RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi and local partners launched the Seven States Safety Campaign on May 21.
According to the ACLU, they filed coordinated public records requests to uncover police misconduct in Rankin County, Mississippi, and six other states where the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), under former President Joe Biden, found police engaged in unconstitutional and racially discriminatory policing.
Goon Squad victims reach $2.5 million settlement with Rankin County, sheriff’s office
In addition to Rankin County, demands were filed over the last 24 hours in Tennessee, Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, Minnesota, and Kentucky. The organization said the Trump administration has begun reversing course, including by attempting to rescind near-final agreements in Minneapolis and Louisville.
“There is no one, regardless of race or political party, who can justify the DOJ’s abrupt decision to no longer investigate and hold accountable the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department,” said Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi. “The Trump administration is essentially giving a green light for police misconduct and unconstitutional policing. If the agency that allowed the goon squad to operate for years doesn’t warrant federal investigation, no law enforcement agency does.”
FILE – This combination of photos shows former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to state and federal charges for torturing two Black men, from top left, former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, during court appearances Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in Brandon, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
The DOJ prosecuted Rankin County deputies, who were known as the “Goon Squad,” for federal criminal civil rights violations related to the violent assaults of two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker.
Six former law enforcement officers pled guilty and were sentenced in connection to the Goon Squad case. The DOJ opened an investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in September 2024. However, the ACLU said the Trump administration ceased the DOJ’s civil rights work.
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