to be judge and jury, it is simply their job to enforce the law and allow people to have their day in court, which is everyone’s constitutionally-protected right.  This is why we are calling for an overhaul of this law enforcement agency.  In order to see dramatic changes and rebuild the trust of the black community in this agency, we must see a change in the leadership as well as the departmental culture that allowed this senseless shooting to occur.”