CLAREMORE, Okla. – Two days after President Donald Trump won reelection, Claremore police arrested a man they said had been threatening Trump supporters for months.
Tommy Russell “Rusty” Goodman entered the Rogers County jail Nov. 7, 2024, and will likely remain there until his Nov. 3 trial. Goodman pleaded not guilty Nov. 14, 2024, to his five charges: terrorism in the alternative of terrorism hoax, possessing a firearm during commission of a felony, unlawfully possessing marijuana during commission of a felony, impersonating a police officer and unlawfully receiving proceeds derived from violating state law.
Goodman’s attorneys, Mitchell Garrett and Scott Goode, have tried and failed several times since last November to get their client released on bond. The attorneys and Goodman’s wife, Deb Redmon, told reporters at a Wednesday press conference at the Rogers County Courthouse that they believe Goodman has done nothing but voice his political opinions.
“We believe Rusty’s civil rights are being violated by not granting him bond,” Garrett said. “He is being locked up as a political prisoner. … He expressed his political opinions to many people here in and around Claremore and Rogers County leading up to the election, and for that, he was charged with terroristic threat.”
But Goodman’s actions went further than simply expressing his opinions, said Claremore police and District Attorney Matt Ballard.
Two of Goodman’s Trump-supporting neighbors filed a police report against him in October 2024. According to the report, Goodman threatened the neighbors for their views for several months. He said he had orders to shoot people in red hats on Election Day and told one neighbor he’d “take action” against them if civil unrest occurred after the election.
A third neighbor, according to court documents, said Goodman drove his family out of their home for flying a Trump flag. He told officers Goodman vandalized his home with paint and threw dead animals and trash onto his property.
The third neighbor hired a real estate agent to sell his home, according to court documents. The agent showed officers a cell phone video of Goodman accosting her and accusing her of being a “Trump Nazi.”
Court documents also chronicle officers’ reports of Goodman threatening to bring an AK-47 assault rifle to a Claremore bank, flying a Nazi flag from his truck and sending a letter to a neighbor with a Trump flag in their yard addressed to the “Claremore Nazi Party.”
“The particular individual somebody’s supporting has nothing to do with this,” Ballard said. “It’s about the ability of everyone to support whoever they want to and do it in a way that they don’t feel intimidated or harassed. … The reason we’re bringing charges is the threats and his actions. That’s what we’re focused on, and that’s what he’s been charged with.”
Police took Goodman into custody two days after Election Day.
Goode, one of his attorneys, said this proves police arrested him for political reasons.
“If the threat is so grave and so great, why wasn’t Rusty arrested prior to the presidential election?” Goode asked. “That is the culminating point. If something is going to happen, it’s going to happen on Election Day — but no, they waited for days after the election … and have held him without bond since then.”
Steve Cox, chief of the Claremore Police Department, said some of Goodman’s threats were contingent on Trump’s winning the election.
He said officers had been monitoring Goodman in the days leading up to Election Day. When it became clear Trump had won, Cox said officers arrested Goodman to prevent him from acting on the threats.
“If Donald Trump won the presidency, this would occur, that Mr. Goodman was going to be ordered to shoot everybody wearing a red hat,” Cox said. “Donald Trump is still the president the United States of America. He won the election, so to say the threat is over is not true.”
Three months after Goodman’s arrest, Claremore police raided his home on order from Ballard’s office. They confiscated more than $100,000 and an armory’s worth of rifles, handguns, shotguns and ammunition. They also found hand-painted Nazi swastikas and a pile of postcards that read “Trump is a Traitor.”
Ballard said he requested no bond for Goodman because he’s a dangerous individual. In his initial and subsequent findings to reject bail, Judge Terrell Crosson said no condition of release would keep community members safe.
Garrett said this is laughable.
“If he were to be released in the community, he doesn’t have enough money to flee anywhere, and he definitely doesn’t have any firearms to threaten any member of the public with,” Garrett said.
Redmon, Goodman’s wife, said she has stage 3 colon cancer and missed appointments due to her husband’s incarceration, as Goodman was her full-time caregiver until his arrest.
“I just need him home to take care of me,” Redmon said.
Redmon sat on a bench next to her friend, Carole Warren, who wore a black “Free Rusty Goodman” T-shirt. Draped over Redmon’s shoulders was a black and yellow vest inscribed with her husband’s name and patches recognizing his combat service in the Vietnam War.
Garrett said Goodman fought and bled for his country for the right to politically speak his mind. He said it is disrespectful to keep a 73-year-old combat veteran behind bars.
Ballard said he appreciates military service, but it’s offensive to argue the justice system should give veterans special treatment. Cox said he loves every veteran.
“But at the end of the day, to me, this is very simple: If you’re a veteran, if you’re a news media, if you’re a fireman, you cannot make terroristic threats to harm our citizens,” Cox said. “That’s what he did — he terrorized people.”