How dare journalists record someone threatening to kill them and lamenting that it’s no longer possible to hang Black people?

In Idabel, a southeastern Oklahoma city with a population of about 7,000, newspaper publisher Bruce Willingham secretly recorded a conversation on March 6 where the local sheriff, sheriff’s captain, a county commissioner and a jailer were present.

Now the McCurtain Gazette-News has released portions of the recording and a transcript. The Associated Press reports that the recording’s authenticity could not be verified immediately and none of the people allegedly having this conversation had returned phone calls or emails.

 In the recording, people are reportedly making comments about hanging Black people and discussing killing the publisher and his son Chris Willingham, a reporter for the paper.

The sheriff’s office was quick to respond on Facebook by saying the recording was illegal and predicting that felony charges will be filed against the publisher. The post did not mention the content of the recording.

“In addition to being illegally obtained, the audio does not match the ‘transcription’ of that audio and is not precisely consistent with what has been put into print,” the statement reads.

So, no one has expressed embarrassment or dismissed the statements as “locker-room talk.” Instead, the people recorded apparently think they are the victims.

Bruce Willingham claims the recording is legal because it was obtained at an open meeting. The county commission meeting had adjourned but he left a voice-activated recorder inside the room because he suspected they were continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended, in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Act.

The recording is about 3 hours long and portions that have been released by the newspaper are chilling.

The county commissioner allegedly tells the sheriff and captain, when discussing Willingham and his son, “I know where two deep holes are dug if you ever need them,” to which the sheriff reportedly responds, “I’ve got an excavator.”

“Well, these are already pre-dug.” The commissioner also reportedly says he’s known “two or three hit men” in Louisiana; “they’re very quiet guys.”

 In the version of the recording released, the commissioner also appears to complain that it’s not like the good old days when a former sheriff would “take a damn Back guy and whoop their a-- and throw them in the cell.”

The sheriff says, “It’s not like that no more,” but the commissioner doesn’t give up. According to the transcript, he says, “I know. Take them down to Mud Creek and hang them up with a damn rope. But you can’t do that anymore. They got more rights than we got.”

The reported comments have sparked outrage and protests as well as calls for resignations. The people of Oklahoma say that’s not who they are – except for one guy on social media who pointed out it is possible to fake anyone’s voice using Artificial Intelligence.

Willingham has turned the full audio over to the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office, so the investigation is underway.

Whatever the outcome, it is good to remember that what you say may come out. We can’t always be on our best behavior, but this would have been a good time for following better examples, such as Rotary Club's “four-way test”: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

We might add our own test: Will the speaker bring embarrassment upon himself and his office if it is made public? After all, recorders, cameras and attentive listeners are everywhere.