John George | |
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Member of the OklahomaHouseofRepresentatives from the 36th district | |
Assumed office November 16, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Sean Roberts |
Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police President | |
In office 2012–2022 | |
Personal details | |
Political party | Republican |
Residence(s) | Newalla,Oklahoma,U.S. |
Education | East Central University (BA) |
Military service | |
Branch/service | Oklahoma National Guard |
Rank | Second lieutenant |
John George is an American politician who has served as the Oklahoma House of Representatives member from the 36th district since November 16,2022.
George earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from East Central University. [1]
George served five years in the Oklahoma National Guard and reached the rank of second lieutenant before joining the Oklahoma City Police Department in 1991 as a detective. [1] [2]
In 2012 he was elected to serve as the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police (Lodge 123) president. [1] As president of the Fraternal Order of Police,he supported Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley when Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City called for his resignation in 2020. [3] He dismissed criticisms the FOP unfairly defended officers,arguing that officers paid dues for legal defense from the union. [4] He publicly clashed with Oklahoma city councilwoman Jobeth Harmon after she shared a post from Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City labeling police killings of African-Americans as terrorism and comparing it to the Oklahoma City bombing. George described the comments as a "false narrative because we don't have this epidemic of police officers murdering innocent black men in this country." [5] On November 23,2020 five Oklahoma City Police Department officers shot and killed 15-year-old Stavian Rodriguez after he had allegedly assisted 17-year-old Wyatt Cheatham in robbing a gas station. [6] In March 2021,the officers were charged in Oklahoma County. [7] George defended the officer's conduct saying "a loss of life is always a tragedy and we know these officers did not take firing their weapons lightly. The OKC FOP stands by these officers and maintains they acted within the law." [8] He served in that position until he resigned in 2022. [1] The charges against those five officer's where dropped in July 2023 by prosecutor Vicki Behenna. [9]
George announced his campaign for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in June 2021. Since the new legislative maps were not finalized yet,he initially launched his campaign for house district sixty-six to succeed retiring incumbent Representative Jadine Nollan. [10] [11] However,redistricting led him to run in house district 36 which was moved from Osage County. Five Republican candidates ran for the seat formerly occupied by Representative Sean Roberts:Charles De Furia,Donald Paden,Anita Raglin,Wade Roberts,and George. [1] He campaigned on cutting taxes,strengthening marijuana laws,and criminal justice reform without decriminalization. [12] He advanced to a runoff with Anita Raglin. [13] During the runoff election,he was endorsed by Governor Kevin Stitt and the Fraternal Order of Police chapters for Choctaw,Edmond,Norman,Oklahoma City,Oklahoma County Sherriff's office and the state chapter. [14] George won the August runoff,and since no non-Republican candidate filed for the seat the general election was canceled. [15] He was sworn in November 16,2022. [16]
George's bill,House Bill 3694,co-authored by Julie Daniels,would "lower the felony threshold for shoplifting from $1,000 back to $500. This is a SQ 780 rollback that would increase incarceration and essentially set the bar back to where the voters raised it in 2016." A representative of the organization Oklahoma Appleseed called it one of their "Bad Bills." [17] DA Steve Kunzweiler supported HB 3694. It "would revert the minimum value of goods stolen to qualify as a felony larceny back down from $1,000 to just $500." The bill was also criticized by Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform Executive Director Damion Shade. [18] [19] [20]
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