Six former Mississippi officers charged with federal civil rights offenses in brutal home raid against Black men
NNPA photo submitted
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior
National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
Six former law enforcement officers in Mississippi, all White, have been charged with federal civil rights offenses following allegations of brutality against two Black men during a home raid.
The charges were unsealed on Thursday, during a federal court appearance by the former officers.
The incident occurred on Jan. 24, when police brutalized Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker during an unwarranted home invasion.
In February, The Justice Department launched a civil rights probe in response to the allegations made by Jenkins and Parker.
In June, the two men filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County, seeking $400 million in damages for their harrowing ordeal.
According to court documents, five Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and another officer barged into their home.
Once inside, the officers physically assaulted and tormented them using a sex object and Tasers for approximately 90 minutes.
The situation escalated further when one deputy allegedly placed a firearm in Jenkins’ mouth and fired.
The officers referred to the Black men as “boy,” n-ggers,” and “monkeys,” and slapped and attempted to sodomize them with a sex toy, the charging documents stated.
Further, the officers handcuffed the men and poured milk and syrup on them and forced them to ingest alcohol.
They also poured cooking grease over the victims’ heads, before ordering them to strip naked and shower to wash away the evidence.
The officers accused Jenkins and Parker of “taking advantage of the White woman” who owned the property where they lived.
Former Rankin County Sheriff’s Department employees Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, and Daniel Opdyke, along with former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, who was off duty at the time of the raid, each face approximately a dozen federal charges related to the incident.
Sheriff Bryan Bailey announced on June 27 that all five deputies involved had either been fired or resigned.
Hartfield was also terminated.
An Associated Press report linking the deputies involved in the home raid to at least four previous violent encounters with Black men since 2019, resulting in two fatalities and one individual sustaining lasting injuries, triggered the investigation.
DOJ officials said the charges against the former officers represent a significant step towards justice for Jenkins, Parker, and other victims who may have suffered at the hands of those meant to protect and serve.
