McCurtain County, Oklahoma, has come under national scrutiny following the release of an article and audio recording where county officials, including Sheriff Kevin Clardy, make racist and violent comments about Black people and threaten to kill journalists. This comes after a 2021-2022 investigative series by the McCurtain Gazette-News, covering serious allegations against specific county officials, including misconduct and failure to investigate a rape. Gazette reporter Chris Willingham filed a lawsuit for slander and then recorded county officials making the threats on the same day, leading to national outcry and at least one commissioner resigning. Oklahoma's Republican Governor, Kevin Stitt, has called for Sheriff Clardy and others involved in the conversation to resign, and he has asked the Attorney General to investigate possibly removing Clardy from office. Concerns were raised about how these events could affect the growing tourism industry that has transformed McCurtain County's economy in the past few decades. Although the sheriff's office has released only one statement, claiming that the recording was illegally obtained and refusing to address the statements, more transcripts and audio recordings are expected.