Community Makes Demands After Man Sent To Hospital Following Encounter With Oklahoma City Police Officer

The Vietnamese American Community of Oklahoma said on Tuesday that it is calling for change and accountability after a possible excessive use-of-force case between an Oklahoma City Police officer and one of its members. 

On October 27, 70-year-old Lich Vu argued with a police officer about an improper U-turn citation. Body camera footage showed Vu hitting the officer with the back of his hand and telling him to “shut up.” 

The officer, Joseph Gibson, then threw Vu onto the ground before handcuffing him. 

"A lot of our community is hurting for the Vu family right now," said Thuan Nguyen, President-elect of Vietnamese American Community of Oklahoma. 

Vu and his wife had just gotten out of church. 

"Mr. Vu had mentioned to Mrs. Vu that they wanted to go home to change so they could go to the homeless shelter and serve,” Nguyen explained. “And so that was the direction that they were heading towards when the incident occurred." 

The officer knocked Vu unconscious. Vu went to the hospital and had surgery to repair a brain bleed, where he remained on Tuesday in stable condition. 

Vu, who is also a veteran, has been fading in and out of consciousness, his daughter told News 9. 

Nguyen said Vu’s wife witnessed the incident and is struggling with what happened.

“She's not even able to sleep. She's not even able to eat much. Every time she closes her eyes, she says that there are images of the horrific incident and she just can't get out." 

The Vietnamese American community is now calling for change, the president-elect said. 

"We're going to hold our police officers and police department accountable for holding the proper training for their cadets, their officers,” the organization insisted. “We are their voice. We are out there to help them seek justice for this incident and we're not going to hold back."