Oklahoma Officials Suspended for Violent and Racist Comments Caught on Audio

The Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association has suspended McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, investigator Alicia Manning, and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix after they were secretly recorded discussing killing reporters and lynching Black residents. The recording was made after a public meeting of the McCurtain County Commission. The suspension does not remove them from their jobs with the sheriff’s department. The recording has been turned over to the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office. The McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel was evacuated after it received a bomb threat.