Former teacher receives $700k settlement from City of Tulsa after 2020 arrest at Trump rally

A former Tulsa teacher is getting $700,000 from the City of Tulsa to settle a lawsuit after she was arrested outside of President Donald Trump's rally in 2020.

Sheila Buck's attorney says this settlement is a victory for the First Amendment.

Sheila Buck has a sense of relief after her attorney says she stood up for what she believed was right, and it paid off for her. 

Arrested for protesting

During President Donald Trump's campaign rally five years ago, Sheila Buck was covering her face and sitting inside a fenced-off security zone.

The campaign asked Tulsa Police to remove her from the restricted area, and she was arrested and later charged with obstruction.

"That case was dismissed by the court," said Dan Smolen, Buck's attorney. "The Tulsa County District Attorney's office appealed that. They also refiled new charges. She was arrested on the subsequent charges again."

A Tulsa jury found Buck not guilty on the misdemeanor charge in September of 2024.

Asking for justice

Buck sued the city of Tulsa.

Smolen says she sued because the arrest and what followed caused her to live in a nightmare.

"She was receiving multiple death threats," he said. "She had to quit her job, she had to move out of the city that she loved, move out of state, stopped working in the profession as a school teacher that she cared so much about."

Receiving justice

The City of Tulsa decided to settle with Buck and offered her a million dollars in June of 2023, but the city council didn't approve that amount. Now, the City has settled for $700,000.

"I feel like it was a positive result at the end of the day," said Smolen.

Because it's under a million dollars, the city council doesn't have to approve it.

"The city council, I don't think that they're well informed a lot of the times about what's going on with the pending litigation against the city, so the fact that I don't have to jump through that hurdle is nice," said Smolen.

The City of Tulsa's response

News On 6 asked the City of Tulsa for a comment, but they didn't provide one.

What's next for Sheila Buck?

Smolen says he plans to file a claim against the Tulsa County District Attorney's office for filing the charge.

Tulsa District Attorney's comment

"As you might expect, commenting on allegations which have not been filed is not something our office does. If anything is filed, it will be referred to the appropriate civil litigation division of the state for handling."