Amid calls for the McCurtain County sheriff to resign, the wife of a man who died after he was tased by county deputies has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him and others in his office.
On Thursday, attorney Mitchell Garrett announced Barbara Barrick is suing sheriff Kevin Clardy, three deputies, the county game warden and the board of county commissioners over the death of her husband, Bobby Barrick. The lawsuit alleges the deputies tased Barrick multiple times before he died days later at a hospital.
Barrick is shown in bodycam video of the alleged incident screaming for his life while in handcuffs.
At a news conference in Idabel Thursday, Garrett claimed the deputies responded inappropriately to someone in mental health crisis. He also claimed the sheriff’s office moved hastily from Barrick’s death, and that it wasn’t independently investigated.
“Barbara has never received a phone call from the sheriff’s department or any of the investigators saying, ‘I’m so sorry what happened to your husband,'" said Garrett.
The lawsuit comes as Governor Kevin Stitt has called for Clardy and two other members of the sheriff’s office to resign after they were allegedly recorded discussing killing journalists, joking about a burn victim and talking to a commissioner who said he missed when police could lynch Black people. The county commissioner who allegedly made the racist comments resigned Wednesday.
The sheriff has not stepped down, and claims the recordings were manipulated and obtained illegally. All three members of the sheriff's office have been suspended from the Oklahoma Sheriff's Association.
Garrett said the McCurtain County Gazette, which obtained the recordings and records about Barrick's death, allowed them to proceed with the lawsuit thanks to their information requests. He also claimed the leaked recordings and the wrongful death lawsuit are linked.
“When you have people in positions of leadership making racist statements and espousing violence as ways to solve problems, what do you think the deputies are going to think?”
Garrett said his lawsuit includes a "monell claim" on behalf of Barrick, who was indigenous.
"That means this is all in the pattern and practice of the things against native Americans, African-Americans, people of color here in the county," Garrett said.
Garrett said a big reason for the lawsuit is for discovery, which he hopes will uncover wrongdoing from the sheriff’s office.
Barbara Barrick said Bobby treated her kids like they were his own, and was a hard worker.
"He was just a very shining light in everybody's life that he met, and this is the Bobby that I want everybody to remember," she said. "He was just very special."
