OKC Officer Accused Of Murder Investigated Before

Monday, December 11th 2017, 8:59 am

By: Grant Hermes

The original story reported the 2013 lawsuit was ongoing. It was dismissed in early 2017. The story has been changed to reflect the correction. We regret the error.



Sgt. Keith Sweeney is the first Oklahoma City police officer to be charged with murder in nearly 10 years, but this isn't the first time he's been investigated.

Now, posts on his social media accounts are being seen in new light.

Sweeney was charged in connection with the death of Dustin Pigeon who was reportedly suicidal when police made contact with Pigeon.

Records show Sweeney was involved in the shooting death of another suspect during a pursuit in 2015 but he was not charged in that case.

Sweeney was also involved in a federal civil rights lawsuit stemming from an incident during a traffic stop in 2013. According to the lawsuit, "Sweeney did not have a warrant and [the driver] refused to give consent to search the vehicle… Officer Sweeney proceeded to search the vehicle." Sweeney later arrested the driver and allegedly never read the man his rights. The lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year because the claims were past the statute of limitations.

Then there are posts on from Sweeney on social media. On an account for an apparel company run by Sweeney, he posted several images with violent language like this one reading "I don't need a weapon to hurt you... written laws aren't protecting you... my morality is" and one showing a scene from the violent police drama "End of Watch," reading "tag a friend you'd take to a gun fight."

And then there's this post using the "who's streets? Our streets?" chant. That image was posted more than a month after it was used by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma City Police Department said there was no mention of the department on Sweeney's pages, and while they don't have control over his private business, they don't support advocating for vigilantism or violence.