Gentner Drummond, said the agency had received an audio recording and is investigating the incident, but declined to comment further.īruce Willingham said he believes the local officials were upset about “stories we’ve run that cast the sheriff’s office in an unfavorable light,” including the death of Bobby Barrick, a Broken Bow, Okla., man who died at a hospital in March 2022 after McCurtain County deputies shot him with a stun gun. Phil Bacharach, a spokesperson for Oklahoma Atty. None of the four have returned telephone calls or emails requesting comment.Ī spokesperson for the FBI’s office in Oklahoma City said the agency’s policy is not to confirm or deny any ongoing investigation.
The Associated Press could not immediately verify the authenticity of the recording. Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix was also present during the conversation. In the recording, Jennings also appears to complain about not being able to hang Black people, saying: “They got more rights than we got.” Jennings also reportedly says he’s known “two or three hit men” in Louisiana, adding, “They’re very quiet guys.” Jennings tells Clardy and Manning, “I know where two deep holes are dug if you ever need them,” and the sheriff responds, “I’ve got an excavator.” Alicia Manning and District 2 County Commissioner Mark Jennings appear to discuss Willingham and his son Chris Willingham, a reporter for the newspaper. The newspaper released portions of the recording in which Clardy, Sheriff’s Capt. Activists say it would teach police urban warfare and destroy public forests. World & Nation The latest epicenter for anti-police protests: ‘Cop City’ in AtlantaĪtlanta officials say a new training center would ‘reimagine’ policing.
The sheriff’s statement calls the last 72 hours “amongst the most difficult and disruptive in recent memory” and says the recording was altered and involves many victims. NAACP leaders in Oklahoma also called for the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate. Eddy Dempsey, a Republican who represents the area, have called for Clardy and others to resign. The threatening comments by the officials that were recorded have sparked outrage and protests. A southeastern Oklahoma sheriff’s office says the recording in which the sheriff and others are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists and hanging Black people was illegal, and it predicted felony charges will be filed.Ī statement on the sheriff’s office Facebook page - the agency’s first public comment since the remarks by Sheriff Kevin Clardy and others were reported by the McCurtain Gazette-News - does not address the recorded discussion but calls the situation “complex” and one “we regret having to address.”
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