Authorities have launched an investigation after Oklahoma county officials reportedly advocated killing local newspaper reporters and bemoaned that lynching black criminals is no longer a viable option.
Sheriff Kevin Clardy, sheriff’s investigator Alicia Manning and District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings have been accused of making threatening and racist remarks after a March 6 meeting of the McCurtain County Board of Commissioners, according to The Oklahoman.
According to a recording captured on a device hidden by McCurtain Gazette-News reporter Bruce Willingham, Clardy, Manning and Jennings discussed beating, killing and burying two reporters, including one of Willingham’s sons, Chris. Upon reviewing the recording, Bruce stated he was “completely appalled and frightened,” News 9 reported.
There is a “no words” story coming out of McCurtain Co today involving county leaders discussing killing local journalists, flagrant racism & mocking a woman’s death from an arson. This is a community paper w/no online presence. https://t.co/ioe4OkrfPL pic.twitter.com/C5NuYXsOvp
— Erin Christy (@Erin_Christy) April 15, 2023
For more than three hours, the group allegedly discussed hiring hitmen and made comments about where bodies could be hidden. “I’ve known two or three hit men, they’re very quiet guys, yeah, who would cut no fucking mercy, yeah, in Louisiana, cause it’s all mafia around here,” one of the officials reportedly stated, according to the outlet.
“I can see where they might try to spend that as being a joke that part, but then Alecia comes back later on and starts talking about my daughter-in-law and she starts getting worried about who would get the blame. I don’t see how you spin that as a joke,” Willingham told the outlet. (RELATED: 19-Year-Old Kills TV News Reporter, Two Others In Series Of Shootings: Sheriff’s Office)
Later in the recording, Jennings can be heard discussing lynchings with the sheriff. “Take them down to Mud Creek and hang them up with damned rope,” he said, per The Oklahoman. “But you can’t do that anymore. They’ve got more rights than we’ve got.”
“I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County,” Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a press release, according to KFOR News. “There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office. I will not stand idly by while this takes place.”
The FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office have received copies of the recording, according to The Oklahoman. Stitt has also stated that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) has launched an investigation into the matter, according to KFOR.