On Monday (August 14), six former Mississippi cops, some who have called themselves “The Goon Squad,” have pleaded guilty to state charges accusing them of participating in a racist attack and torture of two Black men. They are accused of assaulting them with stun guns and a sex toy.
According to a federal charging document, some of the officers labeled themselves as “The Goon Squad, because of their willingness to use excessive force and not to report it.” The Squad has a combined 13 felonies in connection with the torture and physical abuse of two Black men.
The six defendants, aka “The Goon Squad,” include five former Rankin County deputy sheriffs: Hunter Elward; Christian Dedmon; Jeffrey Middleton; Brett McAlpin; and Daniel Opdyke; plus a fifth officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield. All of the officers are charged with conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice. Additionally, Dedmon was charged with home invasion, and Elward was charged with home invasion and aggravated assault.
According to prosecutors, the now-former police officers kicked in the doors of their victims’ home on January 24 and immediately began torturing the two men for 90 minutes. Prosecutors said the officers forcefully made their way into a house without a warrant and ended up handcuffing and assaulting Michael Corey Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker.
Immediately after apprehending the men, the former officers started assaulting them with stun guns, a sex toy, and other objects for upwards of an hour and a half. During the torture session, the officers told the men to “stop taking advantage of a white woman who lived there.” The officers are also accused of mocking the men and yelling out racial slurs during the torturing.
Prosecutors said the officers specifically shocked the men with electricity volts via tasers, and sexually assaulted them with a vibrator. They’re accused of also pouring chocolate and syrup over their faces and then planned to cover up the racist attack with a game of Russian Roulette; which resulted in one of the victims, Jenkins, being shot in the mouth.
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Prosecutors also said that the six officers planted drugs and a gun on one of the men and concocted a story to justify Jenkins getting shot. They claimed he resisted arrest and went for an officer’s gun. The so-called “Goon Squad” also destroyed surveillance videos, shell casings and taser cartridges. However, all of the officers’ false stories and covering up went out the window when they all got caught, and then pleaded guilty this week.
Former Rankin County deputy sheriff Hunter Elward’s aggravated assault charge stems from shoving his gun into Jenkins’ mouth and pulling the trigger. He claimed it happened when a “mock execution” went wrong during the racist attack. State prosecutors have recommended a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for, and for the other defendants, they’re facing 5 to 10 years since pleading guilty.
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