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What happens when a civil rights attorney attempts to document government officials potentially breaking the law? In Oklahoma, apparently you get handcuffed on a public sidewalk while officers scramble to find any reason to justify an arrest.
Attorney Ron Durbing was outside a State Fire Marshal meeting when the confrontation began. The meeting was restricted to about 40 people despite involving over 2,100 businesses that had received official letters. Under Oklahoma's Open Meetings Act, government entities must conduct public meetings in an open and transparent manner, with clear procedures for accommodating larger crowds through live streaming.
The Request That Started Everything
When citizens were denied access to the public meeting, Durbing approached officers to file a police report about the alleged Open Meetings Act violation. The law makes it a misdemeanor for government officials to conduct closed meetings that should be public. Durbing also mentioned his right under Title 22 to make a citizen's arrest for the violation.
The officer's response was immediate and hostile. Rather than taking the report, he refused to issue a report number. When Durbing said he wanted to file a complaint for dereliction of duty, the situation escalated rapidly.
The Threat That Revealed Everything
"You follow me to my car, you're going to sit in the back seat of my car," the officer threatened. When Durbing asked if that was a threat of arrest, the officer confirmed it was. The exchange that followed exposed just how badly the officer misunderstood the law he was supposed to enforce.
Durbing calmly asked if the officer had reasonable articulable suspicion that he had committed a crime. The officer's response: he wanted to check Durbing for warrants. "You understand I'm an attorney, right? Bar number two. You might want to check yourself. I know this a little bit better than you do."
The Moment It All Went Wrong
Instead of backing down after learning he was detaining a lawyer, the officer doubled down. "I'm going to handcuff him," he announced to other officers on scene. The attorney was placed in handcuffs while standing on a public sidewalk, with no crime alleged and no reasonable suspicion articulated.
The officer proceeded to run warrant checks, desperately searching for any justification for the detention. When the checks came back clear, the situation became even more absurd. The officer actually asked dispatch to double-check with other counties, hoping to find something, anything, to validate his actions.
The Supervisor's Arrival
When a supervisor finally arrived on scene, Durbing explained the constitutional violations clearly and calmly. He detailed how the original Open Meetings Act violation had led to a request for a police report, which led to threats, unlawful detention, and battery. The attorney made it clear he intended to pursue both criminal charges and civil rights litigation.
The supervisor listened as Durbing explained his expertise: "I do civil rights for a living." The irony was unmistakable. An officer had just committed multiple constitutional violations against someone who specializes in exactly those types of cases.
What The Video Reveals
The full encounter was captured on professional cameras, creating a detailed record of each escalating moment. But the most revealing part may be what happened after the handcuffs came off and how the various officials attempted to justify their actions. The attorney's calm professionalism throughout the detention stands in stark contrast to the officer's aggressive overreach.
Watch the complete footage to see how this constitutional crisis unfolded and what consequences, if any, followed for the officers involved.
