Summary

Mississippi’s Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin received a complaint call about two Black men staying with a white woman, leading him to contact the "Goon Squad," officers known for excessive force. This group, including Richland officer Joshua Hartfield, broke into the house without a warrant, assaulting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker. Hunter Elward, sentenced to 20 years, admitted to a mock execution of Jenkins, shoving a gun into his mouth and firing. The officers used racial slurs, stun guns, and objects, forcing the men to strip, shower together, and endure abuse. US District Judge Tom Lee sentenced the officers, including Jeffrey Middleton and Joshua Hartfield, for violations of civil rights laws, with Hunter Elward receiving 20 years and Christian Dedmon 40 years due to extreme brutality. Investigations reveal a pattern of violence by the "Goon Squad," prompting a Mississippi bill to investigate and revoke licenses of officers accused of misconduct. Eddie Terrell Parker and Michael Corey Jenkins, traumatized by the attack, are also seeking Sheriff Bryan Bailey's resignation and filed a $400 million lawsuit against the department.

For those who read...

On January 24th, 2023, Mississippi’s Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin received a phone call complaining that two Black men were staying with a white woman in Braxton and that such a situation warranted violent police response. McAlpin reported the call to Deputy Christian Dedmon, who texted his fellow comrades in the self-proclaimed “Goon Squad,” a group of law enforcement officers known for using excessive force unabashedly. 

Shortly after, the six officers, including Richland officer Joshua Hartfield, broke into the house without a warrant and assaulted and abused Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker. Former deputy Hunter Elward, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday, admitted to shoving a gun into Jenkins’ mouth and firing as part of a mock execution. The officers invented a cover story involving drugs and a BB gun, resulting in false charges against Jenkins and Parker which lasted months. Jenkins also suffered a lacerated tongue and broken jaw, making eating, speaking, and singing–his career–quite challenging. His friend, Eddie Terrell Parker, was also traumatized from the attack. 

While inside the house, the six officers handcuffed the two men and doused them with milk, alcohol, and chocolate syrup. They forced Jenkins and Parker to strip naked and shower together. Throughout the attack, Jenkins and Parker were assaulted with stun guns and various objects, including sex toys, while being barraged by racial slurs and demands to quote “go back to ‘their side’ of the Pearl River” –Rankin County is slightly east of Mississippi’s capital, Jackson, which has one of the largest percentages of Black residents of every major US city. 

In August, all six officers pleaded guilty to prosecution charges citing violations of civil rights laws. And on Tuesday, US District Judge Tom Lee sentenced Elward to 20 years in prison and Jeffrey Middleton, the leader of the Goon Squad, to 17.5, arguing that their actions that night in January were quote “egregious and despicable,” and that their sentences were justified. Officer Opdyke was given the same 17.5 year sentence on Wednesday, while Officer Dedmon was given 40 years in prison due to his extreme brutality. The two remaining officers will be sentenced today.

Several investigations and witness claims show, however, that the Goon Squad’s reputation has been long in the making. 

Months before prosecutors for Jenkins and Parker announced charges, an AP investigation unearthed at least four other cases of violence against Black men by Goon Squad officers since 2019. From these encounters, two men were killed and another was left with long-term injuries. Only two weeks before Jenkins and Parker were tortured, Alan Schmidt, a white man, came forward with his own story. He was pulled over in December of 2022 by officers Elward and Dedmon, who accused him of stealing tools. The officers forced him to his knees, tased him, and attempted to sexually assault him. Former deputy Elward was sentenced in that case, as well. He admitted during Tuesday’s trial to knowing about alleged misconduct within the department from as far back as 2017. In fact, much of his lawyer’s argument referenced his so-called “initiation” into the Goon Squad. Another of the indicted officers, Daniel Opdyke, recalled a similar, seemingly infectious induction.

This contagious use of violence, especially against Black men, resulted in a Mississippi bill that would allow the state board responsible for certifying law enforcement officers to investigate and revoke licenses of those accused of misconduct, regardless of criminal charges. The bill passed in the state House and will face a Senate vote in the coming weeks. 

Eddie Terrell Parker and Michael Corey Jenkins, who sat in the front row during this week’s trials, are also calling for Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey’s resignation and filed a $400 million lawsuit against the department. They were too traumatized to speak during the trial.

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