Yes, it happened 26 years ago. Yes, Acorn has been around at least that long. And Senator Inhofe himself has brought the story to the fore again. He's that confidant of winning his race against Andrew Rice in Oklahoma. And he's probably right. This story might even help him in this red state.
In a recent interview with the Alva newspaper (yes, that's where KKK pamplets turned up wrapped around Sunday newspapers a few weeks ago), he spoke proudly of the incident.
. . . . after the fold . . . .
At the time, in 1982, Inhofe was Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"Acorn led these Cubans to my house to protest," the Alva Review-Courier quotes Inhofe as saying. "My wife called me frantically saying they were trying to break in."
Inhofe said he went home and spoke to the protesters in Spanish, telling them, "I have guns in my house. If you're not off my property in one minute, I'll kill all of you."
Inhofe confirmed the story through a spokesman, saying: "I asked the protesters to leave my property and told them I would shoot if necessary. That is how serious the threat truly was. I think all Oklahomans can understand my willingness to go to any length in the protection of my family."
Newspaper accounts published at the time of the incident say that Inhofe dispersed the crowd by speaking in a combination of English and Spanish. They don't mention his threats to shoot the group. They quote Inhofe as telling the group: "You can come to my office. I don't want you coming to my house to harass my family."
According to the old accounts, police were at the scene, but they don't mention any attempted break-in or threat to his family. It seems that Acorn and Inhofe's administration had several altercations.
The cause of this riot seems to have stemmed from efforts by Acorn to settle Cuban refugees from the 1980 Mariel boatlift in empty houses owned by what was then the Tulsa Urban Renewal Authority.
Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairman Ivan Holmes condemned Inhofe's "oddball remarks":
"Jim Inhofe's vicious attacks against anybody who challenges him or disagrees with him are no surprise. However I was surprised to hear Inhofe boast that he once threatened to kill a small group of protesters who appeared at his home while he was mayor of Tulsa."
Tulsa World story