On Monday, six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty to torturing two black men in a racist attack. The officers nicknamed themselves the “Goon Squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force and cover up attacks including the assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
The former officers include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies — Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke — and a former police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield.
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The incident happened In January and culminated into a 90-minute torture session. The officers entered a house without a warrant, handcuffed and assaulted the two men with stun guns, a sex toy, and other objects. They were mocked with racial slurs, then the officers devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun, leading to false charges against the victims, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker.
The officers’ scheme went awry when one of them told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others.
Only after federal and state investigators involved, did the charges against the victims drop – six months later. The victims were present on Monday for the hearing and sat in the front row.
The accused will be sentenced in November. Time will include what they already served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the federal time.
