Ponca City Resident, Second Arrest Made After Troopers Scuffle With Pro-LGBTQ Protesters

KOKH - March 8, 2023 7:01 am

Ponca City Police and OHP arrested a second person in connection to a scuffle that occurred last week after lawmakers voted on a bill that would impact the transgender community in Oklahoma.

Police arrested Austin Ross yesterday in Kay County. He was booked into the Kay County Jail.

Ross is facing a charge of assault and battery on a police officer.

According to an affidavit, Rep. Bob Culver was trying to pass through a group of protesters last week when one protester threw a liquid substance at him.

Savanna Mitchell was arrested at the capitol, accused of throwing the cup of water on the state representative.

According to the court document, Austin Ross was with Mitchell at the time of their arrest. Ross yelled at the trooper saying Mitchell was “not going to be placed under arrest”.

The trooper said in court documents that Ross was trying to prevent the arrest of Mitchell.

Court documents state that Ross grabbed the trooper’s hands to try and get Mitchell freed.

Although troopers arrested Mitchell at the scene, Ross was able to get away due to the “limited number of manpower on scene” the affidavit states.

Ross was later located in the building and identified by troopers at the scene. A warrant was later issued for Ross’ arrest a few days later.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to censure Rep. Mauree Turner, the only non-binary state lawmaker at the state capitol. They accused Rep. Turner of “harboring a fugitive” in her office during the scuffle with protesters. OHP later confirmed the fugitive lawmakers mentioned today was Ross.

Troopers said Rep. Turner’s door was locked when they tried to get in to arrest Ross on the scene.

Ross’ bond has been set $5,000.

 

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