Throughout American history, Black people have always faced unfair treatment because of their race. Recently, two black men were severely mistreated by six Mississippi law enforcement officers. Now, the victims appealed to a federal judge on Monday, urging the judge to impose the most severe punishments possible on the disgraced former officers.
In August, the ex-law officers confessed to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture. The incident occurred in January 2023 after a neighbor complained and alleged that Jenkins and Parker were residing in a house with a white woman.
Without a warrant, the group of six officers forcefully entered the premises and proceeded to assault Jenkins and Parker using stun guns, a sex toy, and other objects. Unfortunately, a botched mock execution resulted in Jenkins being shot in the mouth. In panic, the officers came up with a cover-up plan, which involved planting drugs and a gun on the men.
The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department backed the deputies’ false accusations, leaving Jenkins and Parker to face unjust charges for several months. Following the unfortunate incident, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee will now preside over the sentencing.
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Two defendants have been scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after two previous postponements. An attorney representing Jenkins and Parker–Malik Shabazz, urged on Monday for the “stiffest of sentences” to be handed down.
“Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker continue to suffer emotionally and physically since this horrific and bloody attack by Rankin County deputies,” Shabazz said in a statement. “A message must be sent to police in Mississippi and all over America,” he said, that such criminal conduct “will be met with the harshest consequences.”
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Former Rankin County sheriff’s Deputies McAlpin, Elward, Dedmon, Middleton, and Opdyke, along with former Richland city police Officer Hartfield, who was off duty during the assault, were charged for the case.
They pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights, obstruction of justice, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm under a crime of violence, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Dedmon and Elward face a maximum sentence of 120 years plus life in prison and fines totaling $2.75 million on the federal charges. Hartfield faces a potential sentence of 80 years in prison and fines of $1.5 million.
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McAlpin could be sentenced to 90 years and fined $1.75 million, while Middleton faces a maximum sentence of 80 years and fines of $1.5 million. Opdyke could face a sentence of up to 100 years in prison and a fine of $2 million.
During a news conference on Monday, Jenkins and Parker said that they are still enduring the repercussions of what they went through. “It’s been tough for me, for us,” Jenkins said. “We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.”
Most of the disgraced officers’ lawyers did not respond immediately to emails requesting comments on Monday. However, Jason Kirschberg, who represents Opdyke, stated, “Daniel has accepted responsibility for his actions and failures to act… He has admitted he was wrong and feels deep remorse for the pain he caused the victims.”
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said the actions of his deputies were the worst case of police brutality he had ever seen. After the officers admitted guilt in August, Bailey admitted they acted independently and promised to make changes in the department.
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