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Six Former Mississippi Officers Sentenced for Torture and Racial Abuse

The sentencing follows their guilty pleas to federal and state charges for brutalizing two Black men, highlighting systemic issues within the Rankin County Sheriff's Department.

Civil lead counsel Malik Shabazz, center, speaks to reporters following the sentencing of the fourth former Rankin County law enforcement officer, while his client Michael Corey Jenkins, right, listens while outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
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Bertron Beard, army lieutenant, holds his face in his hands as he listens to crimes the Goon Squad committed during a town hall meeting about police brutality in Rankin County hosted by the Rankin County NAACP at the Brandon Public Library in Brandon, Miss., on Tuesday, Mar. 19, 2024. Beard was stationed here last year, and 'Goon Squad' was the first thing that popped up when they researched the area. "It's worse than we thought," Beard said.
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Overview

  • Six former law enforcement officers, part of the 'Goon Squad', received sentences ranging from 15 to 45 years for torturing two Black men in Mississippi.
  • The officers assaulted the victims with racial slurs, physical abuse, and attempted sexual assault during a 90-minute ordeal without a warrant.
  • Victims Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker described enduring severe physical and psychological trauma from the attack.
  • Calls for accountability extend beyond the sentenced officers, with demands for the resignation of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, under whose watch the abuses occurred.
  • Despite previous investigations and guilty pleas, systemic issues and a lack of oversight are evident within the sheriff's department.