10:59 am 06/08/2024Two police officers in Watonga, Oklahoma, are under state investigation after body camera footage showed them slamming a father to the ground while he was taking his son for an early morning walk.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) confirmed to local news outlets that it’s investigating whether the two Watonga officers used excessive force when they violently detained John Sexton on the morning of July 4.
The incident has led to hundreds of calls from outraged citizens to the police department, local news outlets, and the county sheriff, who has publicly called on the officers to be placed on leave.
Sexton was walking with his 6-year-old son, who has autism, around 6 a.m. when he was stopped by two Watonga police officers.
“Found it a little bit suspicious, just the walking around,” one of the officers said.
“Walking around is a little bit suspicious?” Sexton replied.
“Technically not really,” the officer said, “but, I mean, it is pretty early in the morning. Just wondering what was going on.”
The other officer then asked Sexton for his ID.
“I don’t need to show my ID,” he responded.
Sexton is correct. Oklahoma is not a “stop and identify” state, where police can demand the name of pedestrians, and even in those states, officers need a reasonable suspicion that the person is involved in a crime.
Nevertheless, police around the country continue to abuse their authority and arrest people for asserting their rights. In 2022, for example, a pair of Florida sheriff’s deputies were demoted for arresting a legally blind man who lawfully refused to give his ID.
The Watonga officers appear similarly ignorant. One threatens to arrest and jail Sexton for failing to identify himself, “because I’ve identified that you’ve been walking around here at 5:30 in the morning.”
“Yeah, we do that,” Sexton replied.
“No, you’re not. Give me your ID,” the officer demanded.
Sexton said he left his ID at his house and repeated, correctly, that Oklahoma doesn’t require him to identify himself.
One of the officers then tried to detain Sexton, who pulled away and attempted to record the incident with his cell phone. The officer then grabbed Sexton and swung him to the ground while Sexton’s young son started wailing.
Sexton was briefly detained before being released without being charged. He has since filed a complaint with the Watonga Police Department, and the release of body camera footage of the incident has outraged residents.
Blaine County Sheriff Travis Daugherty told local news outlet KOCO News that his office received over 200 calls about the incident. Daugherty also said one of the officers involved was a former deputy in his office but had been demoted and eventually left to join the Watonga Police Department.
“The deputies that were underneath him, they had lost faith in him as their leader. Yeah, and so I demoted him back later,” Daugherty said.
Lack of central databases of police disciplinary records and poor background checks lead to problem officers bouncing from department to department, leaving a trail of complaints and lawsuits in their wake.
Daugherty also sent a letter to residents pushing for the officers to be placed on leave until the investigation is complete.
“This is not a matter of me deciding if they are guilty or not; this is for the citizens to know that somebody is listening, and I hope to bring peace of mind and put citizens at ease to know that Watonga is doing everything they can to ensure the safety of the Blaine County Citizens,” Daugherty wrote in the letter. “I feel the best course of action now is to remove these officers from the equation until the District Attorney’s Office and city leaders decide what the best outcome will be.”
In a July 29 press release, the City of Watonga said it was aware of Sexton’s complaint and that the chief of police had requested the OSBI to investigate. It declined to comment until the completion of that investigation.
“As part of our commitment to integrity, we take any allegations seriously and are committed to transparency and accountability in our operations,” the press release states. “Until the investigation is complete, and while following state law related to personnel matters, we will refrain from providing additional comments to preserve the integrity of the process.”
Meanwhile, Sexton told local news outlets that his son was heavily traumatized by the event.
“He’s been a cop for Halloween for the last two years,” Sexton told KOCO News. “That’s what he’s been wanting to be when he grows up. That’s what he says, and now he’s scared of them.”