^Image from his Facebook page; the paper taped to the plate says, “Yeah, I’m the guy who wants ‘IM GAY’ on his license plate. Did I hear you say you got a problem with that?”
By: Nikita Blue
Keith Kimmel, a 28 year old Oklahoma college student, was found dead on Wednesday, March 31st. There’s nothing extremely unusual about a dead guy most of the time, but the events which led up to this brave man’s death leave behind a stench of corruption and prejudice.
Keith’s fifteen minutes of fame began with a simple request for personalized license plates. Plastered on his neighbor’s bumpers were things like “STR8SXI” and “STR8FAN.” Since the community was displaying their enthusiasm for straightness on the back ends of their vehicles, Keith thought he might go ahead and express his gayness. However, when he asked for the “IM GAY” plate, he was denied. Their reason? According to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the gay nature of the plate may be “offensive to the general public.” I suppose that is a matter of perspective. But what the OTC didn’t know when rejecting his request was that Keith wasn’t just any gay citizen; he was an activist for gay rights.
Initially, Keith sued Oklahoma County on February 10, 2010 to seek fair treatment. His intention was to rightfully obtain his personalized plates. His pursuit of justice was soon documented on the local and national news. On the 26th, he decided to drop the case for approval and amped up the heat to the federal level, in defense of free speech.
Exactly a month after he began his pursuit for justice, on March 26, 2010 he was brutally assaulted at a gay nightclub in Tulsa by city police. According to Keith, a fight broke out in the bar and the police were called. He was forced out of the bar and interrogated. They handcuffed him, slamming him against the hood of a car. Keith says they did not disclose any charges. They dragged him around the parking lot on his stomach, causing severe road rash. He claims that they struck his testicles repeatedly and threatened to dislocate his joints. They made crude remarks about his weight and sexual orientation. They pulled off his pants. They bent his wrists and fingers to inflict pain, informing him that they were trained on how to hurt people “without leaving marks.”
He later awoke in the hospital to find that he hadn’t been charged with anything at all.
He made a verbal complaint via telephone to Corporal Snow on Sunday. Snow told him that he would forward the complaint to Internal Affairs.
Monday, he personally filed an official complaint with the Tulsa Police Department’s Internal Affairs.
Wednesday, he was found dead. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death. Now the Tulsa Police are claiming that he was “aggressive and resistant” during his arrest in an attempt to deflect their accountability.
In the case of the dead gay rights activist, one question looms: where did the charges go? My guess is that they were swept under the TPD rug and left there to stink up the station. Keith Kimmel wouldn’t keep his mouth shut and neither should we.
JOIN US IN THE FIGHT AGAINST KEITH’S ABUSERS
Send a letter to the Tulsa Police Department’s Chief of Police, Ron Palmer, telling him that hate crimes and police abuses should not and will not be tolerated!
FILL UP HIS MAILBOX; DON’T LET HIM DROWN OUT KEITH’S VOICE OR MUFFLE HIS DEATH.
Send a passionate demand for justice to:
Chief Ron Palmer
600 Civic Center
Tulsa, OK 74103-3822