US launches civil rights investigation into Mississippi sheriff’s office that employed “Goon Squad”

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday launched a civil rights investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi after several of its former officers, known as the “Goon Squad,” were prosecuted for the torture and sexual abuse of two black men.

Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said the investigation will look into whether the Rankin County Sheriff's Department uses excessive force, regularly conducts unlawful stops or searches and whether it engages in racially discriminatory policing practices.

Clarke said the department's decision to launch the investigation was not prompted by any specific incident, but acknowledged the infamous January 2023 home invasion carried out by five former Rankin County officers and a sixth former drug agent from another state police unit.

In that incident, officers entered a home without a warrant, where they handcuffed, stripped, beat, and sexually assaulted Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker. Both victims were also subjected to stun guns and waterboarding while officers yelled racial slurs at them.

The six former police officers were convicted for their crimes and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 45 years.

“Since the Goon Squad's heinous acts came to light, we have received reports of additional cases indicating that this behavior is occurring far too frequently,” Clarke told reporters at a virtual press conference.

“To put it simply, the troubles facing the Rankin County Sheriff's Department did not end with the demise of the Goon Squad.”

A representative of the Rankin County Sheriff's Department could not immediately be reached for comment.

This is the twelfth civil rights investigation the Department of Justice has opened during President Joe Biden's administration into systematic abuses of power by local law enforcement agencies.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Aurora Ellis)