Sue Ogrocki/AP
An all white jury has been selected in the trial against a former Oklahoma City police officer accused of sexual assaulting 13 Black women.
Daniel Holtzclaw, 28, was a Oklahoma City police officer who allegedly sexually assaulted 13 women between December 2013 and June 2014 while on duty. All of the victims were Black women. Holtzclaw faces 36 counts of rape, sexual battery and other charges that carry a possible sentence of life in prison.
Holtzclaw, 28, was arrested in August 2014 after an investigation uncovered similarities to unsolved assault reports. Detectives were able to identify six more women who said they’d been assaulted, raped, or forced to expose themselves to Holtzclaw.
A recent report by the Associated Press has found at least 1,000 officers from 2009-2014, had been decertified for sexual assault and acts of sexual misconduct.
Holtzclaw faces 36 charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
Eight white men and four white women will serve on the jury for Daniel Holtzclaw. One male and one female have been selected as alternates. Prosecutors said they plan to call about 80 witnesses during the trial, which is expected to last for most of November.
Witness testimony began late Tuesday afternoon. Many on social media commented on the lack of media coverage of the case:
#DanielHoltzclaw trial begins today. It should be trending nationwide and covered on every news station. pic.twitter.com/6wTqA3MEO8
— Kirsten West Savali (@KWestSavali) November 2, 2015
If #DanielHoltzclaw had been brutalizing white women, his trial would be grabbing international headlines…
— Stereo Williams (@stereowilliams) November 3, 2015
There isn’t as much news coverage of the #DanielHoltzclaw case today as I thought it’d be from the traditional print news outlets.
— deray mckesson (@deray) November 3, 2015
Others, criticized the lack of diversity and representation in the jury selection:
No Black women on a jury where a cop serially targeted Black women for sexual violence. #DanielHoltzclaw
— Trudy (@thetrudz) November 3, 2015
In what universe does it make sense that in a city where there are 100 females for every 95.6 males the jury is 67% male? #DanielHoltzclaw
— Ray Curenton (@MiddleNameRay) November 3, 2015
