Garland says officers’ torture of 2 Black men was betrayal of community they swore to protect

Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland says the prosecution of six former law enforcement officers who tortured two Black men in Mississippi is an example of the Justice Department’s action to build public trust after it is violated. Garland spoke Wednesday in Jackson, Mississippi — in the same courthouse where the five former deputies and one former police officer pleaded guilty and received sentences of 10 to 40 years. Garland says their crimes in 2023 betrayed the community they swore to protect. The Justice Department last week announced a civil rights investigation of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department. Garland says it will be comprehensive.