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NORMAN, Okla.–The Black Wall Street Times has obtained video from Norman Police Department showing a mutual fight between two people, appearing to refute claims made by a man who said he was the victim of an antisemitic hate crime.
Harrison Hipp told local media he was heading toward a bar on the popular district near the University of Oklahoma early Sunday, Sept. 15, when he was attacked by a stranger, whose friends joined in and jumped him.
Video obtained from Norman PD, however, shows Harrison Hipp continually engaging in a verbal and physical altercation with one other man. While the video is fuzzy, instead of fleeing, it shows Hipp continuing to approach the man and his group.
In our previous report, Norman PD told the Black Wall Street Times hate crime allegations were being considered as part of the investigation.
By Friday, however, police reversed course. “The reporting party, initially reported as the victim, was shown on video to be the aggressor of the fights and repeatedly engages the other individual showcasing a series of mutual combat,” Norman PD stated.
Read: Campus Corner attack: Norman PD investigate potential hate crime
Read: Alleged hate crime victim was actually aggressor, Norman PD says
A breakdown of “mutual combat”
The video begins with Hipp already in a verbal altercation with someone off screen. Hipp then appears to walk backwards while motioning for someone to come at him.
With both men in the street, the pair appear to yell at each other before the man lunges toward Hipp. After a quick tussle, the man easily takes Hipp to the ground where he continues punching him.
The crowd stares over the pair on the ground, while what appears to be Hipp’s girlfriend engages in a pushing match with a few of the people standing over the fight as she tries to help get her boyfriend off the ground. The group does try to prevent Rodriguez from helping Hipp off the ground.
Norman PD Video: Alleged victim repeatedly returns for more fighting
At roughly a minute and 25 seconds into the video, the man is pulled off Hipp. When Hipp gets up, instead of running away as he described in initial reports, he runs after the man and punches him.
At this point, Hipp is taken to the ground again while someone tries to pull the man off him. Eventually, the man gets up, leaving Hipp on the ground. For roughly another minute people are standing over Hipp. When he gets up, he retrieves items on the ground and heads toward a red car parked near the sidewalk, where he places some items inside.
Next, Hipp again lunges at someone off screen, who turns out to be the man he’s been fighting. The two begin fighting again. The man punches Hipp twice, and he falls to the ground, stopping traffic.
Finally, several people appear to help Hipp get back to the red car, where a large crowd of young people are hanging around. Another fight begins, but it’s unclear who initiated it.
Hipp is then seen running around the street holding a hat high in his hand. He told local media the fight began when someone tried to steal his hat. It’s unclear whose hat Hipp is holding in the video, but the other man begins chasing Hipp around the street.
When the man finally catches Hipp, his punches land and Hipp once again falls to the ground.
Hipp told local media police didn’t respond to his 9-11 call, but the video ends with Hipp driving past nearly half a dozen uniformed officers without stopping.
Hipp calls Norman PD liars despite video
In an email to this reporter following our previous report Sunday night, Harrison Hipp claimed Norman PD was lying.
“You recently put out an article claiming I was an aggressor. I assure you that I was beaten and robbed by multiple Nazis one week ago. What the police have said about me is lies and slander. They have no footage,” Hipp wrote to the Black Wall Street Times. “The Nazis jumped me in the street.”
The video obtained from Norman PD appears to be taken from a business on Campus Corner. It doesn’t have audio, so it’s not clear whether antisemitic slurs were uttered, but Hipp’s account doesn’t appear to match what is shown on camera.
The Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file charges.
Watch the full video below:
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly quoted Emily Rodriguez as saying she tried to get multiple people off of Hipp. She tried to pull the first attacker off of him.