Table of Contents
A routine delivery of legal documents at Tulsa Public Library turned into a constitutional confrontation when journalist Ron Durban was arrested for attempting to serve tort claim notices on behalf of Dan from Auditing Erie County, who had been unlawfully detained by library security earlier in the week.
The arrest exposes a troubling pattern of contradictory enforcement and raises serious questions about public access to government buildings.
The Setup That Started It All
Earlier this week, Dan had entered the Tulsa Public Library to document public operations when security guards confronted him. According to the incident, guards wearing badges that resembled police insignia detained Dan, placed him in handcuffs, and held him in the basement for 30 minutes until actual police officers arrived and released him.
The responding officers determined Dan had done nothing illegal and did not issue a trespass warning. Their message was clear: filming in the public library was protected activity.
The Legal Response Turns Into Another Arrest
Armed with tort claim notices required under Oklahoma law before suing a government entity, Ron Durban returned to the library to formally serve the paperwork. These notices give agencies 90 days to respond before legal action proceeds.
Library staff refused to accept the documents. When police arrived, they were faced with an impossible contradiction: the same department that had declared the activity legal days earlier was now being asked to enforce a trespass for the same behavior.
Police Contradict Their Own Previous Decision
The most damaging moment came when officers offered Durban a choice: leave the property or face arrest for trespassing. This directly contradicted their previous determination that the activity was lawful.
"TPD is so stupid," one observer noted during the livestream. "Yesterday they said he wasn't doing anything illegal and let him go. Today they decided he was doing something illegal when he did the exact same thing."
The contradiction was captured on video, creating what legal experts would likely consider powerful evidence of arbitrary enforcement.
When Serving Legal Papers Becomes a Crime
Durban's response was measured but firm. Rather than leave under the threat of an unlawful trespass, he chose to take the arrest, forcing the system to defend its contradictory position in court.
The irony was not lost on observers: a journalist was being arrested for attempting to serve legal papers on the very entity that had unlawfully detained another journalist days earlier.
A Medical Emergency Behind Bars
The situation took a serious turn when Durban, who has a heart condition and carries prescription nitroglycerin, began experiencing chest pains in custody. According to his son Lee, who was documenting the events outside, jail staff refused to allow Durban access to his prescribed medication.
"They wouldn't give him his nitro," Lee explained to viewers. "So he had to go to the hospital to get his prescription medicine that he takes all the time."
Emergency medical services transported Durban from the jail to OSU Medical Center, where additional conflicts arose with hospital security over filming rights on public sidewalks.
The Questions That Demand Answers
The incident raises fundamental questions about government accountability and the right to serve legal process. Can library staff simply refuse to accept court-required notices? Can police departments arbitrarily reverse their legal determinations based on political pressure rather than law?
Most importantly, the video evidence captures what appears to be a coordinated effort to prevent the legal system from functioning properly. When serving required legal notices becomes grounds for arrest, the entire framework of civil accountability breaks down.
The full confrontation, including the contradictory police statements and the medical emergency that followed, was captured on livestream and reveals the complete breakdown of constitutional protections in real time.
