OKLAHOMA CITY – Some members of the Oklahoma City Council have reported receiving death threats following their controversial votes in favor of Flock Safety cameras in OKC, and police have confirmed that investigations are currently underway.
But another councilor said that similar threats made years ago didn’t elicit the same response from City authorities.
Near the end of the September 1st meeting of the City Council, Ward 5 Councilman Matt Hinkle used the “Comments from Council” portion to announce that he and potentially other council members have received death threats following their votes in support of Flock Safety on August 18th.
That vote has continued to see widespread criticism and sustained pushback from many city residents, including hundreds of critical comments flooding the social media accounts of Mayor Davd Holt.
According to Councilman Hinkle, his vote in favor of Flock is assumed to be the driving force behind threats that he saw or received as quickly as later that day.
“At the end of the day, some of us got death threats to us and our families,” Hinkle claimed, “which is very unacceptable. Very unacceptable.”
Police investigating threats
After Hinkle’s statement during the meeting, Free Press reached out to the Oklahoma City Police Department to ask if they had been made aware of the threats.
The OKCPD Public Information Office confirmed that City Council members, as well as other City officials, have received threats and that investigations are underway, but declined to elaborate on which officials have been threatened or what issues, if any, had been mentioned in the threats.
“There are multiple active investigations going on at this time regarding threats toward City Council members and other officials in City government,” Msgt. Gary Knight told Free Press, adding: “There have been no arrests at this point, but that is certainly a possibility as we move forward with this process.”
Hamon discusses 2020 threats
Following Hinkle’s comments on September 1st, Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon invoked her own experiences with death threats, specifically ones directed toward her in 2020 following her support for defunding the OKCPD in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the racially charged nationwide reckoning around policing.
Hamon claimed at the meeting that some of those threats came from police.
“I just kind of want to say ‘welcome to my world,’” Hamon said, directing her comments toward Hinkle and other council members. “I got death threats from police officers, people identifying themselves as family members of police officers, Fraternal Orders of the Police, from not just Oklahoma City, but from across the country, and I regularly get just for speaking on issues that I’m passionate about.”
Hamon not made aware of investigation into earlier threats
While Hamon was vocal about the threats that she received in 2020 and later, including discussing them publicly at the time with The Oklahoman, she said this week that she was never made aware of any police investigation into them or of any actions like the ones taken now for the recent threats.
“As far as I’m aware, OKCPD never was aware, or if they were, never notified me of any investigation,” she told Free Press in a text exchange. “Most of what I saw came through DMs, although some things were just posted on social media (sometimes tagging me, sometimes something that didn’t tag me, but a friend saw and sent to me) and I never expected anything meaningful to happen if I reported them, so I didn’t bother doing so.”
OKC police did not comment on what threats are currently being investigated and did not indicate that any current investigation is ongoing regarding threats made in 2020.
“I can’t confirm for you which members of the council and what other city officials were threatened,” said Msgt. Knight.
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
