Ex-Mississippi officers admit to torturing Black men, plead guilty

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + News Websites
15 Aug 2023 10:34

Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers have pleaded guilty to state-level charges related to obstructing justice and engaging in a conspiracy pertaining to the assault on Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker.

Local organizations and anti-police brutality activists march toward the Rankin County sheriff's office in Brandon, Mississippi on 5 July 2023. (AP)

In late January, a group of six white police officers from Mississippi conducted a forceful raid on a residence located in Rankin County, a suburb near Jackson. During this operation, they subjected two Black men to a distressing episode of severe torture lasting about ninety minutes.

This incident prompted the US Department of Justice to launch a civil rights investigation into the activities of the Rankin County Sheriff's Department. Subsequently, the officers implicated either resigned or were dismissed from their positions. Simultaneously, activists called for the resignation of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey.

On Monday, the former officers pleaded guilty to state-level charges related to obstructing justice and engaging in a conspiracy pertaining to the assault on Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker. These individuals, including former sheriff's deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton, and Daniel Opdyke, along with former police officer Joshua Hartfield, had earlier entered guilty pleas to federal charges on August 3.

This brutal attack on Jenkins and Parker occurred around the same time as the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by law enforcement officers in Memphis, Tennessee, underscoring yet another disturbing instance of police brutality disproportionately affecting Black Americans.

A comprehensive investigation conducted by the Associated Press revealed connections between several officers belonging to the department's specialized response team, a unit that receives advanced training, and assaults against at least four other Black men in Rankin County.

#Racism isn't dead.
Statistics show that black Americans are more likely to be falsely convicted 7 times more than white #Americans before being exonerated. pic.twitter.com/YJ8g3ANy6T
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 29, 2022

The incident was triggered by a 911 call reminiscent of the historic Emmett Till case from 1955, in which a young Black boy was tragically beaten for allegedly whistling at a white woman. This call, placed on January 24, originated from a white neighbor in the predominantly white suburb reporting that two Black men were residing in a house with a white woman. One of the men, Jenkins, had been providing care for the homeowner, Kristi Walley, a childhood friend who was paralyzed and owned the house.

During the raid, the white officers, who sometimes referred to themselves as the "Goon Squad", subjected the victims to physical abuse using stun guns and a sexual object. Hunter Elward, who had been involved in two previous fatal encounters, forcefully placed a gun into Jenkins' mouth and carried out a simulated shooting, effectively enacting a "mock execution". This traumatic event resulted in Jenkins still facing speech difficulties due to a lacerated tongue and a broken jaw.

Legal documents disclosed that the officers also directed racially offensive slurs at Jenkins and Parker, instructing them to leave Rankin County and return to Jackson, or to what they referred to as "their side" of the Pearl River, an allusion to the racially segregated majority-Black Jackson.

Sheriff Bryan Bailey affirmed that the officers provided false information during the investigation. Furthermore, the Associated Press uncovered that these officers attempted to suppress the truth and obscure the incident rather than aiding the victims. They even attempted to plant a firearm and drugs at the scene in a bid to falsely implicate Jenkins in possession.

In June, Jenkins and Parker initiated a civil rights lawsuit against the Rankin County sheriff's department, seeking a compensatory amount of $400 million for the damages suffered. The former officers are scheduled to receive their sentencing in mid-November.