TULSA, Okla. — The last two living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and their attorneys said they're going to try again in court to get justice nearly a month after their reparations lawsuit was dismissed.
FOX23 reported when the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled they cannot sue the City of Tulsa using the state's public nuisance laws .
However, the survivor's attorneys argue the court's decision revealed new grounds and new reasons they should be allowed to go to trial.
The petition for a rehearing was filed Tuesday morning, but it has not been given a date to be heard before the justices.
Their attorneys held a news conference with them at the Greenwood Cultural Center on Tuesday and laid out their next move. It's the first public response since their historic case was thrown out by Oklahoma's highest court last month.
"We are profoundly disappointed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to reject our lawsuit and are deeply saddened that we may not live long enough to see the state of Oklahoma or the United States honestly confront and right the wrongs of one the darkest days of American history," said 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle (109) and Viola Ford Fletcher (110).
FOX23 spoke with Damario Solomon-Simmons, the attorney for the case.
He said the state supreme court misunderstood what the survivors were asking for.
"They talked about a case that asked for a 'constructive trust,' but we didn't ask for a 'constructive trust,' we asked for an unjust enrichment claim," he said. "We didn't get the opportunity to even replead or try to fix it to the way that they would like us to do."
In addition to filing for a new petition, the survivors also called upon President Joe Biden to keep what they say is a promise he made them three years ago when he visited Tulsa. They said Biden verbally promised them three years ago he would personally see to it that they receive some form of justice before they died.
Despite meeting with federal, state and local officials, including the Biden Administration, Solomon-Simmons said everyone wants to talk about getting justice but no one wants to give the survivors any path to get it.
"I'm in pain when we make these losses, I'm in pain when we're dismissed," he said. "I'm in pain looking at Mother Randle and knowing that she's here with me on a press conference. I'm holding back my emotions, my tears."
He said his clients continue to live in a Tulsa that still reaps the benefits of what happened 100 years ago, but refuses to share those benefits with the actual victims and their children and grandchildren.
"Justice is those insurance claims are being paid, justice is those buildings that were destroyed being rebuilt, justice is making sure that no one can move from this issue without saying first and foremost, 'Are the people that were harmed, are they made whole,'" Solomon-Simmons said. "That's justice."
They said they're not done fighting for what they want, and what they want is justice before the last two survivors pass away.
"Ensure that she gets justice that she deserves," Solomon-Simmons said. "She's waiting, she's making the call, she remembers the meeting with the president, she remembers the promise that was made. She wants it to come to flourish."
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