money McCurtain County Sheriff's Office responds to allegations; questions authenticity of recording
The McCurtain County Sheriffs Office responded late Monday evening to explosive accusations made by a local newspaper this week.
The McCurtain Gazette-News reported that after a March 6 county meeting, officials discussed killing a reporter that works for the paper, and making racist comments toward Black people. The conversation is allegedly captured on an audio recording, and was released online publicly over the weekend.
The audio released online matches some of the quoted material in the story, but The Oklahoman has not yet independently verified who the speakers were in the recordings.
According to the newspaper, Sheriff Kevin Clardy, investigator Alicia Manning, Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix and District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings were part of an impromptu discussion after the March 6 meeting of the county Board of Commissioners.
Monday evening, the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office posted a response to the community outcry on the department's Facebook page.
The post states that the investigation is ongoing, noting that investigators are looking into the authenticity of the recording and transcript, and if the recording was made legally according to Oklahoma statute.
Monday afternoon, about 100 people protested outside a McCurtain County commissioners meeting, calling for the resignations of the sheriff, one commissioner and others.
More: 'You can't take things like this lightly.' State officials call for resignations in McCurtain County
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: McCurtain County Sheriff's Office responds to allegations; investigation ongoing
