McCurtain County Commissioner resigns after release of recording with racist comments and threats

McCurtain County Commission Mark Jennings has officially resigned after he can allegedly be heard on a recording of local officials that included remarks about lynching Black people and killing local journalists.

Jennings said his resignation is “effective immediately,” according to a handwritten letter signed by Jennings on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt had called on Jennings to resign after the release of the recording. He has also called for the resignations of Sheriff Kevin Clardy, sheriff’s investigator Alicia Manning and jail administrator Larry Hendrix who are also heard on the recording.

The McCurtain Gazette-News over the weekend published the audio it said was recorded following a Board of Commissioners meeting on March 6.

The paper said the audio of the meeting was legally obtained according to Oklahoma law which states consent to record is not required to record conversations in public where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. The newspaper said the recording was “legally obtained.”

The McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office says otherwise; that the recording was obtained illegally and is being investigated. The sheriff’s office also said it believes the recording had been altered.

The recording was made hours after Gazette-News reporter Chris Willingham filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, Manning and the Board of County Commissioners, alleging they had defamed him and violated his civil rights, the newspaper reported.

To read the entire recording, click here.

There are multiple investigations going on. The Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association voted Tuesday to suspend the membership of Clardy, Manning and Hendrix. Willingham and his father, Bruce Willingham, the paper’s publisher, have been advised to temporarily leave town.

Attorney Kilpatrick Townsend, the law firm representing the Willingham family made the following statement, “For nearly a year, they have suffered intimidation, ridicule and harassment based solely on their efforts to report the news for McCurtain County.”

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office has received an audio recording and is investigating, Communications Director Phil Bacharach said.

The FBI wouldn’t confirm or deny whether it was involved in the investigation, with spokesperson Kayla McCleery saying it is agency policy not to comment.

This is an ongoing story.