Leaders within the Oklahoma City Asian American community are urging police reform after the release of footage from an incident involving a 71-year-old Vietnamese-American man.
Footage from the Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD) depicts a forceful exchange between the officer and the elderly man, Licha Vu.
“We were forewarned it would be significant,” said Thuan Nguyen, president-elect for Vietnamese American Communities of Oklahoma, with KFOR.
Nguyen continues, “You shouldn’t argue with the cop, but in certain cases, I feel like we should be able to give and be given an opportunity to hear our side of the story before a citation gets issued.”
In the footage, Vu attempts to explain the situation multiple times. Nguyen said Vu could speak English, but there seemed to be a language barrier during the exchange.
Speaking to KOCO, Nguyen said, “Many, many times in many certain situations, we have language barriers that sometimes police or people in different areas don’t understand.”
Asian leaders have since met with the OKCPD to discuss reform, such as implementing “language translation devices” for officers in these cases.
Though the department already has translators on staff, Nguyen says, “They’re going to try to invest in language translation services for police officers when they’re approaching a person that has a language barrier.”
OKCPD released a statement on social media in English and Vietnamese alongside the footage, stating the department is “dedicated to transparency and accountability,” initiating an internal investigation while the officer is on administrative leave.
“We want our community to know that this case is being thoroughly investigated, and the review process will take time to complete. We ask for your patience as we work to conclude this investigation.”
On October 27th, the body camera and store surveillance video reveal Vu refusing a ticket from the officer, whose identity remains undisclosed.
The officer, getting exasperated, warns, “If you don’t sign this, you go to jail,” to which Vu responds, “I’m ready [to] go to jail.”
After the officer responds to the other party involved in the crash, Vu taps the officer’s chest and tells him to “Shut up.”
The officer then forcefully throws Vu to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement. While unconscious, the officer then handcuffs Vu.
“There’s no excuses for anyone to use excessive force like that on anyone,” said Nguyen to FOX 25.
Vu was suffering from bone cancer at the time of the incident and has since remained in the hospital, going “in and out of consciousness, but [is] stable,” according to Vu’s family members with KFOR.
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