Posted on 04/17/2023 6:15:19 PM PDT by Coronal
The governor of Oklahoma has called for the resignations of the sheriff and other top officials in a rural county after they were recorded talking about "beating, killing and burying" a father/son team of local reporters — and lamenting that they could no longer hang Black people with a “damned rope.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt called for McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, county Commissioner Mark Jennings, sheriff's investigator Alicia Manning, and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix to step down after the McCurtain County Gazette-News published an article over the weekend about what was captured on the recording.
“I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County,” Stitt said in a statement released Sunday. “There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office.”
Stitt, a Republican, said he has ordered the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to “initiate an investigation to determine whether any illegal conduct has occurred.”
Bruce Willingham, who works for his family-owned newspaper, has turned the full audio over to the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office, his lawyers said.
Meanwhile, dozens of county residents angered by the officials' comments picketed Monday outside the headquarters of the McCurtain County Commissioners in the town of Idabel, which is about 200 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
None of the four officials named by Stitt could be reached for comment.
The Willinghams also did not respond to inquiries from NBC News. But Kilpatrick Townsend, the law firm representing the Willingham family, said they appreciated the expressions of support.
"For nearly a year, they have suffered intimidation, ridicule and harassment based solely on their efforts to report the news for McCurtain County," the statement said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Southwest?
SE OK.
“Where is the first amendment in this conversation?”
In the exact same spot as the Governor’s First Amendment right to call for all of their resignations, in the exact same spot as the officers in Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation who will look into the matter, and the exact same First Amendment rights exercised by those who released the recording.
Everyone involved has or will exercise their First Amendment rights.
well, can’t say they don’t deserve it.
Nothing But Communists
It’s SE Oklahoma.
Hopefully we are free to tell these idiots to resign.
Nobody says otherwise. Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. What is any government body doing to keep them from expressing their views?
P
Agreed.
I wouldn’t trust those guys, either.
The 1st Amendment only protects you from persecution by the govt. It doesn't give you protection from your peers and the consequences of saying something stupid and hateful in a public venue.......
Your freedom of speech also doesn't protect you from charges of libel or slander either.
Tell your boss to F' off and see where that gets you......
Where they joking? Seems like FReepers are sounding more and more like libs.
For sure it has become difficult to know who to believe.. We can rest assured that the FBI will get to the bottom of it /s
Some people just can’t get that, or don’t want to.
Back in the late 80’s and 90s we would float the rivers there and such but had always been warned not to do anything that might offend the local constabulary as they didn’t really operate as we would expect
20 years later a few friends who owned property there all but abandoned it as the meth heads would steal everything not nailed down the minute they left home for any reason
Lot of people don’t seem to understand that many of these backwards poor rural communities are just as bad as any inner city ghetto
I listened to the recording. There was some “dark humor” and some mention of times passed but no racism or recommending of killing someone. It seems someone has a hard on against the sheriff and wants to make a mountain out of a molehill with the cancel culture. I also don’t see how they can be removed for anything but political correctness.
Sorry SE OK. Different kind of crazy.
Bookmarked...
I lived there in the 70’s and we sold the farm in about 1980. Some parts were OK but even then there was places and people to avoid… once it was the land of moonshine now it’s meth and worse…
You could film both Deliverance and Walking Tall movies down there…
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.