WATCH: Oklahoma trans attorney jailed for contempt after epic court meltdown
A custody hearing in Ada, Oklahoma, last month took a turn for the unexpected — and the incredibly loud — after an attorney who identified himself as transgender was arrested...
By Fox News · Fox News
A custody hearing in Ada, Oklahoma, last month took a turn for the unexpected — and the incredibly loud — after an attorney who identified himself as transgender was arrested and dragged from the courtroom where he had appeared to represent his client just minutes before. The exchange occurred during a custody hearing in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, some 90 minutes southeast of Oklahoma City. The attorney, Rob Hopkins, was jailed for contempt after sparring repeatedly with the judge, Lori Jackson, during an otherwise unremarkable proceeding. Surveillance footage, audio, and body camera footage reviewed by Fox News Digital has shed new light on the extraordinary confrontation, in which Hopkins can be seen actively resisting arrest by bailiffs. At one point, Hopkins can be seen splaying his body across the judge's bench, resulting in a pile of documents being swept off its finely polished wood surface. "You're HURTING ME!" Hopkins bellowed, as bystanders looked on. "I can't BREATHE!" he shrieked again, louder. Attendees in the courtroom could be seen looking on quietly as Hopkins twisted, turned, and contorted his body to evade the handcuffs that officers used to restrain him. "I felt very threatened by this person," one individual could be heard telling the judge. SHELTERS, JESUS, AND MISS PAC-MAN: US JUDGE GRILLS DOJ OVER TRANS POLICY IN DIZZYING LINE OF QUESTIONING The meltdown in question, and the arrest , occurred during a custody hearing punctuated by repeated interruptions from Hopkins and warnings from Jackson that he would be held in contempt. Hopkins then suggested she was discriminating against him for his transgender status, escalating tensions inside the courtroom. "It's because I'm a transgender attorney practicing all over the state," Hopkins leveled sharply, to which Jackson shot back: "I don't know what you are." "I don't know you from Adam," Jackson said later, describing his conduct as "entirely inappropriate." Shortly after, bailiffs entered the cou…