TULSA -- The man removed from a medical marijuana meeting by Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton wants an outside investigation.
Sheriff Walton was caught on video with his hands around Chip Paul's neck as he escorted him out of a meeting he was in charge of.
The sheriff said the man was being disruptive during the forum after numerous requests to stop. Paul said that is not true.
He has filed a civil lawsuit against the sheriff.
Paul is now asking for an outside investigation into what happened. He reached out to the ACLU and FBI.
"Certainly if a crime is committed in the exercise of your civil rights then the FBI has jurisdiction and we want the FBI in here," Paul said. "I don't think Rogers County is capable of investigating."
He said he has had difficulties filing a police report with the Claremore Police Department.
Paul provided 2 Works For You with a copy of the certified letter he sent certified mail to the police department with a copy of his statement. After taking a closer look, the address he mailed it to was incorrect. He sent it to 201 West First Street in Claremore. The actual address is 200 West First Street.
"I might have sent it to the wrong address but they certainly know it's coming and they certainly have my statement," Paul said.
Claremore Police did not have a statement from Paul as of Wednesday and had not receieved the letter. They did say he spoke to the Claremore Chief of Police Friday on the phone.
"Chief Brown told him that once we received his statement that we would do a police report that some officer that took the report would call him back with an incident number," Deputy Chief Steve Cox said. "As of today we have not received that registered mail.
In the letter, Paul said he called many times trying to speak to an officer and tried to file a report online.
Deputy Chief Cox said as of now, they cannot take reports online. He said Paul was calling the dispatch center that handles all law enforcement agencies in the area and not the police department directly.
Deputy Chief Cox said the event center where it happened was in their jurisdiction and they would investigate and turn their findings over to the district attorney when they received a report.
Sheriff Walton believes the incorrect address was not a coincidence.
"There is reasons for everything," the sheriff said. "I think he wants to show there was some sort of delayed response."
The ACLU released the following statement:
“The violent actions of the Rogers County Sheriff signal a disturbing reliance on government force to silence political speech. Law enforcement must use force only under the most serious and threatening circumstances, a standard that Mr. Paul’s behavior did not come close to meeting on Monday night. The Rogers County Sheriff is not a stranger to using his taxpayer funded office to wage a private war against SQ 788, but with the unwarranted, violent removal of Mr. Paul from a public forum, the Sheriff’s actions have become criminal. It is clear that Sheriff Walton believes that medical cannabis will disrupt his business model of arresting patients and seizing their cash and property; in fact, he has a history of using his government office and public funds in questionable ways to protect his bottom line. However, his political fear mongering escalated to dangerous and criminal levels last night when he and his deputies departed from their civic duty and unleashed their rage on an invited member of the public. Sheriff Walton’s criminal act is also a serious violation of the United States and Oklahoma Constitutions. Failure to take appropriate action against the Rogers County Sheriff would send a clear message that authoritarian government actors in Rogers County are above the law and unaccountable to the citizens they ostensibly serve.”
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