Mark Jennings, a county commissioner in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, has resigned after allegedly being heard on a recording of local officials making remarks about lynching Black people and killing journalists. The resignation was confirmed by the governor’s press secretary, and Governor Kevin Stitt had previously called for Jennings and three other officials to resign after the recording was released.
Jennings stated in a handwritten letter that his resignation is effective immediately, and he will release a formal statement in the future regarding the recent events in the county. The audio recording was reportedly made following a Board of Commissioners meeting on March 6 and was published by The McCurtain Gazette-News over the weekend.
According to The McCurtain Gazette-News, the audio recording of local officials’ remarks about lynching Black people and killing journalists was legally obtained. However, the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office claims that it was illegally recorded and is investigating. The sheriff’s office also suspects that the recording was altered. Governor Stitt was appalled and disheartened by the comments, which he called horrid and hateful.
The recording was made a few hours after reporter Chris Willingham filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, Manning, and the Board of County Commissioners for allegedly defaming him and violating his civil rights. In the recording, Manning expressed concern about running into Willingham near the newspaper’s office, according to additional reporting by The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, citing information from The McCurtain Gazette-News.According to the Oklahoman report, Jennings said, “Oh, you’re talking about you can’t control yourself?” and Manning replied: “Yeah, I ain’t worried about what he’s gonna do to me. I’m worried about what I might do to him. My papaw would have whipped his a**, would have wiped him and used him for toilet paper … if my daddy hadn’t been run over by a vehicle, he would have been down there.”
Jennings replied that his father was once upset by something the newspaper published and “started to go down there and just kill him,” according to the Gazette-News.
“I know where two big, deep holes are here if you ever need them,” Jennings allegedly said. Clardy, the sheriff, allegedly said he had the equipment.
“I’ve got an excavator,” Clardy is accused of saying during the discussion. “Well, these are already pre-dug,” Jennings allegedly said.
In other parts of the recording, officials expressed disappointment that Black people could no longer be lynched, according to the paper.
CNN has not been able to verify the authenticity of the recording or confirm who said what. CNN has reached out to all four county officials for comment.
McCurtain County is in southeastern Oklahoma, about 200 miles from Oklahoma City.
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