OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has canceled plans to deliver a speech to a group of Oklahoma City police cadets amid a planned protest by conservative lawmakers and organizations.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon says Holder will still be traveling to Oklahoma City on Thursday — but because of a late departure from Washington D.C., he is unable to make the speech.

U.S. District Judge Vickie Miles LaGrange will speak instead to the 42 graduating police cadets.

Holder's planned visit to Oklahoma City drew the ire of several conservative lawmakers, including two-term Republican U.S. Rep. James Lankford, who said Holder's visit was "incredibly inappropriate."