Governor Kevin Stitt Wednesday announced an emergency filing with the Oklahoma Supreme Court to compel the City of Tulsa to enforce state and municipal laws within its jurisdiction.
Recently, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols entered into a proposed settlement agreement with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. In the settlement agreement, he agreed to bar Tulsa Police from enforcing municipal and state laws against tribal members within city limits. This goes beyond crimes covered under the McGirt decision, including but are not limited to, DUI, reckless driving, child endangerment, and domestic assault.
“More than anything, this is a public safety issue,” said Gov. Stitt. “No mayor has the authority to pick and choose which Oklahomans are subject to the laws of our state. By entering into this agreement, Mayor Nichols has essentially made Tulsa a sanctuary city with two systems of justice. One for those with tribal membership and one for everyone else. This makes our state less safe.”
In his filing, the Governor asserts that Mayor Nichols does not have the authority to “co-govern” in this manner. Governor Stitt asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to immediately block Tulsa’s settlement agreement and compel the City to resume its constitutional duty to enforce the law.
Tulsa County Republican Chairman Melissa Myers said, “Tulsans are over-the-top grateful for Governor Stitt’s effort to protect all citizens equally. That is a Republican concept, equality in the application of law. Establishing different laws for different identity groups is anti-American. Sadly, Mayor Nichols is proving daily that his governing ideology, hidden during his campaign, is hard-left socialism.”
Mayor Nichols said the agreement strengthens cooperation and creates a framework for resolving legal and public safety procedures that have remained unsettled since the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt ruling.
Addressing this public safety crisis in Tulsa, Governor Stitt’s petition for original jurisdiction writ of prohibition and injunctive relief names the “City of Tulsa; Monroe Nichols IV, in his official capacity as Mayor of the City of Tulsa; Dennis Larsen, in his official capacity as Chief of Police, Tulsa Police Department; Jack Blair, in his official capacity as City Attorney for the City of Tulsa.”
It does not name the City Council and notes that the defendants, “Acting without approval from the City Council, the Governor, or the Legislature’s Joint Committee on State Tribal Relations, Tulsa has already begun enforcing this policy, abandoning the State’s valid criminal jurisdiction in violation of Oklahoma law. If this Court does not intervene, Tulsa’s actions will erode state sovereignty, undermine public safety, and invite other municipalities to unlawfully surrender their legal obligations.”
Showing what some observers suggest is both ignorance and arrogance, Mayor Nichols, in an interview posted yesterday with Fox 23, suggested that the governor would not make a good mayor.
Mayor Nichols in the interview, claims crime is down in Tulsa, contrary to the experience of most citizens. He has also claimed free housing is a required government service and human right – a concept contrary to the U.S. Constitution and, on it’s face, an incentive for more national homeless to flood Tulsa streets.
At the 8:30 mark, Mayor Nichols claims a “Republican Club” supports his efforts for reparations in Tulsa.
Chairman Myers responded, “As we have repeatedly corrected the record, an unaffiliated social club is using the name Republican in Tulsa, but it does not represent and has no authority to speak for the party. After this small group of self-aggrandizing loser republicans were defeated during our last convention, they established themselves and now attempt to misrepresent the party in press releases. I will be working with the State Party to resolve this issue and hope to do so in the near future.”
The Oklahoma Supreme Court will decide the Tulsa policing issue and Tulsa Today will publish the results.