The FBI has launched an investigation into the alleged torture and abuse of two Black Mississippi men by sheriff deputies.
The men and their attorneys claim the pair was handcuffed, beaten, shocked with Tasers and subjected to “waterboarding techniques” by Rankin County Sheriff’s deputies.
One of the men, Michael Corey Jenkins, was shot in the mouth and had to undergo surgery to remove his tongue, they said.
The sheriff’s office said the deputies were in the middle of a narcotics investigation when they raided the home where Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker were staying on Jan. 24. However, attorney Malik Z. Shabazz says neither man had drugs and the deputies also accused them of “dating white women.”
Parker said six white deputies handcuffed him and made them get on their knees, and put them through a hellish 90 minutes. It ended with one of the deputies sticking the barrel of a gun in Jenkins’ mouth and squeezing the trigger. The bullet shot through his ear.
“It was senseless and uncalled for,” Parker said at a news conference Wednesday, Feb. 15. “It was traumatizing and something I never thought I’d go through.”
Shabazz denied allegations that his clients were involved in drug dealing. He claims the deputies barged into the home without a warrant and “immediately subdued” and handcuffed both men before launching a “free-for-all intimidation and torture session.”
Parker said the deputies punched, kicked, slapped and took turns using Tasers on them.
“Rankin County Deputies repeatedly pointed guns to their heads and mouths and threatened to kill the terrified Jenkins and Parker. All the while, both men offered no resistance,” Shabazz said in a statement.
Parker also told The Associated Press that they were ordered to lie on their backs while deputies poured milk over their faces. He said he struggled “to keep breathing and keep from drowning at the same time.”
“There was milk coming…
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