Several officials in McCurtain County, Oklahoma have been suspended from their positions by the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association after recordings emerged of their conversations about wanting to kill journalists and lamenting the inability to lynch Black people with ropes. The recordings were captured in March by a reporter from the McCurtain Gazette after a county commissioner’s meeting. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt called for the resignation of McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, County Commissioner Mark Jennings, sheriff's investigator Alicia Manning, and county jail administrator Larry Hendrix after the recordings surfaced. The sheriff's office claimed that the recording was “illegally obtained” and may have been produced in violation of state law prohibiting third-party secret recordings, but this has not stopped investigations by both local and federal authorities. The recording also touches on inappropriate comments made about a recent deadly fire, which has further incited calls for resignations.