Six white former police officers have pleaded guilty to civil rights offenses related to the assault and torture of two Black men in Mississippi. Their pleas underscore the systemic nature of police abuse, the racism underpinning many incidents of police misconduct, and the urgent need for more accountability.
In the Mississippi case, the officers, some of whom referred to themselves as “the Goon Squad,” entered a home without a warrant and proceeded to physically and verbally assault two Black men — Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker — who were inside.
Over the course of 90 minutes, the officers attacked and tortured the men repeatedly, with one officer shooting Jenkins in the mouth. Additionally, the group tased the two men multiple times, used racial slurs, poured oil, alcohol, and chocolate sauce on them, and planted evidence in the house in a bid to escape responsibility. As part of the encounter, the police warned the men to stay out of Rankin County, Mississippi.
The officers were reportedly told to go to the house on January 24, 2023, by a Rankin County deputy, who’d received a complaint that the two Black men were in the house with a white woman. Court documents note that Parker was a longtime friend of the woman and aiding in her care, per the Associated Press.
The Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation earlier this year, and charged the officers with 16 felonies — including civil rights violations, discharge of firearm during a crime, and obstruction of justice — all of which they pleaded guilty to this week. Additionally, the Mississippi attorney general’s office has charged the officers with assault, conspiracy, and obstruction as well.
This case is only the latest to illustrate how police can abuse the unique authority they have, and is only one of several highlighting the violence Black Americans can face at the hands of police. The pleas follow the recent police killings of Jarrell Garris in…
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