A group of law officers who referred to themselves as the “Goon Squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force have been sentenced to 15 to 45 years in prison. This will run concurrently with federal sentences of 10-40 years that the men were given last month.
The officers pleaded guilty to counts related to the torture of two black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker.
After a warrantless entry to the home the two men were in, over the course of two hours the two were subjected to waterboarding, being tased while handcuffed, beaten, verbally abused including racial epithets, attempted sexual assault, and one, Michael Jenkins, was shot in the mouth.
“Me and Eddie in this event were called racist names. We were called n***er, we were called monkey, we were called boy, and we were accused of dating White women,” the statement said.
“After Hunter Elward shot me, they left me to die bleeding on the floor. And they tried to set up me up to be in prison,” Jenkins’ statement said. “Your honor, they killed me. I just didn’t die.”
The officers had gone to the house because of a complaint by a white neighbor that several black men were staying with a white woman and there was suspicious behavior happening. In the end, the officers found no evidence of a crime.
The two victims also have a pending $400 million lawsuit related to the incident.
Since the officers’ arrest, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department has reported it has made changes to it’s policies and procedures, and both deputies and jailers have completed training by the FBI’s Civil Rights Unit.