In connection with a January raid in Rankin County where two Black men were tortured and abused, six former Mississippi officers admitted guilt on Thursday to multiple allegations of human rights violations.
In Rankin County, Mississippi, three sheriff’s officers got a group text message from another deputy working the same shift on January 24 asking, “Are y’all up for a mission?”
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In order to address a complaint that the office’s chief investigator, Brett McAlpin, had received, the constable, Christian Dedmon, notified his coworkers Hunter Elward, Jeffrey Middleton, and Daniel Opdyke that they were headed to a property in Braxton, about 30 miles south of Jackson. In a federal criminal document, the particulars of what the prosecution claims took on that evening were disclosed.
A White woman who was hosting numerous Black males there, and a white neighbour of McAlpin’s reported observing strange activity.
What Happened On the Day Of The Assault
Dedmon informed the Mississippi officers that there might be security cameras on the premises. The police should knock on the door rather than kick it down if they see any cameras. If not, he advised them that they were allowed to enter with no an arrest warrant.
They broke in without a warrant, being careful to evade the home’s surveillance cameras, and began committing physical, sexual, and mental assault. Jenkins and his companion Eddie Terrell Parker were restrained, then their faces were covered in milk, vodka, and chocolate syrup. To hide the debris, they made them undress naked and take a shower together. They used racial slurs to taunt the victims. They used stun guns to jolt them.
The Mississippi officers intended to torment and abuse the two the men without physically harming them. Jenkins, though, was struck in the mouth. Jenkins miraculously made it through.
The cops realised the “mission” had strayed out of control as blood was gushing out of Jenkins’s wounds. They came up with a fast cover-up plan instead of coming clean, complete with threats and a fake drug bust.
The county NAACP president, Angela English, said, “Whatever happened is unspeakable and no words are enough to adequately express the way this has affected the way of thinking and the psychological well-being of our citizens.” “When the very people you depend on to protect you are the ones who hurt and abuse you.”
Mississippi Officers Plead Guilty
On Thursday, the six policemen admitted guilty to numerous federal civil rights offences. Following the incident, the Mississippi attorney general’s office disclosed that it had brought state allegations for physical assault, conspiring, and interference of justice.
The deputies included Joshua Hartfield, a Richland police officer, as well as Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, and Daniel Opdyke from the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department. Allegations included obstructions of justice, deprivation of rights against the grain of the rule of law, firing of a gun during a violent crime, and obstruction of justice were among those to which they pled guilty.
Mississippi Officer Daniel Opdyke confesses that he was responsible and apologetic for the part he played in the tragic abuses” and “is prepared to confront the repercussions of his conduct,” according to a statement from his lawyer Jason Kirschberg.
Although Mississippi officer Hartfield admits that he will never be able to undo what he did, his attorney Vicki Gilliam said, “he has shown that he is prepared to endure any punishment they receive.”
Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who was supervising the deputies, described it as the worst instance of police brutality he had ever witnessed.
