Six white former police officers were sentenced in Mississippi after pleading guilty to breaking into a residence without a warrant. Torture two black men.
Former Senior Deputy Brett McAlpin, 53, is the fifth former law enforcement officer to be sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge Tom Lee after pleading guilty to assault involving beatings, repeated use of a stun gun and assault with a sex toy. Became an executive officer. Some of the victims were shot in the mouth. The last member of the group, 32-year-old former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, was sentenced Thursday afternoon to nearly 10 years in prison.
Before sentencing, McAlpin apologized to victims Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker.
McAlpin said, “This was all wrong, very wrong. This is not how people should treat each other, or even how law enforcement should treat people.” Stated. “I am truly sorry that I contributed to something that made law enforcement look bad.”
Mr. Lee also Sentences were given to four others. former law enforcement officer those involved in the attack. Christian Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in prison for that attack and his role in another incident in December 2022. Hunter Elward was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. Two other officers, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, were each sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison.
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Mr. Lee has sentenced each of the senators sentenced so far to prison terms near the maximum of the sentencing guidelines. Lee previously called the officers' actions “outrageous and despicable.” The assault included beatings, repeated use of a stun gun, and assault with a sex toy, but the mock execution went awry and one victim was shot in the mouth.
The attacks began on January 24, 2023, when a white man in Rankin County accused McAlpin of two black men staying at Braxton's home with a white woman, calling for extrajudicial violence. It started with a speciesist call. Mr. McAlpin told Mr. Dedmon that he texted a group of white senators asking if they could “join the mission.”
“No bad mugshots allowed,” Dedmon texted. Prosecutors say it's a green light to use excessive force on body parts that aren't visible in the booking photo.
Dedmon also brought in Hartfield, who was instructed to cover the back door in case of a break-in.
Once inside, the officers taunted the victim with racial slurs and shocked him with a stun gun. They handcuffed them and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup on their faces. Dedmon and Opdyke assaulted them with sex toys. They were forced to strip naked and take a shower together to hide the confusion, and Ms. Hartfield guarded the bathroom door to prevent the men from escaping.
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After Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, splitting his tongue and breaking his jaw, they devised a cover-up. McAlpin pressured Parker to comply, asking him to remain silent in exchange for his freedom. Deputies agreed to plant the drugs, and Jenkins and Parker were falsely accused for months.
McAlpin and Middleton, the oldest members of the group, threatened to kill other officers if they spoke out.
Rankin County, a predominantly white county just east of Jackson, has one of the highest percentages of black residents of any major city in the United States. The officers yelled at Jenkins and Parker to “leave Rankin County and go back to Jackson or 'their side' of the Pearl River,” according to court documents.
Mr. Opdyke was the first to admit his actions, his attorney Jeff Reynolds said Wednesday. On April 12, Opdyke showed investigators a WhatsApp text thread in which officers discussed the plan and what happened. If he had thrown his phone into the river like other officers, investigators might never have discovered the encrypted messages.
Lawyers for several of the deputies said their clients were caught up in a culture of corruption that was not only allowed but encouraged by the leadership of the Sheriff's Office.
Rankin County Sheriff Brian Bailey, who took office in 2012, did not provide details about the actions of the deputies when he announced last June that he had fired them.after them plead guilty In August, Mr. Bailey said officers had committed misconduct and promised changes. Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker have called for their resignations. filed a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department. Last November, Mr. Bailey was re-elected unopposed for a further four-year term.
