OKLAHOMA CITY — Leaders in Oklahoma City’s sizable Asian population came to the Oklahoma City Council meeting Tuesday to plead for the police officer who inflicted violent injury on a 71-year-old Vietnamese man to be held accountable.
They called for his termination or at least to no longer be on patrol in the city.
In addition to the actions of the officer, speakers were outraged by the recent dismissal of felony charges against the officer by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Lich Vu, 71, was slammed to the ground and handcuffed by Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Joseph Gibson on October 27, 2024, as Gibson was investigating a minor car crash on the 39th Street Expressway.
After OKCPD‘s Office of Professional Standards or “Internal Affairs” did a thorough investigation, they issued an affidavit of probable cause for Gibson’s arrest. Then, District Attorney Vicki Behenna filed felony assault and battery charges against Gibson.
The DA’s press release on the matter stated that Vu remains in the hospital with “significant injuries including an orbital fracture, neck fracture and a brain bleed.”
Direct appeals from leaders
After festering criticism on social media for weeks from various Vietnamese and Asian posters, the AG’s action to dismiss the charges against Sgt. Gibson pushed the criticism to Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
In short, a succession of speakers called for the City to:
- Let the recently established Public Safety Advisory Board review the incident and recommend changes in policy and training.
- Implement de-escalation as a core value in every police interaction with community members.
- Partner with culturally equipped community organizations to improve training for cultural awareness in the department.
A community with wounded hearts
The comments to the Council revealed the depth of pain that has been inflicted not just from Sgt. Gibson’s treatment of Lich Vu, but also from other less violent but harmful encounters.
“The Attorney General’s decision to dismiss the officer from a criminal charge was very unsettling to our community and many in Oklahoma,” said Thuan Nguyen, president of the Vietnamese American Heritage Community of Oklahoma.
“There’s been anger. There’s been hurt. Many are upset. Most importantly, there’s been feelings of distrust in our leaders, in our leadership.”
Nguyen said that what he and other leaders in their community are asking is that Sgt. Gibson “be terminated effective immediately and never serve as a law enforcement officer.”
“If this is not possible, at minimum, Officer Gibson is never to patrol the streets of Oklahoma City again,” Nguyen continued.
One senior member of the Vietnamese community informed the Council that Lich Vu had served with the South Vietnamese Air Force (U.S. allies) during the Vietnam War, survived to immigrate to the U.S. then has recently been struggling with bone cancer.
Two other speakers, Cindy Nguyen and Tasneem Al-Michael each had stories from earlier days where language barriers for their parents had created tense situations from Oklahoma City Police Officers being disrespectful of their parents.
Scarlet Le-Cao, executive director of The Greater OKC Asian Chamber of Commerce, addressed the Council about the realities of the diverse culture of the City of Oklahoma City.
“Oklahoma City is a diverse culture, a diverse city,” Le-Cao said. “We have Asian American, Native American, Hispanic, and Black [people.] All of us make up more than 40% of the population. We come from different backgrounds and cultures and different languages. If there is an officer who cannot understand the fabric of Oklahoma City and how diverse we are, how can we lay trust to the police department?”
What comes next?
After public comments, Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper asked questions to clarify the process of addressing the incident within the Police Department and the larger City structure.
In that exchange, City Manager Craig Freeman explained that the department issued its report to the DA and then had to wait to decide on discipline until criminality was determined.
Freeman explained that now that the AG has dismissed the DA’s charges, the Police Department can proceed with determining discipline.
Freeman also clarified that in a Council-Manager form of government like Oklahoma City’s, the mayor and council members have no say whatsoever in hiring and firing of city employees.
Instead, in this case, the report on Sgt. Gibson’s actions goes to Police Chief Ron Basy who ultimately decides on discipline for the officer while consulting with Freeman.
Free Press will continue to monitor the progress of this case.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
