6 ex-officers, some of whom called themselves ‘The Goon Squad,’ plead guilty to state charges in torture of 2 Black men
CNN, WLBT
By Dakin Andone, CNN
(CNN) — Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty Monday to all state charges against them stemming from the torture and abuse of two Black men earlier this year.
Their pleas Monday came after the former officers – five of them deputies for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, the sixth an officer for the Richland Police Department – pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal charges in connection to the same January 2023 incident, which the victims have claimed was motivated by their race.
Former deputies Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke and ex-police officer Joshua Hartfield were each charged with conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, according to a news release from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.
Additionally, Dedmon was charged with home invasion and Elward was charged with home invasion and aggravated assault, the release says. McAlpin, Middleton, Opdyke and Hartfield each faced an additional charge of first-degree obstruction of justice.
All six appeared with their attorneys in Rankin County court Monday, shackled at the wrists and wearing prison jumpsuits. The names of the county jails in which they are being held were covered by duct tape.
The former officers pleaded guilty August 3 to federal charges in the case, in which US prosecutors said the former officers kicked down the door of a home in Braxton, Mississippi, where the Black men were living and assaulted them for two hours.
The officers did not have a warrant, and some “called themselves ‘The Goon Squad’ because of their willingness to use excessive force and not to report it,” according to a federal charging document.
The six officers were charged with a combined 13 felonies in connection with “the torture and physical abuse” of the two men that night, the Justice Department said in a news release.
The victims, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, filed a federal lawsuit in June, alleging the officers illegally entered their home and handcuffed, kicked, waterboarded and tased them and attempted to sexually assault them across nearly two hours, before one of the deputies put a gun in Jenkins’ mouth and shot him.
The deputies, “in their repeated use of racial slurs in the course of their violent acts, were oppressive and hateful against their African-American victims,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants were motivated on the basis of race and the color of the skin of the persons they assaulted.”
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey announced in June deputies had been fired, though he did not say how many nor their names. The Richland Police Department announced in July that Hartfield – who was off-duty at the time of the alleged assault – had resigned.
CNN has reached out to attorneys for each of the men for comment but did not receive a response from those representing McAlpin and Dedmon. Attorneys for Middleton, Elward and Hartfield declined to comment.
An attorney for Opdyke said the former officer “has admitted to his wrongdoing” and will plead guilty to all charges against him in Rankin County Circuit Court on August 14.
“He takes responsibility for his part in the horrific harms perpetrated on Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker, the victims, and is prepared to face the consequences of his misconduct,” reads a statement to CNN from Opdyke’s attorney, Jeffery Reynolds.
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CNN’s Emma Tucker, Ryan Young, Devon Sayers, Pamela Kirkland and Raja Razek contributed to this report.