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Six former Mississippi officers plead guilty to torturing two black men in Braxton

EPA Attorney General Merrick Garland (L), with Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite (R), responds to a question on former President Donald J. Trump, following his remarks at a meeting with all of the US Attorneys to discuss violent crime reduction strategies at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, USA, 14 June 2023.EPA
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the officers "egregiously violated the civil rights of citizens who they were supposed to protect"

Six former Mississippi police officers have pleaded guilty to civil rights violations after assaulting two black men during a home raid in January.

Authorities said the two men, Michael Jenkins, 32, and Eddie Parker, 35, had been beaten and shocked with Tasers and one of them was also shot in the mouth.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the officers 'tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims'.

All six officers had either resigned or been fired in June.

The civil rights charges were unveiled against the six officers on Thursday by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). All appeared in federal court and entered a guilty plea.

The officers were charged with 16 counts, including civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights, discharging of a firearm and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors said the officers entered the two men's home in Braxton, Mississippi on 24 January. They then handcuffed them and assaulted them for more than two hours.

The officers used a stun gun on the two men, beat them repeatedly and called them racial slurs. One deputy officer shot Mr Jenkins in the mouth, firing a bullet that cut his tongue and broke his jaw, prosecutors said.

Officers then failed to provide medical aid to Mr Jenkins as he was bleeding, prosecutors said, and instead gathered outside the home to come up with a "false cover story".

Three of the officers said they were members of the "The Goon Squad" - a group of Rankin County officers who are known for using excessive force and not reporting it.

"These former law enforcement officers have committed heinous and wanton acts of violence disgracing the badge which so many others have worn with pride and honor," said US attorney Darren J LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi. "They violated their oaths and have become the criminals they were sworn to protect us from."

They also face state charges connected to the same incident.

The justice department identified five of the Rankin county former officers as: Chief Investigator Brett McAlpin, 52, Narcotics Investigator Christian Dedmon, 28, Lieutenant Jeffrey Middleton, 46, Deputy Hunter Elward, 31, and Deputy Daniel Opdyke, 27.

The sixth, Narcotics Investigator Joshua Hartfield, 31, is a former officer of the Richland, Mississippi, Police Department.