Mississippi 'Goon Squad' Officers Sentenced On State Charges For Torture Of 2 Black Men

Phillip Jackson
·2 min read
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From top left: former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, as well as former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, are shown at a court in Brandon, Mississippi, on Aug. 14, 2023.
From top left: former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, as well as former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, are shown at a court in Brandon, Mississippi, on Aug. 14, 2023. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis via Associated Press

A judge on Wednesday sentenced six Mississippi law enforcement officers on state charges for the torture of two Black men during a no-warrant home raid.

This comes after a federal judge in March sentenced the officers to prison terms ranging from 10 to 40 years. They had pleaded guilty in both their federal and state cases last summer.

The six men — five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and a former Richland Police Department officer who belonged to a self-styled “Goon Squad” — tortured Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker in 2023 at a home in Braxton, Mississippi.

The officers kicked in the door of the home, shouting racial slurs at Jenkins and Parker as they beat the men and shocked them with stun guns. One Rankin County deputy shot Jenkins in the mouth.

The judge read the officers their sentences one by one Wednesday, with the sentencing ranging from 15 to 45 years.

Brett McAlpin, a deputy with Rankin County, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison, described as one of the main leaders of the Goon Squad who told officers what to do during the beating. Christian Dedmon, another Rankin County deputy, was sentenced to 25 years.

Daniel Opdyke, another former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy, was sentenced to 20 years on state charges of conspiracy to hinder prosecution.

Dedmon was also sentenced on burglary and home invasion charges. McAlpin, Middleton and Opdyke were sentenced on charges related to hindering prosecution.

Hunter Elward, the ex-Rankin County deputy who shot Jenkins in the mouth, was sentenced to 45 years on charges of aggravated assault, burglary/home invasion and conspiracy to hinder prosecution.

Joshua Hartfield, the former Richland police officer, was sentenced to 15 years on state charges of hindering prosecution and conspiracy to hinder prosecution.

All state sentences will run concurrently with federal sentencing, the judge said in the courtroom Wednesday.

Calls for the resignation of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey have intensified as residents and activists continue to protest against him remaining in office.

Jenkins and Parker filed a $400 million lawsuit against Bailey and the sheriff’s office last year, alleging that Bailey was complicit in the criminal acts of the deputies he oversaw.

Angela English, the president of Rankin County chapter of the NAACP, started a petition to get signatures from residents in support of Bailey’s resignation.

Bailey was reelected as sheriff last year.