An Oklahoma gay man filed a federal civil rights lawsuit after his home was burned to the ground following months of racist & homophobic attacks. Randy Gamel-Medler an Oklahoma gay man filed a federal equal protection lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma against nine defendants from Blaine County, Oklahoma including Mayor of Hitchcock Rick Edsall, Sheriff of Blaine County Tony Almaguer & Undersheriff of Blaine County David Robertson. Plaintiff Randy Gamel-Medler stated, "When our family moved to the town of Hitchcock in rural Oklahoma we thought we were buying our last house, we wanted to know our neighbors by their first names & grow old together, but we were soon met with hatred, suspicion & discrimination. We were terrorized, murder threats were made against our seven year-old African-American son. Town officials conspired to run us out of office, all while local law enforcement ignored our pleas for help. We are now left with the last 27 years of our life literally erased. What do we do now?" In early May 2017 Gamel-Medler was performing his duties as town clerk by clearing an obstruction from the road when he was assaulted by defendant Jonita Pauls Jacks, who tried to enter Gamel-Medler’s truck & then after realizing it was locked began shaking the truck, called him a “f***ing queer,” & stated, “I’m going to grab your little boy, rip his n***er head off, & sh** down his throat.” When Gamel-Medler attempted to file a police report the Deputy Sheriff refused saying that this is just how these folks are & characterized the incident as free speech. Shannon Price Minter, Legal Director at NCLR added, “No family should live in fear or have to endure harassment & threats based on racism & homophobia. We must hold those government officials, members of law enforcement & others accountable.”
For More Info: freedomoklahoma.org
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