BRANDON, Miss.—Five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and one Richland police officer will receive state sentences this week for the physical, sexual and racist torture of two Black men.
The former officers, some of whom considered themselves part of a rogue group known as the ‘goon squad’ for their proclivity to use violence against residents, have already received federal sentences for the torture of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in Brandon, Miss., in January 2023.
Last month, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Judge Tom Lee gave each of the six ex-officers sentences ranging from 10 to 40 years in prison, calling their actions “egregious and despicable” acts. The officers are Hunter Elward, Jeffrey Middleton, Brett McAlpin, Joshua Hartfield, Christian Dedmon and Daniel Opdyke.
A judge sentenced former Rankin County deputy Hunter Elward to 20 years in prison on March 19, 2024, for his role in the “Goon Squad” torture and sexual assault of two Black men during an illegal home raid in Braxton, Miss., on Jan. 24, 2023. The victims, Eddie Terrell Parker (left) and Michael Jenkins (right), seen here with attorney Trent Walker (center), spoke about the suffering they endured at a press conference in Jackson, Miss., on March 18, 2024. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad
Rankin County Circuit Court Judge Steve Ratcliff will deliver the mens’ sentences for their state charges on Wednesday starting at 9 a.m. in Brandon, Miss. The ex-officers will serve their state sentences concurrently with their federal sentences, Lee decided last month.
“We still want Judge Ratcliff to impose maximum sentences for those crimes,” Trent Walker, one of two attorneys representing Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, said at an NAACP town hall in Brandon on Saturday ahead of the sentencing.
Walker and attorney Malik Shabazz also filed a $400-million civil lawsuit last June against the officers and Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey for the warrantless home raid and vicious attacks on Parker and Jenkins in Braxton, Miss., on the night of Jan. 24, 2023.
‘Our Lives Have Been Drastically Changed’
Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Hunter Elward shot Michael Jenkins in
Read original article by clicking here.