The fifth member of the Mississippi "Goon Squad" that admitted to the racially motivated torture of two Black men has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.
Former Rankin County deputy Brett McAlpin was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Tom Lee.
Lee has also sentenced four other former law enforcement officers who were involved in the attack. Christian Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in that attack and another incident in December 2022. Hunter Elward was sentenced to over 20 years in prison. Two other officers, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, were sentenced to 17.5 years in prison each.
The sixth and final officer, former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, is expected to be sentenced by Lee on Thursday afternoon.
For each of the deputies sentenced so far, Lee has handed down prison terms near the top of the sentencing guidelines. Lee has previously called the officers' actions "egregious and despicable."The attack involved beatings, repeated uses of stun guns and assaults with a sex toy before one of the victims was shot in the mouth in a mock execution gone awry.
The horrific events of January 24, 2023
On January 24, 2023, a disturbing incident unfolded when a white individual in Rankin County made a racially motivated call to McAlpin, expressing concern about two Black men staying with a white woman in Braxton. This call set off a chain of events that led to a series of heinous acts.
Upon receiving the call, McAlpin informed Dedmon, who then reached out to a group of white deputies, seeking assistance for a mission. Dedmon's text message, which explicitly stated "No bad mugshots," was interpreted as a signal to use excessive force on the victims in areas that would not be visible in booking photos.
Hartfield was also brought into the scheme, with instructions to guard the back door of the property during an unauthorized entry. Once inside, the officers subjected the victims to racial slurs, stun gun shocks, and humiliating acts, including pouring milk, alcohol, and chocolate syrup on their faces. Dedmon and Opdyke even went as far as assaulting the victims with a sex toy.
As part of the cover-up, the victims were forced to strip naked, shower together to wash off the substances, and were guarded by Hartfield to prevent escape. Elward's violent act of shooting Jenkins in the mouth, causing severe injuries, prompted McAlpin to pressure Parker into compliance by offering him freedom in exchange for silence. Subsequently, false charges were fabricated against Jenkins and Parker, with drugs being planted to support the deception.
Threats and Silence
In a chilling turn of events, McAlpin and Middleton, the senior members of the group, resorted to threatening the other officers with death if they dared to speak out about the atrocities committed.
In the majority-white Rankin County, located just east of Jackson, which is home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents in any major U.S. city, a troubling incident unfolded. The officers involved reportedly shouted at Jenkins and Parker, instructing them to "stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or 'their side' of the Pearl River," according to court documents.
Opdyke took the first step in admitting to the wrongdoing, as confirmed by his attorney Jeff Reynolds. On April 12, Opdyke voluntarily showed investigators a WhatsApp text thread where the officers discussed their plan and the subsequent events. It was revealed that had he disposed of his phone in a river, like some of the other officers did, the encrypted messages may not have been uncovered.
Attorneys representing several of the deputies claimed that their clients were caught up in a culture of corruption that was not only tolerated but promoted by leaders within the sheriff's office.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who assumed office in 2012, did not disclose specifics about his deputies' actions when he announced their termination last June. Following their guilty pleas in August, Bailey attributed the officers' actions to rogue behavior and vowed to implement changes. In response, Jenkins and Parker demanded his resignation and initiated a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department. Despite these controversies, Bailey was reelected unopposed for another four-year term last November.
