Of the seven people running for Oklahoma County Sheriff, it’s hard to imagine that any of them could have a worse record than Mike Christian. If you live in Oklahoma County I’m sure you’ve been receiving his almost daily mailers touting the Purple Heart award he received as an OHP trooper. As if that makes him qualified to be our sheriff. But there are a lot of things in Mike Christian’s background that will never be on his mailers because they show dishonesty, unethical behavior and just plain shadiness.
Here’s what he doesn’t want you to know.
NewsOK – The Republican candidate for Oklahoma County sheriff was disciplined while a state trooper for misconduct involving a female police cadet and for lying during an internal
affairs investigation, a notice of the action shows.Mike Christian also was disciplined for bringing beers to cadets at the Oklahoma Police Corps academy in Ada.
Christian was found to have violated the patrol’s rules of conduct while a counselor in 2001 at the patrol-run police academy for college graduates. After the internal affairs investigation,
Christian was suspended in 2002 for two days.Specifically, Christian was disciplined for conduct unbecoming an officer, for “immoral conduct,” for an alcohol beverage violation and for failure to be truthful, the notice shows.
The notice is dated Feb. 1, 2002.
Asked about the discipline, Christian on Thursday acknowledged he had violated patrol rules.
The internal affairs investigation of Christian, and other troopers at the academy, was ordered in 2001 by Jerry Cason, then assistant chief at the Highway Patrol. The investigation found
clear violations of patrol policies, Cason recalled.“It’s just something that you don’t do,” Cason told The Oklahoman last week. “It’s just bad judgment, poor judgment. … All of the individuals involved were removed from the program
and disciplined.”Christian in 2001 initially denied any inappropriate activity with a female cadet, saying he
had been behind closed doors with Cadet Rachel Duncan only as an academy counselor, the
disciplinary notice shows.He admitted, in a subsequent interview in 2002, that he had spent several nights at Cadet Duncan’s house in Okemah, kissed her while she was still in the academy and gave her a personal cellphone to use, the notice shows. He called her house from his state cellphone seven times from July 22, 2001, through Sept. 2, 2001, the notice shows.
About the alcohol violation, Christian admitted taking beer to the academy area and sharing the beer with cadets one time, according to the notice. He told an investigator he did this because some of the cadets were talking of quitting, he wanted to help them and he felt this would ease the tension. By policy, troopers could not bring an alcohol beverage into any patrol facility unless it was evidence or officially authorized.
NewsOK – Oklahoma County sheriff’s candidate Mike Christian was reprimanded for misconduct while a trooper after being accused of participating in a toast that a judge should die, newly discovered documents show.
The judge the day before had ruled against a group seeking to return the Confederate flag to the state Capitol. The group, a chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, filed a lawsuit in
1998 in Oklahoma County District Court.Christian also was reprimanded for drinking alcohol off duty that same night at a questionable establishment.
Christian last year denied to The Oklahoman that he had been disciplined over those accusations. He also specifically denied participating in any toast.
“That was not me,” he said.
“My gosh, that was so long ago,” he said last year. “There was nobody that was reprimanded. I think everybody was exonerated, if I remember right.”
However, court records obtained Thursday by The Oklahoman show he was reprimanded for “conduct unbecoming an officer” over the incident on the evening of Oct. 30, 1998.
If Mike Christian is going to use his time with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol as his qualification to be sheriff then it is incumbent upon voters to examine his record with the OHP. Clearly, his eight and a half years as a trooper show willful disdain for policy, unethical behavior, lying to internal affairs investigators looking into his behavior and lying to reporters about being reprimanded.
Christian also says his time as a legislator makes him qualified to be sheriff. I fail to see how holding one elected office makes you qualified for another elected office, but okay, we’ll run with it and take a look at some things from his time as a legislator.
In 2012, Christian was awarded $61,560 in workers’ compensation benefits for injuries from a traffic accident in 2009. He was on his way to the Capitol and carpooling with his wife but a judge ruled that he was ‘on the job’ and awarded benefits. The judge also ruled that Christian has an 18 percent partial disability to his cervical spine and an 18 percent permanent disability to his lumbar spine from the accident This is in addition to the permanent disability he claims he received from a traffic accident while working for OHP. All these disabilities make me wonder how can a guy with this many physical disabilities possibly be a sheriff? Taking a medical retirement from the highway patrol says to me that Christian no longer believes he is physically capable of being a peace officer.
Christian has claimed he is pro-gun and a Second Amendment supporter. Earlier this week someone asked on his campaign’s Facebook page if he is “100% 2A.” His answer was, “Yes.”
That is not true.
The Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association has a video exposing Christian’s anti-gun bias.
I posted a link to this video in answer to that person’s question and within an hour the link was removed and I was banned from posting on Christian’s Facebook page.
Also while serving in the state legislature, Christian was eyed in a corruption investigation that ended with two legislators being convicted of bribery.
State Representative Randy Terrill was convicted of offering a bribe to State Senator Debbie Leftwich to withdraw from her race to be re-elected so his good friend, Mike Christian, could seek the office. The bribe was an $80,000 per year position at the state Medical Examiner’s Office that Terrill encouraged officials to create for Leftwich. Christian had announced he would be seeking Leftwich’s Senate seat but after the investigation was announced, he suddenly changed his mind and ran for re-election to the House.
Christian was never charged with a crime but this doesn’t pass the smell test. Anyone with an ounce of common sense is not going to believe that Terrill would commit bribery to help his good buddy, Mike Christian, get elected to the Senate, but never tell his friend what he’s doing to help him.
On page three of the affidavit of probable cause in the case, Gary Eastridge, chief investigator for the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office stated, “Christian was interested in the Senate seat because his ultimate goal was to seek election to the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s position. The Senate seat and the Sheriff’s position are not on the same election cycle. Therefore, Christian could run for Sheriff without being required to step down from his position as a state senator if he was successful in his campaign for Senate District 44.”
Page four of Eastridge’s affidavit provides the timeline for Christian realizing the jig was up. “On May 31, 2010, Christian announced that he was running for Senate District 44. When this investigation became known to the public on June 4, 2010, Christian decided not to run for Senate District 44 and announced that he would seek re-election to his House District.”
Christian’s problems continued with his campaign for sheriff last year. While running against incumbent Sheriff John Whetsel, Christian sent out a mailer claiming endorsements from former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating, U.S. Senator James Lankford, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole and U.S. Rep. Steve Russell. Only Keating’s endorsement was genuine. When questioned about the mailer, Christian said it was the result of a misunderstanding by his campaign staff. He added, “We are surprised that this has become such an issue.”
Clearly, Mike Christian has displayed time and time again that he flouts rules, official policy and the law when it suits him. He would be the absolute worst choice for Oklahoma County Sheriff.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am supporting Brett Macy for sheriff. His record, experience and education are unmatched and his reputation in the law enforcement community is impeccable. Residents of Oklahoma County would be well served by electing Macy our next sheriff.
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