Rep. Dempsey Questioned About McCurtain County Audio Recordings

An Oklahoma town known for drawing tourists from all over is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Some are saying the investigation into recordings that caught county officials making racist and violent comments is taking too long.

Wednesday, June 7th 2023, 5:43 pm

By: Anjelicia Bruton

MCCURTAIN COUNTY, Okla. -

An Oklahoma town known for drawing tourists from all over is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Some are saying the investigation into recordings that caught county officials making racist and violent comments is taking too long.

Records of racist remarks, killing local reporters and a woman dying in a fire all made headlines two months ago.

Several people left a town hall meeting that addressed the alleged disturbing audio recordings made by McCurtain County officials with more questions than answers. They told News 9 that Representative Eddy Dempsey danced around their questions.

The records include Sheriff Kevin Clardy, commissioner Mark Jennings, and others with the sheriff department. Since then, Jennings has resigned, and others involved, including the sheriff, still have their jobs.

Dempsey was put on the spot to answer questions in a room filled with people wanting to know more about the Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s ongoing investigation with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation into the matter. Many said the attorney general's office has failed them.

Some asked if Dempsey supported Governor Kevin Stitt's call for the sheriff to resign, but the state representative didn’t have many answers.

“I want to hear the whole audio. I know the audio was audited and I want to hear the whole audio. That's what little bit they can tell me through their investigation,” Dempsey said.

Princcesai Johns said this is a poor representation of the town she loves.

“Only thing that was clarified, that he is friends with them, and at the end of the day he's still going to be friends with them,” Johns said.

Dempsey said despite his friendships he represents everyone.

“I basically have 40,000 people in my district, and I work for all of them,” Dempsey said.

There will be a special election for Mark Jennings' position on June 13. Early election starts Thursday, June 8.

Anjelicia Bruton

Anjelicia Bruton joined the News 9 family as a multi-media journalist in December 2020. She came to Oklahoma City from a station in Columbus, Georgia. In Columbus, Anjelicia covered stories on post at Fort Benning, deadly tornadoes in Alabama and an array of other stories.