>> Calls for the resignation of
county officials in southeastern
Oklahoma continued today after
they were secretly recorded
making racist remarks, including
comments about killing reporters
and lynching black residents.
One county commissioner has
already stepped down.
Stephanie sy has the story.
>> Geoff the recording was
obtained by a local newspaper:
The Mccurtain gazette-news. A
reporter, who has spent months
investigating corruption at the
sheriff's office, left an audio
recorder in the room after a
county commissioner's meeting
ended, suspecting the sheriff,
the commissioner and others
would continue to conduct
business.
Instead, he apparently captured
a recording of top county
officials allegedly discussing
wanting to kill a Mccurtain
gazette-reporter, while waxing
nostalgic about the days when a
sheriff could take a quote
-black guy- throw him in a cell,
and beat him.
We're going to play a snippet of
the recording where the
suggestions of murder continue,
in we should warn you-*graphic*
detail
>> "I know. Take them down to
mud creek and hang them up with
a damn rope. But you can't do
that anymore. They got more
rights than we got."
Jennings: I know where two big
deep holes are here if you ever
need them.
>> I've got an excavator.
Jennings: Well, these are
already pre-dug. But the thing
of it is, you know.
>> We actually told the truth.
Jennings: I've known, I've known
two or three hit men, they're
very quiet guys
>> For reaction, I want to bring
in Deon Osborne, the managing
editor for the black Wall Street
times. He's based in Greenwood,
Oklahoma.
As black journalist living in
Oklahoma, what was your reaction
when you heard the full audio?
>> Thank you for having active.
When I first heard it, I was
alarmed but not shocked.
It's another day in Oklahoma for
us.
We've care ash covered so many
stories about race and racism,
they downplayed the impact on
our communities and this is just
evidence of how pervasive it is
in Oklahoma.
>> The sheriff's office has
shown no contrition and they
said the conversation was
illegally recorded even altered.
What do you think of what this
journalist did planting that
device in the room?
>> I am proud, I am grateful
that this journalist obviously
risked his own life so that we
could see the truth and hear the
truth with our own ears.
Oklahoma state law shows that we
are a one party consent state
when it comes to recordings so
the sheriff is completely lying
when it comes to accusing this
journalist of breaking the law.
He did his duty as a journalist
and I am proud of him.
>> Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt
has asked for four county
officials, including the sheriff
to resign what do you think of
that response? What other
accountability are you hearing
oklahomans demand?
>> I am glad to hear the
governor called for the bare
minimum, but obviously these
officials should all have been
fired immediately.
The Florida governor has the
power to fire a liberal district
attorney that he doesn't like, I
don't understand why our
governor doesn't have the power
to immediately fire these
officials who are suggesting
killing a journalist and
lynching black people in 2023.
What we have heard from people
in our community is they want
these officials fired and they
want all cases that they have
overseen we investigated.
>>
Journalists, even recently,
have been killed for doing their
jobs. The FBI has opened in
investigation do you expect
these officials to face criminal
liability for this conversation?
>> I don't know that I trust our
legal system enough to go to the
full extent of present criminal
charges.
I hope that is the case because
what you are seeing is if
elected officials feel free
enough to make these kinds of
statements, what is it telling
the people in Oklahoma who may
already have these ideas in
their hearts?
What is it telling them?
This is a state that 102 years
ago orchestrated one of the most
severe domestic terrorism
attacks on the black community
and what we are seeing is the
mentality that led to that
attack is still alive in the
hearts and minds of some of
these oklahomans.
>> Do you have hope that
anything will change with this
blatantly racist conversation
coming to light?
>> I do hope that journalists,
elected officials from Oklahoma
to Florida across the nation
come less worried, less afraid
to call racism out.
We have to start calling it out
when we see it.
We are in the state where our
officials don't even want us to
have the words diversity,
equity, and inclusion taught in
public schools.
I was a little bit saddened that
most of our state officials did
not use the word racism when
they condemned these officials.
They need to be able to call it
out explicitly because the only
way we can eradicate this is to
address it head-on.
>> Thank you so much.