- Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is calling for the resignation of county officials for racist remarks.
- In the record, McCarten County officials discussed lynching blacks and killing journalists.
- Protesters gathered outside the McCarten County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
Local newspaper reports say there are growing calls for a group of Oklahoma County officials to resign.
The comments were captured by a device left in the county commissioner’s office on March 6. First reported by the local McCarten GazetteThe Gazette publisher, Bruce Willingham, placed recording equipment inside McCarten County Commissioner’s meetings to prove that he was conducting county business in closed meetings in violation of the state’s public meeting law. After that, I captured the audio.
“I spoke with my lawyer twice to make sure I wasn’t doing anything illegal,” Willingham said before installing the recording device. Associated Press.
Instead of an illegal meeting, Willingham appears to have caught derogatory remarks about black people, the press, and especially his own son. , was mentioned on the tape as a subject of wrath by officials.
On Monday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside McCarten County Sheriff Kevin Clady’s office to demand his resignation. Reported by KSLAAccording to the Gazette, Clardy appeared on the recording released over the weekend with county sheriff Mark Jennings and others.
The remark prompted Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to issue a statement Sunday night calling for his resignation. “There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in Oklahoma,” he said. ABC News.
Representatives for Jennings and Stitt did not immediately respond to an insider’s request for comment.
In excerpts from the recording, voices claiming that the Gazette report belongs to officials can be heard lamenting the progress of race and the journalism of the press.
A voice, identified by the Gazette as Jennings, is heard. But he continued, “You can’t do that anymore. They have more rights than we do.”
The voice, reporting that the Gazette belongs to Jennings, continued to boast that he knew “two or three hitmen” in Louisiana, and they showed no “fucking mercy.” Tough coverage is causing trouble.
In response, the voice identified by the Gazette was followed by Sheriff Clardy stating “what’s going on” about the reporter, followed by the addition of a voice apparently belonging to Jennings: added as “
The comments came the same day one of the reporters filed a lawsuit against the man for “defamation.” NBC News report. Kilpatrick Townsend, the law firm representing the reporters, issued a statement saying they were targeted because they were doing their jobs.
“For nearly a year they have been threatened, ridiculed and harassed based solely on their efforts to cover the news for McCarten County.” NBC News It reported that it had read the company’s statement.