The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is reviewing a case in which a worker at the Seaboard Foods pork plant in Guymon, Oklahoma, was fatally shot by a member of the Guymon Police Department (GPD).
The GPD was dispatched to the plant in the 2700 block of Cactus Drive in Guymon in reference to a report of an agitated employee, identified as Chiewelthap Mariar. According to a press release on the OSBI Facebook page, while officers were speaking to Mariar, he allegedly drew a knife and began advancing toward the officers. While the OSBI said it appeared that officers tried to de-escalate the situation, they eventually tried to use a taser on the suspect, but those efforts were apparently unsuccessful, so an officer fired his service weapon and shot Mariar.
Mariar, originally from Sudan, was transported to the local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Union: Shooting seemed unjustified
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) District Union Local 2, a union that represents workers at the Seaboard plant, in a press release, is calling for a “strict and impartial” federal investigation of the incident, suggesting that officers actually escalated the situation and used more force than was necessary.
“Chiewelthap’s senseless death shows that workplace issues should be dealt with sensitively in order to de-escalate them, with the police called on to intervene only when necessary to protect workers’ lives and address serious safety concerns,” Martin Rosas, president of the local union said.
“The local police did not take sufficient measures to protect our members and this worker – brandishing their weapons and ultimately taking the life of a 26-yar-old young man who had his whole life before him. To think Mr. Mariar and his family came to this country to escape the violence and strife of Sudan, settled in Guymon, Oklahoma, to contribute to the economy of our country and died senselessly on the shop floor. We can do better. Chiewelthap, his family, his community and his fellow workers deserve justice.”
Seaboard Corporation is the parent company of Seaboard Foods, a major U.S. pork producer. According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, it also has a milling division that produces animal feed in 11 countries, and jointly owns U.S. turkey company Butterball with Goldsboro Milling.
