Who were the six white Mississippi ‘goon squad’ cops who tortured Black men in 2023, and why did they think they could get away with it?

It was a cold January evening in 2023 when Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker sat in a modest home in Braxton, Mississippi, unaware their lives were about to change forever.

Without warning, the front door was kicked in by six armed officers, their faces twisted in menace. Over the next two hours, Jenkins and Parker endured a nightmare: shocked repeatedly with stun guns, beaten with wooden planks, doused with milk and chocolate syrup, and forced to strip naked.

Michael Jenkins would later recount the moment a gun was shoved into his mouth, the trigger pulled. The bullet shattered his jaw, lacerated his tongue, and left him bleeding on the floor.

The officers laughed, hurled racial slurs, and taunted their victims, calling them “monkeys” and “boys.”

One of them, Daniel Opdyke, sexually assaulted Eddie Parker with a sex toy. As Jenkins lay on the ground bleeding, the officers plotted their cover-up—planting drugs, destroying evidence, and fabricating charges.

This was not the first time these officers had acted with impunity, but for Jenkins and Parker, it was a question that lingered long after the horror ended: Why?

Now, nearly two years later, justice has been served.

Six white officers—self-proclaimed members of the “Goon Squad”—have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms ranging from 10 to 45 years. Their crimes, which shocked the nation, have exposed a culture of systemic abuse in Mississippi law enforcement.

A brutal legacy of violence

The events of January 24, 2023, did not occur in isolation. The “Goon Squad,” a group of officers from the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office and Richland Police Department, had a long history of violence, particularly against Black men.

Federal prosecutors described the group as operating with a mafia-like code of silence, with its members—led by former Chief Investigator Brett McAlpin—acting as enforcers in a reign of terror.

Since 2019, members of this squad had been implicated in at least four violent incidents, two of which were fatal. They shot Pierre Woods, a Black man, under dubious circumstances, and tased Damien Cameron multiple times during an arrest, leading to his death.

Both cases resulted in lawsuits against the department, but no charges were filed at the time.

For years, complaints of brutality were met with indifference or outright denial by Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey and his command staff.

Investigations have since uncovered a grim pattern of abuse.

Victims accused the squad of waterboarding, choking, and beating suspects, often while hurling racial epithets. One man reported having a stick rammed down his throat until he vomited blood, while another described being burned with a blowtorch.

Commemorative coins bearing a noose and the words “Lt. Middleton’s Goon Squad” were created, symbolizing the group’s culture of impunity.

The night in Braxton

On that fateful January night, Jenkins and Parker were in the home of a white woman, a childhood friend of Parker’s whom he had cared for since she became paralyzed at 15. A white neighbor, suspicious of Black men being in the home, called the police. What followed was a carefully orchestrated attack.

McAlpin, described by prosecutors as the “don” of the group, coordinated the raid.

The officers broke down the door without a warrant and immediately began their assault. They restrained Jenkins and Parker, mocking them with racial slurs and threats to “go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River.”

The violence escalated with each passing moment: they beat the men with a sword, poured cooking oil and alcohol on them, and fired gunshots into the yard as a form of intimidation.

Opdyke forced a sex toy into Parker’s mouth and attempted to do the same to Jenkins, while Dedmon threatened them with rape. When Jenkins defecated out of fear, Dedmon mocked him but stopped short of assaulting him further.

At the height of the violence, Elward pressed his gun into Jenkins’ mouth and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed initially, but when fired again, the bullet tore through Jenkins’ tongue and shattered his jaw.

The officers then tried to erase their crimes, forcing the men to shower and destroying surveillance footage from the home. They planted drugs and a weapon, fabricating a narrative that Jenkins had attacked them.

For months, Jenkins and Parker faced false charges while struggling to recover from their physical and emotional wounds.

Sentences handed down

In August 2023, the six officers pleaded guilty to federal charges, including civil rights violations, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy.

State charges followed, with all six pleading guilty. Sentencing, delayed multiple times, was completed in March 2024. The officers received the following sentences:

• Christian Dedmon: 45 years, the longest term due to his leadership in the torture and previous violent acts.
• Hunter Elward: 25 years for shooting Jenkins in the mouth.
• Brett McAlpin: 27 years for his role as the group’s leader and architect of the cover-up.
• Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke: 20 years each for their participation in the assaults.
• Joshua Hartfield: 10 years, the lightest sentence, as he played a minor role but failed to intervene.

While the sentences provided a measure of closure, the victims and their families emphasized that justice for the systemic abuses would require broader reforms.

Reactions and calls for accountability

The case has drawn national attention, with civil rights advocates calling for sweeping changes to Rankin County law enforcement.

Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker have filed a $400 million lawsuit against the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Bryan Bailey, accusing them of fostering a culture of violence and racism.

“This wasn’t just a few bad apples,” said Angela English, president of the local NAACP chapter. “This was a system that allowed officers to brutalize citizens without fear of consequences.”

Sheriff Bailey, who was reelected without opposition in November 2023, has promised reforms, including mandatory civil rights training for deputies. Critics, however, remain unconvinced.

“Training won’t fix this,” said Mary Jenkins, Michael’s mother. “They need to clean house and start over.”

A catalyst for change?

Jenkins and Parker now see themselves as advocates for justice. Despite the trauma, they have vowed to fight for others who fear coming forward.

“This isn’t just about us,” Parker said. “It’s about every person who’s been silenced by fear.”

Their ordeal has also highlighted the resilience of communities long subjected to systemic racism. For Jenkins, the sentencing of the “Goon Squad” is a beginning, not an end.

“We survived the worst night of our lives,” he said. “Now we have to make sure no one else has to go through this.”

As Rankin County grapples with the fallout, one question persists: How could this happen in the first place? And more importantly, will anything change?