World: Terrill Accused Of Picking Fight

By Mick Hinton and Barbara Hoberock/Tulsa World Capitol Bureau
~ The decorum in the state Senate was nearly shattered at midweek when Rep. Randy Terrill, supporter of stringent polices on immigration, allegedly threatened to fight a fellow Republican.

Terrill, R-Moore, became so angry when an automated phone call scheme backfired that he beckoned Sen. Patrick Anderson to come out to the Capitol rotunda and fight, the senator confirmed Thursday.

Anderson, R-Enid, said Terrill used words to the effect, "I'll whip your ass."

"Mr. Terrill was trying to get me to fight him," Anderson said.

Terrill related a different story. Terrill said he told Anderson that forwarding phone calls to his office was "cowardly" and that Anderson was acting like a juvenile.

A ruckus had been brewing all week over Terrill's bill to declare English as the state's official language. Worried that he might not have enough votes to pass his bill, Terrill solicited the help of ProEnglish, a Washington-based group, to put pressure on some senators before the vote came to the floor. About noon Monday, several senators started getting dozens of calls from their constituents, who had received so-called robocalls paid for by ProEnglish, urging them to call their senators and tell them to vote for the bill.

"Mr. Terrill had sent robocalls for two days, totally disrupting our office, so we had the calls forwarded to his office," Anderson said.

This prompted Terrill to head over to the Senate chamber Wednesday and blast Anderson for his "cowardly act."

Terrill exited the chamber. Anderson followed him and witnessed Terrill relating his story to top Senate Republican aide Fred Morgan, who could not be reached for comment.

Terrill said Anderson "marched out of the chamber to confront me."

Terrill said that Anderson accused Terrill of "trying to stir up trouble" and that Terrill should leave. This was when Terrill actually tried to start a fight, Anderson said.

"I don't deny that the exchange got heated," Terrill said.

Also in the vicinity was John Angier, whose name Terrill provided to support his story. Angier, who has worked on two of Terrill's campaigns, said he did not hear Terrill threaten to fight Anderson.

At one point, Terrill called a Senate operator and ordered her to quit forwarding calls to his office. The operator said Terrill threatened to rip the phone out. Terrill said he may have said something about wanting to "yank the phone out of the wall." If so, it was done in "jest or frustration," he said.

Due to calls to Anderson being forwarded to Terrill's office, he ended up in a phone conversation with Anderson's wife.

"I basically told her I had never seen such a cowardly act by an elected official since I'd been at the Capitol and I suggested he stop," Terrill said.

When all was said and done, Terrill's bill was gutted on the floor of the Senate and replaced with a watered-down version. Then it was sent to a joint conference committee, from which both sides agree it is unlikely to emerge.

Anderson did not vote with Democrats to gut the bill and send it to conference.

Meanwhile, Anderson said Thursday that he realized Terrill's assistant, Martha Perry, had ended up receiving the brunt of the calls when she was only an innocent bystander. So Anderson sent her a bouquet of flowers. Terrill said he thought that was a "nice thing for the senator to do."

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