Allegations of racist comments and threats from county officials prompt calls for resignation

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McCurtain County officials are under fire after the audio of the meeting was released.

April 17, 2023, 6:47 p.m. ET

5 minute read

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has called for the resignation of several local officials following the release of a recording that allegedly captured comments he called “hateful rhetoric” at a meeting of McCurtain County Commissioners.

“I am both appalled and heartbroken to hear the horrific comments from McCurtain County officials,” Stitt said in a statement. “There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the State of Oklahoma, especially by those who serve to represent the community through their respective offices. I will not sit idly by while this is happening.”

According to the recording captured by McCurtain Gazette reporter Chris Willingham, county officials discussed plans to beat, kill and hide the bodies of local newspaper reporters, including Willingham.

Willingham is currently embroiled in a lawsuit against County Investigator Alicia Manning, the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Department and the County Board of Commissioners in which he claims Manning defamed him and violated his civil rights, according to the McCurtain Gazette.

In Oklahoma, all meetings of public agencies must be open to its residents. However, according to the Gazette, after the public dispersed following a public meeting on March 6, officials continued to discuss county business not listed on the agenda.

According to Oklahoma law, consent to recording is not required to record conversations in public when there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. The newspaper said the recording was “obtained legally”.

“I know where two big deep holes are in here if you ever need them,” an official said, according to the Gazette. Another official replies, “I have an excavator.

Governor Kevin Stitt speaks during a roundtable in the State Dining Room of the White House on June 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images, FILE

“I’ve known a couple of hitmen, they’re very quiet guys,” the official believed to be Jennings said, according to local reports. “…And wouldn’t cut off any fucking mercy.”

“If a hair on his wife’s head, Bruce Willingham’s head, or any of those people who were really behind this, if a hair on their head was touched by someone, who would be the bad guy?” said an official believed to be County Investigator Alicia Manning.

Jennings can also be heard making racist comments in the recording, saying that “if it was back then ‘when the officers’ would pick up a fucking black guy and yell their a– and throw him in the cell? I’d run for f— as sheriff.”

He added, “Take them to Mud Creek and hang them up with a damn rope. But you can’t do that anymore. They have more rights than us.”

The governor said he would ask the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations to review “whether unlawful conduct has occurred.” OBSI, however, told ABC News it has yet to receive a request.

The state attorney general’s office is investigating, a spokesperson told ABC News.

Stitt called for the resignation of Manning, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings, McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, who were allegedly heard in the taped conversations, and jail administrator Larry Hendrix, who was allegedly here.

Residents began protesting outside local government buildings to demand accountability for the comments.

Willingham, at the center of the alleged threats, told News9 he was “utterly appalled and scared, quite frankly” upon hearing the recording.

ABC News has contacted the County Board of Commissioners for comment.

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