DOUGLAS G.DRY

Plaintiff,

VS.

CITY OF DURANT, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. CIV 97-344-B

STATE OF OKLAHOMA

COUNTY OF BRYAN

Ben Veenstra, of lawful age, being first duty sworn, upon oath states as follows:

1. On September 2, 1996, 1 was working security for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma during the annual Labor Day Festival as a cross deputized officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I had been briefed by Lead Officer Denison that there was a new tribal law that was in effect that said it was illegal to hand out literature any place on the tribal grounds unless the person had a permit; then they could only hand it out within ten feet of their booth space. This rule was to apply to everyone. I had been briefed by the tribal officers of the occurrences during last years festival by a subject named Doug Dry. They advised me that Mr. Dry had caused a disturbance at the festival last year and he had resisted the officers who were trying to place him under arrest.

2. Throughout the festival my partner officer, Ronnie Hampton, and I had taken action on several subjects for violating the tribal law of passing out political handout while outside of the permitted area. These include a subject who was handing out religious material and even political material for Darryl Roberts, a candidate for U. S. Congress. These persons complied with our requests to dispose of the material if they did not have a booth or return to their booth.

3. I was instructed to detain anyone with literature and explain to them the new law and if they refused to go back to their designated table, to confiscate their literature. If they refused to comply with our request we were to contact a tribal officer, who would take charge and, if proper, place the person under arrest.

4. There was a large crowd gathering for the "car give away" and a speech to be given by Chief Hollis Roberts.

5. I was advised by officer McCreary that a group of people were leaving the booth area by the tribal courthouse with a lot of literature. This was the area that Mr. Dry had reserved for his booth. Officer McCreary advised that these subjects were walking towards the amphitheater. Officer Ronnie Hampton contacted the tribal officers via radio and advised them of the situation.

6. We (other officers) then headed to the amphitheater. We encountered a group of people by the playground walking towards the amphitheater who were carrying a lot of literature. I was the closest officer to the leader of this group of people. I observed Dry pulling out a small tape recorder from his shirt pocket and it appeared that he turned it on and placed it back in his pocket. This subject had literature in his back pockets, and some in his hands.

7. I was wearing a full police uniform and had on a badge. I asked the subject who was in
front of the group if he would talk with me a minute. This person was later identified as Doug Dry. Dry replied "no" and started walking extremely fast away from me in the direction of the
amphitheater. I was walking beside him and advising him of the law he was violating. I attempted
to speak with him as we were walking. Dry refused to stop and speak with me. I wanted to talk with him before he reached the large crowd in the amphitheater because I did not want to cause a scene, knowing of his past history of violence. Dry kept yelling "I have not seen the law." The law was explained by officer Hampton that we were cross deputized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Officer Hampton, Choctaw Tribal Security officer Funderburk and-I followed Dry for about 60 yards. Dry was acting extremely irrational.

8. The officers and I continued to follow Dry and ask him to stop and speak with us. He refused to talk with us and kept up his brisk pace. I was able to get in front of him and as I was asking him to stop and talk with us, he ran into me forcefully with his body, and shoved me with his hand, almost causing me to fall to the ground. At this time I felt that I had been assaulted by Mr. Dry and that the assault was going to continue.

9. I then restrained Dry's arms. Officer Hampton and Funderburk, both of whom had witnessed the assault on me, grabbed Dry's hands so he would not be able to assault us further. Mr. Dry continued to resist forcefully and at one point was dragging us in the direction of the amphitheater. I kept asking Mr. Dry in a clear tone to quit resisting, but he continued. Lead officer Denison arrived at the scene and told us to let Mr. Dry go. As soon as we let him go, Mr. Dry left going toward the amphitheater. I explained to Denison what had occurred and he decided that it would be better to apply for a warrant for Mr. Dry's arrest than to attempt to arrest him in the large crowd. The total confrontation lasted between 30 to 34 seconds.

My Commission Expires: (SEAL)

1-14-2001