Attorneys for three men tortured by “Goon Squad” officers called for the censure and removal of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey during a press conference Monday welcoming the Justice Department’s investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department.
Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker, counsels with Black Lawyers for Justice, said they expect the federal investigation will counter the department’s claim in Parker and Jenkins’ lawsuit that abuses were limited to a small cadre of officers and that Bailey was unaware of violent practices.
In January 2023, six law enforcement officers from Mississippi made national headlines when they tortured two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, sexually assaulting them, even shooting Jenkins in the mouth. In March 2024, the officers – former Rankin County deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield – were sentenced collectively to a total of 132 years in federal prison.
An investigation by the New York Times and Mississippi Today found that these incidents were just the tip of the iceberg, and part of a decades-long pattern of police brutality and abuses by law enforcement officials in Rankin County. Last week, the Justice Department announced that it was launching an investigation into the county’s policing practices.
The attorneys described excessive force as a “systemic problem” linked to Bailey’s lack of oversight.
Walker said Bailey ignored abuses and that for “too long, this has gone on with a wink and a nod and has not been seriously addressed.”
Shabazz said that while the officers’ sentencing and the federal investigation are welcome steps, “justice looks like Rankin County stepping up to censure Bryan Bailey.”
“There is no other sheriff’s department in America where such vicious criminals as the “Goon Squad” have been [sentenced] to 132 years in federal prison, and their supervisors remain on the job,” said Shabazz.
The attorney for the sheriff’s department, Jason Dare, declined to comment in response.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is in the process of collecting signatures on a petition demanding that the governor oust Sheriff Bryan Bailey. A successful campaign would require the signatures of 30% of registered voters in Rankin County. That would mean 29,671 signatures. Angela English, president of the Rankin County NAACP branch, said that they almost have enough.
The attorneys also mentioned that Mississippi’s three-year statute of limitations prevents them from prosecuting on behalf of some victims. Among those victims is Samuel Carter.
In 2016, Rankin County deputies raided Carter’s home in search of drugs. They dragged him into his bedroom, Carter and witnesses said, then beat him and shocked him repeatedly with a Taser. Department records show one of the deputies involved in the arrest triggered his Taser six times during the arrest. That deputy still works for the department.
Shabazz invited other victims of abuse, witnesses, officers and former officers from Rankin County law enforcement to come forward. But the sheriff’s office is “underinsured,” he added, and will need to pay more than its liability insurance covers to provide Parker and Jenkins “decent” compensation. The department’s policy is capped at $2.125 million, Shabazz said, with each payout decreasing the amount remaining for future claims.
“What they’re risking is a trial and a jury verdict that could cost Rankin County many millions – 50 million, 60 million,” said Shabazz. “And it’s an unnecessary risk as far as I’m concerned.”
Several lawyers told Carter he can no longer file a lawsuit against the department because the statute of limitations has expired, Carter said. But he hopes the Justice Department’s probe will unearth more cases like his and result in criminal charges for the deputies who have so far dodged accountability.
“The ones who didn’t deserve what the law did to them, I hope it will come out,” he said.
Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield with The New York Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship. contributed to this report
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