Off-duty officer was with deputies accused of sexually assaulting Black men, police chief says7/4/2023 A police chief in Mississippi revealed that an off-duty police officer took part in a raid during which two Black men allege they were beaten, sexually assaulted, and one of them was shot in the mouth. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey recently announced that all five deputy sheriffs involved in the incident on January 24 had been fired or resigned. Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker claimed that deputies forcefully entered a residence without a warrant and subjected them to 90 minutes of abuse. They alleged that the deputies physically assaulted them, used a sex toy on them, repeatedly shocked them with Tasers, and hurled racial slurs at them. The announcement follows The Associated Press' request for public records related to the incident from the Richland Police Department, which is located in Rankin County. In February, these allegations triggered an ongoing civil rights investigation by the Justice Department. Jason Dare, an attorney representing the Rankin County Sheriff's Office, stated that they were aware of five deputies involved in the raid, but Jenkins and Parker asserted that six police officers took part. This claim now seems to have been corroborated. Richland Police Chief Nick McLendon issued a statement online, just before the Fourth of July holiday, stating that one of his officers, Joshua Hartfield, participated in the incident while off duty. McLendon expressed deep disappointment that a member of their department was allegedly involved in actions contradicting their commitment to serving and protecting the public. Hartfield was placed on administrative leave and subsequently resigned after the department became aware of the allegations. However, it was not specified when they learned of the allegations or from whom, and the statement did not mention Jenkins and Parker. These recent developments come after an AP investigation linked several deputies involved in the incident to at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019, resulting in two deaths and one individual suffering lasting injuries. The AP found that deputies accepted into the sheriff's office's Special Response Team, a tactical unit receiving advanced training, were involved in all four encounters. The deputies had claimed that the raid was prompted by a report of drug activity at the residence. In addition to the Justice Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is conducting a separate inquiry into the incident.
Jenkins and Parker have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking $400 million in damages. Attorneys representing them, Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker, released a joint statement urging criminal charges to be filed against the involved police officers. They emphasized that the criminal acts committed against Jenkins and Parker were condemned by all Mississippi citizens, regardless of race, creed, or color.
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