Editing Tulsa race massacre (section)

====John A. Gustafson====
Chief of Police John A. Gustafson was the subject of an investigation. Official proceedings began on June 6, 1921. He was prosecuted on multiple counts: refusing to enforce prohibition, refusing to enforce anti-prostitution laws; operating a stolen automobile-laundering racket and allowing known automobile thieves to escape justice, for the purpose of extorting the citizens of Tulsa for rewards relating to their return; repurposing vehicles for his own use or sale; operating a fake detective agency for the purpose of billing the city of Tulsa for investigative duties he was already being paid for as chief of police; failing to enforce gun laws; and failure to take action during the riots.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/1180/rec/1 |title=Accusation District Court State of Oklahoma v. John A. Gustafson, Attorney General Civil Case No. 1062 |access-date=December 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204151357/http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/1180/rec/1 |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The attorney general of Oklahoma received numerous letters alleging members of the police force had conspired with members of the justice system to threaten witnesses in corruption trials stemming from the Grand Jury investigations. In the letters, various members of the public requested the presence of the state attorney general at the trial.<ref name="Seeber">{{cite web |url=http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/788/rec/14 |title=Letter C. J. Seeber to S. P. Freeling, Attorney General |date=July 8, 1921 |access-date=December 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203152156/http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/788/rec/14 |archive-date=December 3, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kinion">{{cite web |url=http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/ref/collection/race-riot/id/782 |title=Letter Archie A. Kinion to S. P. Freeling, Attorney General |date=July 7, 1921 |access-date=December 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204011105/http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/ref/collection/race-riot/id/782 |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> An assistant of the attorney general replied to one such letter by stating that their budget was too stretched to respond and recommending instead that the citizens of Tulsa simply vote for new officers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/791/rec/1 |title=Letter Assistant Attorney General to R. J. Churchill |date=July 27, 1921 |access-date=December 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203152209/http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/791/rec/1 |archive-date=December 3, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Gustafson was found to have a long history of fraud pre-dating his membership in the Tulsa Police Department. His previous partner in his detective agency, Phil Kirk, had been convicted of blackmail.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/1274/rec/9 |title=Local Findings on John A. Gustafson, Attorney General Civil Case No. 1062; Page 1 |access-date=December 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209165235/http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/1274/rec/9 |archive-date=December 9, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Gustafson's fake detective agency ran up high billings on the police account. Investigators noted that many blackmail letters had been sent to members of the community from the agency. One particularly disturbing case involved the frequent rape, by her father, of an 11-year-old girl who had since become pregnant. Instead of prosecuting, they sent a "[[black Hand (extortion)|Blackhand]] letter".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/1307/rec/16 |title=Witness Statements taken by R. E. Maxey, Attorney General Civil Case No. 1062 |pages=2–3 |access-date=December 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204005819/http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/race-riot/id/1307/rec/16 |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 30, 1921, out of five counts of an indictment, Gustafson was found guilty of two counts: negligence for failing to stop the riot (which resulted in dismissal from police force), and conspiracy for freeing automobile thieves and collecting rewards (which resulted in a jail sentence).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86056950/1921-07-30/ed-1/seq-1/ |title=The Chicago whip. (Chicago, Ill.) 1919–19??, July 30, 1921, Image 1 |first=National Endowment for the |last=Humanities |date=July 30, 1921 |via=chroniclingamerica.loc.gov }}</ref>