A newspaper in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, has made audio recordings of county officials discussing plots to lynch Black people and kill one of their reporters public.
The tape is the first of three to be released, according to the McCurtain Gazette-News. The audio was captured following the county board of commissioners meeting on March 6.
Kevin Clardy, Alicia Manning, Larry Hendrix and Mark Jennings can be heard in the video.
Who are Kevin Clardy, Alicia Manning, Larry Hendrix and Mark Jennings?
Following a public meeting, the McCurtain County sheriff and two other employees were covertly taped discussing killing reporters and lynching Black residents. As a result, the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association suspended them in April 2023.
Sheriff Kevin Clardy, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings, District 3 Commissioner Robert Beck , Sheriff’s investigator Alicia Manning Jail administrator Larry Hendrix were heard in the audio.
According to the sheriffs’ union, the vote to suspend Sheriff Kevin Clardy, Sheriff’s Investigator Alicia Manning, and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix was unanimous. They continue to work for the sheriff’s office despite the suspension.
On Monday, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt demanded the resignations of the three people in question as well as County Commissioner Mark Jennings.
The four were named by the McCurtain County Gazette-News as the officials who were heard on tape on March 6 making threatening and racial remarks following a McCurtain County Commission meeting.
Reporter Bruce Willingham, whose family has owned the newspaper for 40 years, was not in violation of the law, according to Christin Jones of the law firm Kilpatrick Townsend, which represents the publication.
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The law firm has stated that the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office have already received the whole recording.
The article notes that the inquiry is still ongoing and that the validity of the tape and transcript, as well as whether or not the recording was made legally in accordance with Oklahoma law, are being investigated.
