The last two weeks have been sobering for Oklahomans. As we passed the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre a little over a week ago, many Oklahomans took to the streets to reflect on our state’s past as it advocated for its future. There is still so much work to be done to end police brutality and systematic racism in law enforcement, and no agency has made that more abundantly clear lately than the Tulsa Police Department.
Discussing nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, a white Tulsa Police Department major said Monday systemic racism in policing "just doesn't exist."
Speaking to talk radio host Pat Campbell on his podcast, TPD Maj. Travis Yates also suggested that, according to his interpretation of crime data, police should actually be shooting black Americans more frequently.
"You get this meme of, 'Blacks are shot two times, two and a half times more,' and everybody just goes, 'Oh, yeah,'" Yates said. "They're not making sense here. You have to come into contact with law enforcement for that to occur…”