Today, two more former Mississippi deputies are facing sentencing after pleading guilty to committing racially motivated torture against two Black men in January 2023. This comes just a day after their fellow officers were handed lengthy prison sentences.
Hunter Elward, a former Rankin County sheriff's deputy, was given a sentence of just over 20 years by U.S. District Judge Tom Lee in a Jackson federal court. Jeffrey Middleton, the leader of the abusive "Goon Squad," received a 17.5-year prison term.
Former deputies Daniel Opdyke and Christian Dedmon, who were also part of the Rankin County sheriff's office during the assault, are set to be sentenced today. They each could face up to 20 years in prison.
The remaining officers, former deputy Brett McAlpin and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, are scheduled to be sentenced by Lee on Thursday.
Dedmon will also be sentenced for leading another assault, this one on a White man, in December 2022. Dedmon was one of several Rankin County deputies who pulled over a man identified in court Tuesday as Alan Schmidt. Schmidt was handcuffed, pulled from his vehicle and beaten. Dedmon then fired his gun into the air, forced Schmidt to his knees, and attempted to sexually assault him. Elward, one of the deputies sentenced Tuesday, was present at the time.
During the January 2023 incident, the six officers tortured Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker. The incident began on Jan. 24, 2023, with a racist call for extrajudicial violence. A White person phoned Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin and complained that two Black men were staying with a White woman at a house in Braxton, Mississippi. McAlpin told Dedmon, who texted a group of White deputies so willing to use excessive force they called themselves "The Goon Squad."
Once inside, they handcuffed Jenkins and his friend Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces. They forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. They mocked the victims with racial slurs and shocked them with stun guns. Dedmon assaulted them with a sex toy.
After Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, they devised a coverup that included planting drugs and a gun. False charges stood against Jenkins and Parker for months. Jenkins suffered a lacerated tongue and broken jaw.
In a statement Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland condemned the "heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect."
Power Abuse in Rankin County
Rankin County, a majority-white area located east of Jackson, has been at the center of a disturbing case involving racial discrimination and police brutality.
According to court documents, officers in Rankin County warned individuals to "stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or 'their side' of the Pearl River," targeting areas with higher Black populations.
An investigation by The Associated Press revealed that some deputies in Rankin County were involved in violent encounters with Black men, resulting in fatalities and severe injuries since 2019.
Despite the incidents, Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey initially remained silent. However, after the officers pleaded guilty in August, Bailey acknowledged the misconduct and vowed to reform the department. In response, the victims, Jenkins and Parker, have demanded Bailey's resignation and filed a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department.
