The Republican Governor of Oklahoma is calling for
the resignations of several officials who were caught on recordings looking for
the good old days where people were allowed to lynch black individuals
while also plotting to murder and bury journalists they don't like.
Now, the officials involved in the shocking recordings, which you will be
hearing from in just a moment, include McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy,
Sheriff's Captain Alicia Manning, and District II Commissioner, Mark Jennings.
Also in the recordings, you'll hear from County Jail Administrator, Larry Hendrix.
Again, the Republican Governor of Oklahoma has called for their resignations.
Now, what did they say?
Let's give you a little summary of what the recordings have indicated.
County commissioner Mark Jennings lamented about
how they could no longer yank black people out of the jail,
take them down to Mud Creek and hang them up with a rope.
According to McCurtain Gazette News, Sheriff Kevin Clardy, allegedly mocked
a woman who'd recently burned to death in a house fire, comparing her to barbecue.
Now, how do we know about these recordings in the first place?
Who recorded their conversation?
Well, the publisher and reporters over at McCurtain Gazette News actually have
been doing some pretty excellent reporting on the sheriff's department in the area.
It's a family run paper, and the reporters, Bruce and
Christopher Willingham, are the targets of the official.
So later when you hear the audio of them talking about hiring hitmen and
burying journalists, that's who they're referring to.
So after the county officials ended a public meeting on March 6,
they ushered the citizens out of the room, and then they spoke amongst themselves,
thinking, okay, we're speaking in privacy.
Little did they know that Willingham had actually left a recording device,
hoping to get evidence that the officials were holding secret meetings.
Well, not only did he find that evidence,
he also found that they were engaging in some pretty disgusting discourse.
The conversation turned to Gazette News reporter Christopher Willingham's coverage
of the sheriff's office.
Alicia Manning, the sheriff's investigator, allegedly said she had some
packages to take to the shipping center, which is located near the newspaper's
office, and feared running into Willingham because of what she might do to him.
Quote, this is Mark Jennings, you're talking about you can't control yourself,
end quote.
And Alicia Manning responds with, yeah, I ain't worried about what he's
gonna do to me, I'm worried about what I might do to him.
My papa would have wiped him and used him for toilet paper.
Now you're gonna hear more from that conversation in the next audio clip.
Take a listen.
>> They're insignificant in my life.
>> Yes, >> They bring no [INAUDIBLE]
>> The saying old saying is-.
>> What goes around goes around.
>> It will.
I told you it will.
>> Yeah, I know where two big deep holes are here if you ever need them.
>> I got an excavator.
>> Well, these are already pre-dug.
>> I know where two big deep holes are if you ever need them.
Well, I've got an excavator.
Well, these were already pre dug as if what they were saying was not clear
enough.
They also discussed the ins and
outs of what it would take to hire a hitman to do the job.
>> But the thing of it is, >> We actually told the truth.
>> I've known two or three hit men,
very quiet guys, >> Yeah.
>> And could cut no f****** mercy.
>> Yeah.
>> In Louisiana.
Cuz this is all Mafia around here.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, but here's the reality.
If a hair on his wife's head pursuing him head, Chris Willingham's head,
or any of those people that really were behind all that,
if the hair on their head got touched by anybody, who would be the bad guy.
>> Who would be blamed for it.
>> Yeah.
>> So just openly talking about carrying out violence, possible murder of
journalists they don't like, because the journalists actually did a decent job in
reporting about some of the issues within the sheriff's department,
which we'll get to in just a moment.
We also have other audio recordings that will play for you.
Cenk, what are your thoughts?
>> Ask them to resign.
I've now seen several, >> Totally, sorry to interrupt you.
You're asking them to resign?
You're the Governor of Oklahoma.
Asking them to resign clearly isn't enough, get rid of them,
they are not fit to serve in any public office, period.
>> Yeah, so I don't know the mechanism by which these guys get fired, but
they should be fired immediately.
Guys, one of the things that they said when they were talking about stringing up
black people to a tree was now they got more rights than we do.
They said, in the good old days, we could take them out and hang them by the tree.
So the more rights they have is the right not to get hung by you,
the deeply racist sheriff in that area on a whim.
That's the more rights they have.
Do you not also not have the right to not get hung by a tree?
But to them, a black person having the right not to be lynched
is just too many rights, too many rights.
We're asking them to reside?
We're asking them, did we say pretty please?
Did we put a cherry on top?
The sheriff is talking about and they're all talking about, how yeah,
I know hitmen, I know several hit men.
And they're very good news, they're very quiet, they've already got the holes.
Goddammit, how well do you know these hit men?
And are you law enforcement or are you the bad guy?
>> I think we know the answer.
>> We definitely know the answer to that, but we're asking them to resign.
Can we also just acknowledge the fact that these
disgusting individuals think that they're the good guys?
>> But Ana, that's- >> That's the amazing part.
As they're sitting there or standing there, talking about murdering journalists
who they don't like because their reporting shed light on how
awful the sheriff's department is, they're talking about murdering them.
And they're, the good old days when we were able to cause harm to people and
we'd get congratulated for it.
Can't we go back to that?
We're the good guys, right?
No, you're not the good guys.
And the fact that they've served in public office,
the fact that the sheriff's department has a sheriff like this, tells you everything
you need to know in regard to why people don't trust cops in this country.
How many stories have we covered involving email exchanges where
similar rhetoric is used in regard to people of color?
If we want to do anything about reforming the criminal justice system,
we got to take the trash out.
And that means, figuring out which law enforcement officials need to be fired.
This guy, this sheriff, along with the sheriff's captain, they need to go.
And asking nicely doesn't go far enough.
Real quick, what did the reporting indicate?
Okay, so why are they so upset with the McCurtain Gazette News?
