CNN
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Oklahoma’s governor is calling on four McCurtain County officials to resign after they allegedly participated in a secretly recorded conversation that included racist remarks about lynching black people and discussions about killing journalists.
The McCurtain Gazette-News published the audio recording this weekend, which it says was made following a March 6 board of commissioners meeting.
The newspaper said the audio recording of the meeting was obtained legally, but the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it was recorded illegally and that it was investigating. The sheriff’s office also said it believed the recording had been altered.
“I am both appalled and disheartened to hear the horrific comments made by McCurtain County officials,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement Sunday. “There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially from those who serve to represent the community through their respective offices. I will not stand by while this happens,” the statement said.
The governor called for the immediate resignations of McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings, sheriff’s investigator Alicia Manning and jail administrator Larry Hendrix. He also said he would ask the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the matter.
McCurtain County is located in southeastern Oklahoma, approximately 200 miles from Oklahoma City.
The recording was made hours after Gazette-News reporter Chris Willingham filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, Manning and the county board of commissioners, alleging they defamed him and violated his civil rights, the newspaper reported.
In the recording, Manning spoke about the need to get near the newspaper’s office and expressed concern about what would happen if she met Willingham, the Oklahoman reported, citing additional reporting from the Gazette-News.
According to the Oklahoman report, Jennings said, “Oh, you’re saying you can’t control yourself?” and Manning replied, “Yeah, I don’t worry about what he’s going to do to me. I worry about what I might do to him. My daddy would have kicked his ass, wiped him up and used him for toilet paper … if my dad hadn’t been hit by a car, he would have stayed there.”
Jennings responded that his father once became upset about something the newspaper had published and “proceeded to go in and kill him,” according to the Gazette-News.
“I know where there are two big deep holes here if you ever need them,” Jennings reportedly said. Clardy, the sheriff, reportedly said he had the necessary equipment.
“I have an excavator,” Clardy reportedly said during the discussion. “Well, these lots are already dug,” Jennings reportedly said.
In other parts of the recording, officials expressed disappointment that black people could no longer be lynched, the newspaper said.
CNN could not verify the authenticity of the recording or confirm who said what. CNN has reached out to officials in all four counties for comment.
The Oklahoma Sheriffs Association voted Tuesday to suspend the membership of Clardy, Manning and Hendrix, the group’s executive director told CNN.
State and local agencies are investigating
Willingham and his father, Bruce Willingham, the newspaper’s publisher, have been asked to leave town temporarily, CNN affiliate KJRH reported.
“For nearly a year, they have been bullied, ridiculed and harassed solely because of their efforts to report on McCurtain County news,” Kilpatrick Townsend, the law firm representing the Willingham family, told CNN in a statement.
The McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Monday that an “investigation is underway into multiple significant violations” of Oklahoma’s Secure Communications Act, which makes it “unlawful to secretly record a conversation in which you are not a party and do not have the consent of at least one party involved.” It also said the recording has not yet been “properly authenticated or validated.”
“Our initial information indicates that the audio recording released by the media was in fact altered. The motivation for this alteration remains unclear at this stage. This matter is the subject of an active investigation,” the statement said.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office received an audio recording and is investigating, communications director Phil Bacharach said.
The FBI would not confirm or deny its involvement in the investigation, with spokeswoman Kayla McCleery saying the agency’s policy is not to comment.
