Oklahoma Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit by Tulsa Massacre Survivors

The suit was filed in 2020 by three survivors of the incident where 300 black Americans were believed to have been killed.

Viola Ford Fletcher, a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, is pictured at the House General Government Committee meeting at the Oklahoma Capitol, Oct. 5, 2023. Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman via AP

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, ruling that their grievances were legitimate but didn’t fall within the scope of the state’s public nuisance statute and that their allegations were insufficiently supported in other ways.

“We affirm the District Court’s July 12, 2023 Final Order of Dismissal with Prejudice,” the nine-member Oklahoma Supreme Court wrote in its June 12 opinion.