DOJ launches civil rights probe of Mississippi sheriff’s office whose deputies tortured 2 Black men in ‘Goon Squad’ case

By Emma Tucker and Ryan Young, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation into the sheriff’s department in Mississippi’s Rankin County after several of its deputies – including some who were in a self-styled “Goon Squad” – abused and tortured two Black men in a racially charged home raid last year.

The federal investigation will examine whether the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department engages in unconstitutional patterns or practices of using excessive force, racially discriminatory policing of Black residents and conducting unlawful stops, searches and arrests, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release Thursday.

The civil rights investigation is the 12th pattern or practice probe of law enforcement misconduct launched during the Biden administration. Rankin County is located just east of Jackson, the state’s capital.

Five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and a former Richland police officer were handed lengthy prison sentences this year after pleading guilty to federal and state charges related to the January 2023 torture of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker. At least several of the defendants were part of a group of deputies who called themselves the “Goon Squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force and not report it, federal prosecutors have said.

The group of White officers raided the home in Braxton without a warrant, subjected the two Black men to racist vitriol, used Tasers on them after they had already been handcuffed and beat them with various objects – and one of them shot Jenkins in the mouth, prosecutors said. The officers went to the home after a neighbor reported several Black men were staying at a White woman’s home and reported seeing suspicious behavior.

Parker was “a long-time friend” of the homeowner, according to federal prosecutors. He was living at the home and helping take care of her. Jenkins was living at the home temporarily.

Those officers – sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Christian Dedmon, Daniel Opdyke and Jeffrey Middleton, and police officer Joshua Hartfield – received federal sentences ranging from 10 to 40 years in prison in March. The following month, they were each sentenced in state court to 15 to 45 years in prison, which will run concurrently with their federal sentences.

After their federal sentencing in March, Garland said in a statement the “depravity of the crimes committed by these defendants cannot be overstated.”

In a statement to CNN, attorneys for Parker and Jenkins said the investigation is “a first, critical step in cleaning up the sheriff’s department and holding Rankin County legally accountable for the years of constitutional violations against its citizenry.”

“On behalf of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, and innumerable victims of Rankin County’s long and extremely violent legacy of departmental abuse under Sheriff Bryan Bailey, we applaud the DOJ Civil Rights Division today,” reads the statement from attorneys Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker.

CNN has contacted the state’s attorney general, its department of public safety and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Sheriff faces growing calls to resign

Since the horrifying brutality of the “Goon Squad” case came to light, the Justice Department’s civil rights division has received other reports of the department’s deputies overusing tasers, entering homes unlawfully, using racial slurs and deploying “dangerous, cruel tactics to assault people in their custody,” Assistant US Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in Thursday’s release.

“Based on an extensive review of publicly available information as well as complaints provided to us, we have grounds to open a pattern or practice investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department now,” Clarke said.

The five Rankin County officers were under the purview of Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who was re-elected in December as details from the brutal torture of Parker and Jenkins made national headlines and rocked the community. The sheriff has faced growing calls to step down in recent months, amid allegations he failed to properly supervise, monitor and discipline his deputies.

Bailey has insisted he was not aware of the “Goon Squad” of deputies until federal charges were filed in August 2023, saying he was “ashamed,” and the badge of law enforcement was “tarnished by the criminal acts of these few individuals.”

The sheriff’s office has since rolled out a series of changes to the agency’s patrol policies and procedures, but community leaders have insisted the calls don’t go far enough.

In a statement to CNN on Thursday, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department said it has increased transparency by “placing our policies and procedures, in addition to our compliments and complaints portal,” on its website.

“We will continue this transparency and will fully cooperate with all aspects of this investigation, while also welcoming DOJ’s input into our updated policies and practices,” the statement continued.

Rankin County NAACP President Angela English, who is leading a petition to remove Bailey from office, said in a statement to CNN she is “ecstatic” that “justice is being served.”

English said the branch is “hoping to get a lot of participation from people in the public who may not have come forward yet” and said a listening session will be held at Pilgrim Red Baptist Church in Brandon on Thursday evening for the public to share their experiences with the sheriff’s department.

The civil rights investigation is separate from the federal criminal case of the six officers, according to Garland, and will involve a “comprehensive review” of the department’s policies, training and supervision, along with its systems of accountability. Community groups and members of the public will be contacted by federal investigators to learn about their experiences with the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, which has been notified about the investigation and has vowed to cooperate, Garland said.

After the incident last January, Parker and Jenkins tried, for months, to tell their story – but often, no one believed them. After the state sentencing hearing in April, Parker told CNN his purpose now is to fight for others who can’t or are too scared to.

“I know people who are out there and still afraid to say something,” Parker said. “I’m putting it out there that anybody who is scared or needs someone to talk to – I’ll meet you where I need to meet you and make sure no one else has to go through this, where they are afraid or intimidated about anything.”

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CNN’s Devon M. Sayers contributed to this report.