US Oklahoma official resigns over recorded talks about killing reporters, Blacks

HOUSTON -- A county commissioner in South Central US state Oklahoma has resigned after being secretly recorded talking about killing reporters and lynching Black residents, the office of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt confirmed on Wednesday.

"Effective immediately, I, Mark Jennings do hereby resign as McCurtain County District #2 commissioner," Jennings wrote in a hand-written letter two days after the governor called for his resignation.

Stitt also called for the resignations of Sheriff Kevin Clardy and two other sheriff's department employees, who were also allegedly heard on the recording, describing the recorded comments as "horrid" and "hateful."

"When the words of public servants are so vile that they're hurting the people they serve, they should no longer hold those positions," state Senator George Burns, a Republican, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association has suspended Clardy and two others from the organization, according to local media reports. However, the move does not remove them from their jobs with the sheriff's department.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Gerald Davidson said on Wednesday that the agency has launched an investigation into the matter at Stitt's request.