United States | News & Politics

Nice to see the long-ish sentences (not nearly long enough by my standards, but this is MS), but how long do you think before they're all walking the streets again, out on parole, maybe even back drawing a salary at the department? TFA is worth the read.

The Black men were targeted after a neighbor complained about them staying in a white woman's home.

The white deputies beat, tortured, and sexually assaulted the men for hours. Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth when a mock execution went awry, and the officers also planted drugs and guns to try to coverup their actions with false charges. The white lawmen used stun guns and racial slurs, and told Jenkins and Parker to "go back to their side of the river," meaning the majority Black city of Jackson. Rankin County, to the east, is a largely white community.

More details emerged during Tuesday's sentencing hearing on how the "Goon Squad" operated. Prosecutors said it was Lt. Middleton who devised the plan to coverup the raid and the accidental shooting, and that he told his fellow officers if anyone told what really happened, he had no problem having them killed.