CNN
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The governor of Oklahoma is asking four McCurtain County officials to resign after they allegedly participated in a conversation registered in secret that included racist comments about lynching blacks and talking about killing journalists.
The McCurtain Gazette-News on the weekend published the audio that, he said, was recorded after a meeting of the Commissioner Board on March 6.
The newspaper said that the audio of the meeting was legally obline, but the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that he registered illegally and is investigating. The Sheriff’s office also said that he believes the recording had been altered.
“I am horrified and dissecting when listening to the horrible comments made by officials in McCurtain County,” Governor Kevin Stitt said in a statement on Sunday. “There is simply no place for such a hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially for those who serve to represent the community through their respect office. I will not get fashionable while this takes place,” the statement said.
The governor requested the immediate resignations of the McCurtain County Sheriff, Kevin Clardy, District Commissioner 2 Mark Jennings, Sheriff’s researcher Alicia Manning and the administrator of the Larry Hendrix prison. Hey, he also said he would ask the desk or investigation of the state of Oklahoma to investigate the case.
McCurtain County is located in Southeasternn Oklahoma, about 200 miles from the city of Oklahoma.
The recording was made hours after Gazette-News reporter Chris Willingham filed a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s office, Manning and the County Commissioner Board, claiming that they had defamed and violated his civil rights, the newspaper said.
In the recording, Manning talked about the need to approach the newspaper’s office and said that Conern Conern cares about what would happen if he met Willingham, Oklahoman said, citing additional reports from the Gazette-News.
According to Oklahoman’s report, Jennings said: “Oh, are you talking about you can’t control yourself?” And Manning replied: “Yes, I’m not worried about what he will do.
Jennings replied that his father was upset about something that the newspaper published and “began to go there and simply kill him,” according to the Gazette-News.
“I know where there are two large and deep holes if you ever need them,” Jennings said supposedly. Clardy, the sheriff, supposedly said he had the team.
“I have an excavator,” Clardy is a battery to say the discussion. “Well, these are already previous,” Jennings said supposedly.
In other parts of the recording, the officials expressed their disappointment that blacks could no longer be lynching, according to the newspaper.
CNN has not been able to verify the authenticity of the recording or confirm who said what. CNN has communicated with the four county officials to comment.
The Oklahoma Sheriffs Association voted Tuesday to suspend the Clardy, Manning and Hendrix membership, said Group Executive Director to CNN.
State and local agencies that investigate
Willingham and his father, Bruce Willingham, the newspaper editor, have been advised to temporarily abandon the city, KJRH said affiliated with CNN.
“For almost a year, they have suffered intimidation, ridiculous and harassment based solely on their efforts to inform the news for McCurtain County,” said Kilpatrick Towsend, the law firm that represents the Willingham family, CNN in a statement.
The McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Monday that there is a “continuous investigation into multiple significant violations” of Oklahoma’s communications security law, which makes it “illegal to secretly register a conversation in which it is not involved and does not have the consent of at least one of the parties involved.” He also said that registration has not yet been authenticated or validated. ”
“Our preliminary information indicates that the media published the audio recording have altered, in fact, the motivation to do so, it remains uncle at this time. That matter is being actively investigated,” the statement said.
Oklahoma’s office has received an audio recording and is investigating, said Communications Director Phil Bacharach.
The FBI would not confirm or deny if it was involved in the investigation, with spokeswoman Kayla McClereary saying that it is an agency policy not to comment.