OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The president of the Oklahoma NAACP wants the U.S. attorney general to open a hate crimes and civil rights investigation into alleged sexual assaults on black women by an Oklahoma City police officer.
Daniel Holtzclaw was arrested August 21st and accused of groping and raping several black women during a series of attacks from February through June while on duty patrolling the city's northeast side. Police have said there are at least eight alleged victims.
The Oklahoman reports that Anthony Douglas, president of the Oklahoma State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, requested a federal investigation in an August 28th letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Junior. Douglas says the case raises serious concerns and may indicate a continuing pattern of police brutality.