Armed Protesters March Towards Governor's Mansion In Oklahoma To Protest Alleged Killings Of Black Men

Armed protesters in Oklahoma marched peacefully toward the governor’s mansion over the weekend to protest the alleged killings by some police officers of Black men. Numbering almost 200, the mostly-Black protesters began their peaceful march from the Ralph Ellison Library to the Gov. Kevin Stitt’s official residence.

Armed To The Teeth

According to The Oklahoman, the protest march was organized by 1000 Brothers and Sisters in Arms. The group is a pro-Second Amendment organization for people of color. While several white people were seen joining the demonstration, the attendees were predominantly Black men. Reports say, however, that the governor was not at the mansion at the time as he went to Tulsa for President Donald Trump’s rally.

Despite the governor not being home, the protesters went ahead with their march. Omar Chatman, the organizer for the event, said his organization was not going to allow people to enter their communities and brutalize them. “If you come into our community, know we are armed,” Chatman stated.

Be Civilized

Armed with an AR-15, a lightweight semi-automatic rifle, Chatman asked the crowd of protesters to “be civilized” before posing the question how Gov. Stitt managed to “live in a predominantly Black side of town but allow the police to execute us when we have our hands in the air?” When asked by reporters why they were there, the attendees said the event was their response to the recent killings of Black men, allegedly, perpetrated by some police officers.

Babu Omowale, one of the event’s attendees, told KFOR-TV they were trying to get Black people to realize that the Second Amendment is for everybody, not just for some particular race. KFOR-TV is an NBC-affiliated TV station in Oklahoma City.

A Reopening Of Cases

Other speakers during the event were asking that local cases of such killings be reopened, including that of C.J. Pettit Jr., who was allegedly killed by a police officer in Midwest City, The Oklahoman reports. Toward the event’s conclusion, Chatman and Michael Washington, who is a community organizer, handed over a letter to the mansion’s security guard.

The letter contained a list of demands, including the reopening of the Pettit case, passing state laws that would hold cops accountable for their actions, and requiring police officers to have their liability insurance. The letter, per a local news outlet, also called for an investigation in the U.S. by the International World Court for violations committed against its black population.