6 ex-officers plead guilty to violating civil rights of 2 Black men in Mississippi

Six white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi pleaded guilty Thursday to federal criminal charges in the beating and sexual assault of two Black men, one of whom was also shot in the mouth.

The five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and another officer appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to 13 federal felony offenses, including civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.

"The details of the crimes these defendants committed is a horrific and stark example of violent police misconduct which has no place in our society today," said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, in a press conference Thursday.

The two Black men, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, say the officers burst into the home they were residing in without a warrant on Jan. 24, beat them, assaulted them with a sex toy, and shocked them repeatedly with Tasers over the course of about 90 minutes. One deputy then placed a gun in Jenkins' mouth and fired, the men say.

Clarke said the officers "sought to dehumanize their victims and to send a message that these two Black men were not welcome on 'on their side of the river.'"

The officers include former Rankin County sheriff's deputies Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, according to the indictment in the Southern District of Mississippi.

"Today’s guilty pleas are historic for justice against rogue police torture and police brutality in Rankin County, the state of Mississippi and all over America," Malik Shabazz, lead attorney for the victims, told USA TODAY. "Significant time behind bars is ahead for all defendants. Today is truly historic for Mississippi and for civil and human rights in America."

Three of the officers also pleaded guilty to using excessive force against a different victim in a separate incident last year — an unlawful assault of another victim, who the officers beat, shocked, and tried to coerce through other means, Clarke said.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch also announced Thursday that her office filed charges in Rankin County Circuit Court against the six officers involved. The charges included aggravated assault, home invasion, obstruction of justice in the first degree and conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice.

"This brutal attack caused more than physical harm to these two individual victims; it severed that vital trust with the people," Fitch said in a statement. "This abuse of power will not be tolerated."

Federal indictment details abuse

According to the federal indictment, one of the officers received a complaint that day from one of his white neighbors that some "suspicious" Black men had been staying at a property owned by white woman in a predominantly white neighborhood in Braxton.

That night, the officer reached out to a group of officers who called themselves "The Goon Squad" and asked if they were "available for a mission," according to the complaint. The group used the name "because of their willingness to use excessive force and not to report it," the complaint said.

The officers burst into the home, handcuffed the men and repeatedly shocked them with Tasers. The group shouted commands at the men, used racial slurs and assaulted the men with a sex toy. One officer "demanded to know where the drugs were," and fired a bullet into a wall, the complaint said.

At one point, the officers "poured milk, alcohol, and chocolate syrup on their faces and into their mouths," the complaint said. One officer also "poured cooking grease" on Parker's head. Another threw eggs at the men.

One officer ordered the men to strip naked and shower off "to wash away evidence of abuse," according to the complaint. The abuse continued. The officers then used a wooden kitchen implement, metal sword and pieces of wood to beat Parker. The deputies continued to shock the men with Tasers and stole from the property.

The horrific incident culminated in a "mock execution," when one officer fired a bullet in Jenkins' mouth, lacerating his tongue, breaking his jaw and exiting out of his neck, the complaint said. The officers then "planted and tampered with evidence to corroborate their false cover story and cover up their misconduct," to according to the complaint.

"They left him lying in a pool of blood, gathered on the porch of the house to discuss how to cover it up," Darren LaMarca, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, said at the press conference in Jackson, Mississippi. "What indifference. What disregard for life."

Investigation links deputies to other violent episodes

The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the incident in February.

An Associated Press investigation in March found several deputies involved with the episode also were linked to at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another with lasting injuries. Deputies accepted to the sheriff’s office's Special Response Team – a tactical unit whose members receive advanced training – were involved in each of the four encounters.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said in June all the officers involved had been fired or resigned.

Jenkins and Parker filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County that same month, seeking $400 million in damages.