A man who was forcibly removed from a medical marijuana meeting is now suing the Rogers County Sheriff.
“I still feel his hands on my throat, to be honest with you,” Chip Paul, chairman of Oklahomans for Health, told KJRH. “It’s not leaving marks clearly but I still feel his hands on my throat. I certainly still feel the bump on my head where they ran me through the door.”
Paul, who is a supporter of State Question 788, was attending a meeting on Monday that was being held by the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office against the passage of medical marijuana.
Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton says deputies did remove Paul from the meeting because he was being disruptive.
“I told him to be quiet and you’ll have your time to talk. He turned around and continued to talk and carry on the same way he did before, disruptive,” Sheriff Walton said.
Paul disputes that, saying he just raised his hand to make a comment. Instead, he believes that he was removed because tensions were running high throughout the room.
“They had people asking questions and really questioning this ‘no’ narrative that, frankly, is not true, and I think people were calling that out,” he said.
Both men say that Sheriff Walton wrapped his hands around Paul’s neck and forced him out of the meeting. The sheriff says it was the only way to grab him since he was sitting down.
“They were there only strong enough to gain control of him. It was effective. It worked,” he said.
Paul claims that his head was then rammed into the door on the way out of the room.
On Wednesday, Paul filed a civil lawsuit against Sheriff Walton, asking for $75,000 for the alleged assault and battery.
In the documents, Paul says his civil rights were violated and that him being escorted out of the meeting was unwarranted.
