Tulsa mayor lifts curfew ahead of Trump rally
Mayor tells president by phone after consulting with Secret Service
Tulsa officials have rescinded a curfew tied to President Donald Trump’s controversial rally scheduled there Saturday in an extraordinary reversal that came after Trump spoke with the city’s mayor.
“I just spoke to the highly respected Mayor of Tulsa, G.T. Bynum, who informed me there will be no curfew tonight or tomorrow for our many supporters attending the #MAGA Rally. Enjoy yourselves - thank you to Mayor Bynum!” Trump tweeted on Friday, hours before he was set to touch down for the pivotal campaign event.
The move represented a reversal by Bynum, a Republican, who hours earlier imposed a curfew to cover Friday and Saturday nights based on projections that 100,000 people could attend and concerns about civil unrest.
The timing of that curfew represented a challenge to Trump rally attendees, many of whom have been lined up for days at the BOK Center in anticipation of the rally.
Bynum said in a statement that he imposed the curfew Thursday at the request of Police Chief Wendell Franklin, after consulting with the Secret Service and based on their intelligence. Bynum said the Secret Service asked the city Friday to lift the curfew.
“Today, we were told the curfew is no longer necessary so I am rescinding it,” Bynum said.
Trump’s rally is being closely watched by supporters and critics because it is his first event since a rally in North Carolina in March during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. Local health officials in Oklahoma had recommended against holding the massive indoor event for fear it could spread the virus further.
After the curfew was announced, Trump supporters lined up outside the 19,000-seat BOK Center were forced to move as city officials began setting up concrete barriers to section the area ahead of expected crowds of thousands who planned to attend.
Kelli Butler, 43, drove with her husband Dan and 13-year-old son Friday morning from Stillwell, Oklahoma, about an hour southeast of Tulsa. Butler, who arrived at about 8:30 a.m. local time, said some of the groups, hovered under tents and seated in camping chairs, were told to move behind the barriers but were told their place in line would be honored.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday denied a request for a temporary injunction to block the BOK Center from holding President Donald Trump’s campaign rally.
Attorneys in Tulsa filed a lawsuit earlier this week on behalf of two businesses and two residents to stop ASM Global, which manages the arena, from holding the rally “to protect against a substantial, imminent and deadly risk to the community.”
They argued the rally should be prohibited because it would act as a “spreader” event for the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Paul DeMuro, a lawyer who brought the case, said the goal was to enforce Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines
“The only winner today is the virus. The virus won,” DeMuro said. “Our lawsuit didn’t fail. Our local leaders failed us.”
The petition cited a rise in documented cases of COVID-19 in Tulsa County, which have spiked in recent days. Oklahoma set a state record for case increases in one day on Thursday, confirming 450 new cases. The state added 352 new cases on Friday, giving it 802 in two days.
“Despite this alarming uptick ... ASM Global plans to host an event that will bring tens of thousands of people into an enclosed area in downtown Tulsa ... without putting precautions in place to prevent the spread of the virus,” the petition stated.
“All credible, qualified medical experts, including the CDC, agree that this type of mass-gathering indoor event creates the greatest possible risk of community-wide viral transmission.”
The Trump campaign said it will check the temperature of attendees as they come in, provide hand sanitizer and issue masks but not require they be worn. Tickets to the rally come with a liability waiver that said the campaign or other parties associated with the event cannot be held liable for exposure to the coronavirus.
In addition, the BOK Center will provide personal protective gear to event staff, periodically clean and disinfect the arena during the rally, and install plexiglass partitions at all concessions stands.
Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said earlier this week that people concerned about the spread of COVID-19 at the rally should stay home.