Oklahoma commissioner resigns after being caught on tape celebrating lynching
A county commissioner in southeastern Oklahoma has resigned days after an audio recording sparked outrage.
Earlier this week, a recording emerged in which McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy and McCurtain County Commissioners discussed hiring a hitman to kill members of the local newspaper and complained that lynching was no longer acceptable.
After a national outcry, the state's Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, encouraged all of those involved to resign. Instead, on Monday, the McCurtain County Sheriff's office announced an investigation into those who made the recording, claiming that they were the ones who broke the law.
As of Wednesday morning, local KTEN news reports that one of the McCurtain County Commissioners has resigned. Mark Jennings, who represented District 2, announced his resignation but didn't say much more than that publicly or on his social media pages.
The Idabel resident was recorded specifically saying that he missed the days when a county sheriff could beat up a Black man and throw him in jail.
"It’s like somebody wanting this job, they don’t realize, like your job. I heard it the other day, said I heard two or 12 people were going for sheriff. I said f--k, let's get 20," said Jennings on the recording. "They don’t have a goddamn clue what they’re getting into. Not this day and age. I’m gonna tell you something. If it was back in the day, when that when [former county Sheriff] Alan Marshton would take a damn Black guy and whoop their ass and throw him in the cell? I’d run for f*cking sheriff."
Sheriff Kevin Clardy, replied, "Yeah. Well, It’s not like that no more."
"I know," Jennings lamented." 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."