The five Mississippi sheriff’s deputies who are accused of beating and sexually assaulting two Black men have either been fired or forced to resign, according to The Associated Press. One of the victims alleged the interaction was the result of a no-warrant invasion.
Michael Corey Jenkins and his friend, Eddie Terrell Parker say a group of deputies from the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department burst into their home and tortured them for 90 minutes on January 24. The two said they were beaten, assaulted with a sex toy and shocked repeatedly with Tasers. Jenkins also said one of the deputies shoved a gun into his mouth and fired.
The botched drug raid resulted in Jenkins spending three weeks in the hospital due to serious injuries to his tongue and jaw. An AP investigation found there was no body camera footage of the incident however, there is a record of the deputies’ Tasers being used a dozen times moments before Jenkins was shot.
The two men filed a $400 million civil rights suit and the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the sheriff’s department. It seems the five deputies in question have also been placed under investigation as well, according to Sheriff Bryan Bailey.
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Bailey said the deputies were initially placed on administrative leave pending findings from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Recent developments and findings from an internal investigation led to the deputies’ termination Friday, he said.
The sheriff did not name the deputies, but the lawsuit identifies three of them as Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin and Christian Dedmon. The county, sheriff and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit have not yet responded to the lawsuit complaint.
The department is moving forward with hiring a compliance officer to monitor daily operations and taking detailed analysis of staff procedures and training, per the report. Attorney Malik Shabazz said while the termination of these officers is promising, they should still face criminal accountability in this heinous act.
“The firing of the Rankin County Mississippi Sheriff’s deputies involved in the torture and shooting of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker is a significant action on the path to justice for one of the worst law enforcement tragedies in recent memory,” said Shabazz via AP.