Six Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ cops plead guilty to torturing Black men

Six Mississippi police officers calling themselves “The Goon Squad” pleaded guilty to state charges in connection to torturing two Black men with a sex toy and stun gun during an illegal January raid — then covering it up.

The sextet of county and city cops previously pleaded guilty to federal charges in the 90-minute assault on Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, who arrived together a the Brandon, Miss. courthouse where the officers rendered their pleas.

They were joined by Monica Lee, whose son died Damien Cameron died after former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Hunter Elward punched and tased him during a 2021 arrest.

Elward — who shoved his gun into Jenkins’ mouth and shot out his jaw in January — was charged alongside fellow Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Brett McAlpin, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke. City of Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield was also involved.

Prosecutors agreed to a sentence of five to 30 years for the defendants, though a judge has discretion over the officers’ prison terms. They will be sentenced in a federal court in November. Their state and federal sentences will run concurrently.

Court records show the six officers entered a home without a warrant and handcuffed the victims after a white neighbor complained two Black men were staying there with a white woman.

After kicking in a door, the cops mocked their victims with racial slurs, then planted drugs and a gun on them, which led to false criminal charges. Parker and Jenkins were warned to go back to Jackson, Miss. on “their side” of the Pearl River.

The victims were cleared when one officer confessed to a sheriff that the story he gave was untrue, leading his accomplices to admit wrongdoing as well. Rankin County is comprised of predominantly white suburbs. Roughly 80% of Jackson’s residents are Black.

Parker was visiting the Rankin County house where he was abused to care for his friend Kristi Walley, who’s been paralyzed since she was a teenager. Walley called Parker “a blessing” in a February interview.

“Every time I’ve needed him he’s been here,” she said.

Parker and Jenkins fled Mississippi after the assault and said they’re not sure if they’ll live there again.

“The truth always prevails over any lie or story you make up,” Parker said after his tormenters’ guilty pleas.

Jenkins still struggles to speak because of the bullet Elward fired into his mouth, which lacerated his tongue before shattering his jaw and leaving through his throat. He told reporters he knew justice would come, but was surprised it came so quickly.

With News Wire Services