Unveiling Injustice: The Oklahoma Race Attacks of 1973/74

 Theodore G. X (pictured)., a controversial leader associated with the Nation of Islam, accompanied by approximately 20 individuals, arrived at police headquarters and demanded the release of Brooks and McNelley. Theodore expressed concern that if their demands were not met, it could potentially create an opportunity for “other groups” to exploit the situation, thereby suggesting that police officers might face risks on the east side of town. Eventually, sometime later, Brooks was released.  

In the early hours of the morning, two individuals wake a white family residing at 1130 NE 20th Street, Oklahoma City (pictured). Despite their persistent efforts, one of the residents named Ryan Caldwell, aged 32, refuses to unlock the door, prompting the assailants to resort to violence. They discharge their firearms, penetrating the door and striking Ryan multiple times. Fortunately, he manages to survive the ordeal. In a separate incident that occurred at a later time, Northeast High School’s auditorium suffers significant damage due to a series of deliberate fires deliberately set by unknown individuals. The fires, suspected to be acts of arson, ravage the auditorium, causing substantial harm. Three African American males pull up alongside a car in the vicinity of NW 38 Street, Oklahoma City and shoot Patricia Hall in the head with a shotgun. She survives.  Later that morning — Seven firebombs go off at the Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center, causing minor damage. A small fire erupts at Wehba’s Grocery Store, 1235 N Kelham Street. 

Upon leaving Uncle Charlie’s Club at 1600 Northwest Expressway (pictured inside of DeVille Motor Hotel), Lynn Marie Nunn falls victim to an abduction perpetrated by an African American male. In a terrifying ordeal, she is coerced to remove her clothing and compelled to lie on the floorboards of the vehicle. However, displaying incredible bravery and quick thinking, Lynn Marie takes a daring leap of faith by throwing herself out of the moving car, managing to escape her captor’s clutches. 

 Around midnight Judy Webb, 18, and her roommate, Karen Trantham, 23, left the Apartment Key Club (pictured) at 2525 NW 10th St. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The women, both white, were sitting inside their car when two black men approached. One had a gun. The men forced the roommates to strip naked and get in the trunk of the car. Near the 6500 block of Coltrane, the women were released and told to walk down a dirt road. Then the shooting started. “Webb was killed in the barrage of small-caliber bullets fired by their assailants,” The Oklahoman reported. “Though wounded … Trantham was able to run to a house about a block away and get help.” What happened that night continued a chain of violence that began on June 17, 1973, police said. The Webb-Trantham shootings weren’t the first, nor were they the last, but they were, perhaps, the most pivotal. Trantham lived. Later, she identified Alfred X. Brooks as one of her attackers. For the first time, there was a solid tie to the Nation of Islam. 

Tragedy strikes at Ken’s Pizza, located at 1424 W Lindsey Street in Norman, Oklahoma as Carlton Fields, 24, and Jerry Hohne, 23, fall victim to a fatal shooting. Despite the gravity of their injuries, Carlton Fields manages to hold on to life for approximately four hours. During this time, he provides a crucial description of the assailant, identifying the perpetrator as an African American male donning a green uniform and wielding a sizable pistol, possibly a .357 caliber. The investigation into this horrific incident is underway to bring justice to the victims and uncover the motives behind this senseless act of violence.