Well, the newspaper exposed several instances of alleged misconduct in
the sheriff's office based on interviews with current and former employees.
Including homicide evidence that had been tainted,
questionable hirings of employees with no previous law enforcement experience, and
an investigation into who in the sheriff's office was leaking information.
And this was extensive reporting.
It was an eight part series that the paper released beginning in November of 2021.
And the biggest offense that you could commit in some parts of the country
is offending the cops.
And the cops were offended at journalists doing their jobs.
Now, if you think that was bad, [LAUGH] it's about to get worse,
because in this next audio clip, you're gonna hear about them craving the days
when it was okay to lynch black people.
Listen.
>> In another part of the recording, a voice identified as the county
commissioner laments the fact that lynchings are no longer common practice,
that is no longer something you're allowed to do.
>> I heard it the other day, said I heard 2 or 12 people were going for sheriff.
I said f***, lets get 20.
They don't have goddamn clue what they're getting into.
Not this day and age.
I'm gonna tell
you something.
>> If was back in the day, when Alan Marshton would take a damn black guy
whoops their ass to throw them in the cell?
I'd run for f****** sheriff.
>> Yeah, well, it's not like that no more.
>> I know, take them down to Mud Creek and hang them up with the damn rope.
>> Yeah.
>> But you can't do that anymore.
>> They got more right than we've got.
>> They've got more rights than we've got, he says.
In the context of the discussion where he's concerned that they're not allowed to
lynch black people anymore.
So black people, in his mind,
have more rights than white people because white people can't lynch them anymore?
>> Yeah, so I have seen other Oklahoma officials saying,
joking doesn't excuse this.
What part was joking?
You guys heard it with your own ears.
They weren't joking at all.
You just made up an excuse for them while you're still asking for them to resign.
Those guys are out there right now, that sheriff is out there.
And God help you if you're a black person in that area,
does it look like he's gonna be fair to you?
Does it look like the commissioner is gonna be fair to you?
Because they're lamenting when they could lynch you with no consequences at all,
and yet still they're in office as we speak.
That is insane.
So, by the way, they also talked about the Mafia.
So are we okay with the sheriff working with the Mafia and hitmen and etc?
How is this a close question?
How are they not already out of a job?
Is this debatable in Oklahoma?
But I'm asking you literally, good people of Oklahoma,
if you exist, is this debatable in Oklahoma?
I'm not asking if you're black in Oklahoma or you're not white in Oklahoma,
I'm asking if you're a white Republican in Oklahoma.
Why aren't you pissed?
This makes you look awful.
Do you all agree with it?
I dare assume that not all of you are okay with it.
So why don't you do something?
Because when you sit back and go, it's not my problem, what are we to assume?
What are we to assume?
If I lived there, I'd want them fired today, this minute.
>> Absolutely, and the journalists are sharing the recordings with the Feds.
So the FBI is now investigating this because some of the claims,
including potentially hiring hitmen, pretty serious if it ends up being true.
So the Feds will be investigating it.
There's a state investigation into this as well.
I wanna end on one more part of the audio recordings that had to
do with a woman who died as a result of a fire.
She burned to death, okay?
This is a human life that was lost as a result of a fire.
And I think this perfectly clarifies just how little regard these individuals
have for human lives.
The sheriff gave the board an update on a deadly fire that had happened four
days earlier when a 43-year old woman died after rushing
back into the flames to try to save her two dogs.
>> According to the paper,
then someone asked a question about burn victims body parts.
You never had barbecue?
Hendrix allegedly asked, rhetorically.
She went back in to save dogs that she loved, and
then they're making fun of her because she burnt to death.
All right, that one doesn't have a racial component.
Can you get upset about that one?
Are you guys still okay with these guys being in office?
Okay, so if horrible racism hasn't happened to you partly because you're not
black or for other reasons, okay, great, wonderful, count yourself lucky.
Can you just empathize with other people for
a second when they actually do go through it and you hear stuff like this?
Can you understand that maybe, just maybe, racism still exists?
It doesn't mean that everything is racist, but it means when something is
overwhelmingly racist, when they long for the days of lynchings, that, yes,
we should all collectively do something about it.
And protect our brothers and sisters.
>> I'm gonna ask for even less, okay?
Because maybe this can happen, okay?
If you have such disregard for human lives, if you don't care,
if you see a situation in which an innocent woman burns to death as she's
trying to save her dogs, maybe don't try to be sheriff.
Maybe don't try to be part of law enforcement.
Maybe don't opt for a career where you're supposed to protect people.
Maybe do something else if you're a sociopath.
But stay the hell away from anything having to do with law enforcement,
cuz we've got plenty of that kind already, and we don't need more of it.
I just can't get over the lack of empathy and the disregard for human life.
I can't understand it.
>> Yes, and guys, so again, just to be clear, there are different people involved
here, there's a sheriff's captain, that's Alicia Manning, the woman you heard.
There's McCurtain County, Sheriff Kevin Clardy.
There's the County Jail Administrator, Larry Hendrix, with the quote
about the barbecue, I believe, and District II Commissioner, Mark Jennings.
So they're not all the sheriff, they're different things.
And the last thing I wanna make clear, but is the Willinghams, great reporting.
Look at that, that is brave, independent, strong journalism.
And look at what it made them do.
It made them lose their minds and want to lynch them, right?
Cuz the people in power in this country are so fat and comfortable.
The minute that they were challenged on much lower things,
like high hearing practices, >> They couldn't have it.
>> They were shocked, they're how dare these impertinent
journalists question anything that anyone in power has to say.
Wow, I wish we could lynch them like the old days.
Well, now we know who the hell you are, okay?
And thank you for the great journalism, Williams.
And I wish that the people at the national level had that kind of courage.