Global Courant
An Oklahoma district court judge has filed a lawsuit filed in 2020 seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race massacre, which some hoped would bring justice to the remaining three survivors of the attack before they died.
The Associated Press reported that Judge Caroline Wall had dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit that would have forced the city of Tulsa and others to pay for damages incurred in Greenwood, a once-thriving black district.
The three remaining survivors of the attack – Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis – filed suit in 2020.
“The City remains committed to locating the graves of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, encouraging economic investment in the Greenwood District, educating future generations about the worst event in our community’s history, and building a city where everyone has equal opportunity for a great life,” Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum said, adding that city officials had not received the full court order.
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FILE – In this June 15, 2020 file photo, Freeman Culver stands in front of a mural depicting the names of businesses destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Wall said in her order she dismissed the case because of arguments from the city, the regional chamber of commerce and other state and local agencies.
Last year, the judge rejected a request from the defendants to dismiss the case, allowing the case to proceed.
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Forensic scientists may have caught a break in their quest to identify the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP, File/Tulsa World via AP)
“Judge Wall has effectively sentenced the three living Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors to languish — truly to death — on the basis of Oklahoma’s appeal,” Justice for Greenwood, a group supporting the lawsuit, said in a statement. “There is no semblance of justice or access to justice here.”
The massacre began on the morning of May 31, 1921, after a black man accused of sexually assaulting a white woman was arrested and jailed at the Tulsa County Courthouse.
Fearing that the black man would be lynched, a large group of armed black men rushed to the courthouse to defend him, according to a 2001 report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.
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The man’s charges were later dropped.
The lawsuit filed by the survivors and descendants of those who perished states that on June 1, 1921, “a large, angry white mob, including some members of the Tulsa Police Department, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department, and National Guard”, had overwhelmed the 35 square blocks of the all-black Greenwood District, “killing hundreds of black residents, injuring thousands, setting fire to more than a thousand homes and businesses, and stealing residents’ personal property”.
The lawsuit names seven defendants, including the City of Tulsa, current Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado, and the Oklahoma Military Department.
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The lawsuit is based on the state’s public nuisance law and alleges that city and county officials actively thwarted community efforts to rebuild after the massacre. It also alleges that officials neglected the community of Greenwood and predominantly black north Tulsa in favor of predominantly white parts of the city.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
