A woman wearing a shirt that said “I can’t breathe,” a popular slogan among anti-police brutality protesters, was removed from President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma and subsequently arrested on Saturday despite having a ticket to the event and behaving nonviolently.
MSNBC’s footage of the incident shows Sheila Buck, the arrestee, sitting on the ground outside the arena after the Trump campaign had her removed by the Tulsa police. Officers are seen asking Buck to leave the premises before arresting her after she refuses to do so.
As the officers escort Buck to a patrol car, she tells reporters that her shirt was the reason for her removal and arrest.
"Somebody has to do this."
A peaceful protester is arrested outside the location President Trump's rally will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/Nj23OgyOvX
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 20, 2020
“This morning at 11:30 AM Tulsa Police were requested by Trump Campaign Staff to remove an individual from the secure area of the rally,” the Tulsa Police Department said in a statement.
The TPD reported that officers had spoken to Buck “for several minutes trying to convince her to leave on her own accord” and then took her into custody after she “continued to refuse to cooperate.”
The report seemed to confirm that Buck did indeed have a ticket, stating that she “had passed through the metal detector area to the most secure area of the event accessible only to ticket holders.”
However, whether or not she had a ticket “is not a contributing factor for the Tulsa Police in making the arrest,” according to the department.
The Trump campaign did not respond to TPM’s questions asking why Buck had been removed.
On Friday, Trump warned via Twitter that “any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma” will “will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis.”
“It will be a much different scene!” he tweeted.
