The United League for Social Action — or TULSA — calls for change in the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement agencies across the state.
Sheriff Stanley Glanz’s resignation is one thing the group is calling for. More than 100 people attended a rally outside the Tulsa County Courthouse, where TULSA leaders also called for a Department of Justice investigation of Eric Harris’ death.
Rev. Gerald Davis said he’d accept it if the DOJ found no wrongdoing.
"But I know that the context that led to the killing of Eric Harris is clear," Davis said. "Here was a man who bought a badge, who had been reprimanded in the past."
The group also wants mandatory implicit racial bias training for all law enforcement officers. TULSA coalition member Mana Tahaie said it could help officers understand social conditioning they take into dangerous situations.
"You hear time after time after these deaths that people say, 'I was in fear for my life,'" Tahaie said. "Well, why might that be the case when we see very similar instances of police interaction with white people who have guns, who may be acting very violently but don't end up dying?"
TULSA's demands are separate from a petition filed last week calling for a grand jury investigation of the Tulsa County Sheriff’s office. Marq Lewis with We The People Oklahoma said that petition has around 1,000 signatures in less than a week.
"People are coming up to us. We don't have to pump and prime people for any form of, you know, their signatures," Lewis said. "They are aware of the issue, and they are coming to us, saying, 'I was looking for you to sign.'"
TULSA is planning future demonstrations.
