FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2011

Republican House Member Involved in Alleged Altercation

Oklahoma State House Representative Aaron Stiles (R-Norman) has been accused of aggressively intruding on a group of attendees at a women’s rights event. .

The event occurred on March 3, 2011 at the Oklahoma Memorial Union in Norman during “Why Women’s History Matters,” an event sponsored by The Center for Social Justice.  In th same building, the Eden Clinic, a pro-life group based out of Norman, held a banquet Rep. Stiles attended.  According to a letter written by Susan Sharpe to The Oklahoma Daily, Stiles interrupted a group of people talking, took pictures of them in a harassing manner, and then told them he had called the police. Susan Sharpe, an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, filed a police report on the matter. Stiles released a statement accusing the women of protesting the Eden Clinic’s event and participating in a conspiracy theory to cover up the protest.

An investigative article by Matt Bruenig of The Oklahoma Daily, found discrepancies in Stiles version of events concluding “in Stiles story, we have two provable lies and one conspiracy theory that is laughable at best.”

The article also looked into Stiles’ past exposing at least three police reports filed against him for public, angry and threatening outbursts in public.

Todd Goodman, Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, said this behavior is unacceptable for an elected official of any rank.

“If these allegations turn out to be true, Rep. Stiles should be reprimanded, and voters should hold him accountable,” Goodman said. “I find it questionable Stiles has all these allegations against him, yet maintains all are untrue. If this is a pattern of behavior, Republican leadership should insist on reprimanding him and doing what they can to stop it.  Elected officials have a responsibility to hold themselves to a higher degree of performance and public decorum.  This is not only a gross negligence of that duty; but it also is disgusting behavior for any human being--public official or private citizen.”

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