Sheila Buck appeared inside the Tulsa County Courthouse Friday morning — and she made it clear her convictions haven’t changed at all since she was arrested outside former President Donald Trump’s rally four years ago.
According to court records, Tulsa police arrested Buck on June 20, 2020 at the request of security hired by the Trump campaign. Buck, who was 62 at the time, tried to enter the rally by herself while wearing a shirt that said “I Can’t Breathe.” The slogan is significant for its connection to the death of George Floyd.
She’s been charged with misdemeanor obstruction for not leaving when officers asked.
Now 67, Buck lives in her hometown Kansas City — a decision she made after the arrest.
“I felt like I needed to leave my job because I was a school teacher in a private school, and I was under somewhat scrutiny and persecution, and I felt like I had to move. So I left the town of Tulsa that I had lived in for 30 years,” she said.
Buck will go to trial Sept. 9 for her charge.
‘I feel strongly in my right to do what I did’
Buck was booked in the Tulsa County Adult Detention Center Friday morning on a warrant issued in connection with the misdemeanor charge, which was dismissed at the request of the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office.
When she showed up in court later Friday morning, she was wearing the shirt she was arrested in.
“I feel strongly in my right to do what I did. I feel strongly in my right to wear a t-shirt that says ‘I Can’t Breathe,’” she said.
Buck’s attorney Dan Smolen believes Tulsa police violated his client’s First Amendment rights because the city didn’t issue the Trump campaign a permit outside the BOK Center, where she was arrested.
“The only people inside the fence are the people who are welcome by the event people,” TPD officer Matt Parker told Buck after he arrested her. “The event staff and security decided that they did not want you at the event, they uninvited you, even though you had a ticket… So they decided you were no longer welcome, and then, you were trespassing.”
Depositions Smolen has filed in the case claim Tulsa officials have not provided sufficient proof that the city issued an event permit for the fenced-off area where Buck was arrested. Smolen argues an event permit would have temporarily made the fenced-off area private property, and thus would have allowed TPD to arrest Buck at the Trump campaign’s request.
At a pretrial hearing Friday, Judge Kasey Baldwin noted the area was federally restricted. Smolen claims this doesn’t matter because Trump’s re-election campaign was a private entity.
“She was on a public street. Whether it was on a federally-protected area or not does not give a private entity the ability to remove a person because they don’t like the content of their speech. The Secret Service had nothing to do with the arrest and detainment of Sheila Buck,” he said.
Buck was one of scores of protesters who demonstrated against Trump's visit to Tulsa. They demonstrated throughout downtown the entire day of the rally.
Assistant District Attorney Tara Britt said at the Friday hearing that Buck could have protested "just like everyone else" without issue if she was outside the perimeter.
Free speech and the mayor
Smolen also claimed the arrest is a First Amendment violation, but Baldwin said such an infraction would be a civil matter, not a criminal one.
But Smolen is also representing Buck in a federal civil case against the city in connection with her arrest. In the lawsuit, Buck claims the city violated her First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Smolen said. “This goes to every single American’s civil right to voice their opinion in a public forum and not be arrested for it.”
Tulsa city councilors voted 6-3 in June 2023 to deny Buck her requested settlement of at least $1 million in the civil case. Mayor G.T. Bynum was in each closed meeting where councilors discussed the settlement.
Smolen is trying to get Bynum to testify in Buck’s trial. He claims Bynum had lifted a restriction on the area where Buck was arrested from a previous curfew, and said he was discussing her arrest with other city officials “in real time” over a group chat.
Lawyers for the city and the district attorney’s office argued Bynum did not text the group chat “in real time.” And Kasey argued Bynum doesn’t have direct authority over event permits, even if he’s in charge of the city employee who does.
“I do not believe that a mayor would be the proper person to testify, foundationally, on a number of issues,” Baldwin said.
Attorney for the city Michelle McGrew accused Smolen of trying to "make a circus out of" the trial by having Bynum testify.
In response to Baldwin and McGrew, Smolen referenced a document filed in Buck's civil case citing previous cases arguing Bynum "possesses significant, unique knowledge highly relevant" to the case, including conversations with Trump and TPD's chief prior to the arrest. This is disputed by sworn testimony by Bynum but supported by deposition of a Secret Service agent, the document reads.
Smolen said he expects Baldwin to make a decision on whether Bynum can testify the week of the trial.
