US ‘Goon Squad’ officers admit racist torture of 2 black men

The 90-minute torture session in January ended with a victim being shot in the mouth. The six officers involved admitted their guilt in a civil case

They had devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun on one of the men, which could have sent him to prison for years

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Anti-police brutality activists protest outside the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, where the officers were based, last month. Photo: AP

Published: 3:03pm, 14 Aug 2023Updated: 3:34pm, 14 Aug 2023

Six former law enforcement officers are expected to plead guilty in the United States on Monday for torturing two black men in a racist assault after recently admitting their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case.

Prosecutors say the Mississippi officers, who are all white, nicknamed themselves the “Goon Squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force and cover it up, including the attack that ended with a victim shot in the mouth.

In January, the officers entered a house without a warrant and handcuffed and assaulted the two men with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects. The officers mocked them with racial slurs throughout the 90-minute torture session. They then devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun on one of the men, which could have sent him to prison for years.

The officers are expected to plead guilty to state charges including home invasion, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution, as well as aggravated assault for the officer who pulled the trigger.

Each of the men reached individual plea agreements that include prison sentences ranging from five to 30 years, court records show. Time served for the state charges will run concurrently with the sentences they are expected to receive in federal court in November following their pleas on August 3.

The men include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies including Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and a police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield.

Michael Corey Jenkins still has difficulty speaking because of his injuries. The gunshot lacerated his tongue and broke his jaw before the bullet exited his neck. Photo: AP

Elward admitted he shoved a gun into Jenkins’s mouth and pulled the trigger in a “mock execution” that went awry.