There are four cardinal directions, or points on a compass. They are north, east, south, and west. If you live in McCurtain County, Oklahoma and travel south you cross the Red River into Texas. If you go east you are in Arkansas. In short, McCurtain County is the very definition of rural. In fact it is so far in the outback the nearest television outlet is in Shreveport, Louisiana.. For local news residents must rely on--yes they still exist--a print only newspaper. It is known as the McCurtain Gazette-News.
The paper has been owned by the Willingham family for 40 years. Unfortunately for McCurtain County Sheriff, Kevin Clardy and other county officials the Willinghams take their role in the community and as a part of the free press seriously. That means their paper is actually going to report whatever county authorities are up to, be it good, or bad.
Now, there is something we must keep in mind here. County sheriffs in Oklahoma, especially rural Oklahoma, have a proud history of corruption and looking the other way when, relatives, or good buddies are involved in questionable activity. In many places, they not only run the county jails, but should be occupants of them. This is especially true in a county like McCurtain which is so far out in the woods the sheriff is the single most powerful politician around. That's right, presidents, senators, governors mayors, and all the rest pale in comparison to the on your door step impact a rural sheriff has. He is the King and if he knows his business, the County Commissioners are his court of compatriots and toadies.
To them, more than even to someone like Donald Trump, a free and adversarial press is a huge pain in the ass. And since we are talking about a county with far fewer people than Enid, OK things get personal real fast.
So it was with the McCurtain Gazette-News and Clardy's department. The paper and therefore the Willinghams had been particularly critical of the way his deputies handled an arrest, which ended with the suspect dying, months before.
According to Bruce Willingham he left the voice activated recorder behind after a meeting of county officials because he suspected there was public business being discussed after interested citizens and the media (ie. him} left the building--a violation of state law, not to mention a juicy headline for the Gazette-News. When he recovered the recorder he found that and more.
Apparently Clardy was upset with Gazette-News reporter Chris Willingham, Bruce's son, who had been covering the death of the alleged suspect. At one point the Sheriff said he was, "gonna bounce his ass." Then things turned even darker. There were offers of finding hit men and digging holes with excavators. The locations of open pits suitable for the disposal of bodies was also brought up.
County Commissioner, Mark Jennings proposed getting a surplus army tank somewhere then running it head long into the offices of the paper. Brother Jennings was also the sad soul who lamented no one could lynch black people any more. It was an odd tangent, completely off the subject of murdering a couple of reporters, but hey, sometimes nostalgia rears its head in the strangest of circumstances. At least Jennings didn't use the N word during his dive into his deeply disturbed mental state.
So, as an aside, there you go, who says Oklahoma isn't progressive when it comes to race relations.
Sheriff Clardy's immediate reaction to the release of the tape was Grade A right wing nonsense. The tape, he said, had been altered. There wasn't an explanation of who did the altering, or what was really said, but it didn't matter, because the recording was also illegal. In other words, what we said and meant doesn't count because Willingham broke the law recording it. He is the real villain here. Look the other way, for God's sake look the other way.
Indeed. From top to bottom the excuses are always the same.
County Commissioner Mark Jennings has resigned. Clardy and the people who work for him who were part of this sordid microcosm of authoritarianism and racist bullshit are still in office.
As of this writing no one has plowed into the offices of the McCurtain Gazette-News with a tank, or other armored vehicle. Never the less, I suggest Bruce and Chris Willingham keep an eye out for each other's back in the foreseeable future. The Sheriff's Department certainly isn't going to.
At least not in the good way.
4-23-23
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