JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The two men, who were allegedly abused and tortured by a group of former Rankin County deputies, spoke out on Thursday for the first time in months.

Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker said they’re glad the deputies involved in the January 2023 incident were fired, but they want them to be criminally charged.

The men said deputies burst inside a home without a warrant and subjected them to 90 minutes of abuse. The men said deputies beat them, assaulted them with a sex toy, shocked them repeatedly with Tasers and shouted racial epithets at them. Jenkins was shot in the mouth during the incident.

In February, the allegations sparked a still-ongoing Justice Department civil rights probe.

Jenkins had to undergo several surgeries and still struggles with speaking and eating after he was shot in the mouth. Both men are also struggling to cope with the trauma from that night.

“Every time I go to sleep, I have a dream where there’s some dude with a gun, somebody pulling the gun, somebody getting shot. Waking up with cold sweats, losing sleep. I had to sleep in the living room with my mama and my daddy when I first got out the hospital. I got a little better. It’s been rough,” said Jenkins.

“You live with it, and you have to. I knew from the beginning that we had to fight for everybody that it has happened to. That’s why I go in day by day with the same attitude. I’m fighting with the same attitude as I started,” said Parker.

The Mississippi Black Legislative Caucus sent a letter to Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) this week. They asked her to criminally indict the deputies and the off-duty Richland police officer in connection to the incident.

Alongside the Justice Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) is conducting a separate probe of the episode.

Jenkins and Parker have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit and are seeking $400 million in damages.