An Oklahoma county commissioner has stepped down after he and three other officials were caught discussing killing reporters and lynching Black people.
According to NBC News, McCurtain County Commissioner Mark Jennings handed in his resignation letter in the wake of a local newspaper releasing secretly-recorded audio of his discussion with Sheriff Kevin Clardy, investigator Alicia Manning, and jail administrator Larry Hendrix, the office for Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt confirmed on Wednesday (April 19).
“Effective immediately, I, Mark Jennings do hereby resign as McCurtain County District #2 commissioner,” Jennings wrote in his resignation letter, per NBC News. “I will release a formal statement in the near future regarding the recent events in our county.”
Stitt previously called for the four to resign after McCurtain County Gazette-News reporter Bruce Willingham left a recorder in the commissioner's chamber last month, acting on a tip that officials were improperly conducting county business following public meetings.
Willingham discovered that while officials were discussing who might run for sheriff against Clardy, Jennings recalled how a former sheriff used to "take a damned Black guy and whoop their ass and throw them in the cell."
"Yeah," Clardy allegedly said back. "It's not like that no more."
"I know," Jennings continued. "Take them down to Mud Creek and hang them up with a damned rope. But you can't do that anymore. They've got more rights than we've got."
In response to the recording, the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office said it was "illegally obtained" and appears to be altered.
The Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association moved to suspend three of the officials on Tuesday (April 18), but the suspension didn't remove them from their jobs.
Willingham has reportedly turned over the full audio of the discussion to the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed Wednesday that the agency has launched a probe into the matter.
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