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Group demands Rankin County deputies be prosecuted for torturing two Black men

By Tia McKenzie Jul 5, 2023 | 4:23 PM

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Local and national organizations came together outside Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office in Jackson on Wednesday to demand the prosecution of Rankin County deputies.

Five Rankin County deputies and a Richland police officer, who was off duty during the January 24 incident, have either left their departments or they were fired.

Michael Corey Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker 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.

As of July 5, the deputies and officer involved have not been formally charged with a crime.

Civil rights organizer John Barnett said Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey should also be investigated.

“The injustice that he did affects all of us. And because of him not moving swiftly, he moved swiftly last week only because of one reason. That’s because the Department of Justice was on his butt, buddy, and they wouldn’t play it. So hopefully, this is the case that will open up all of the other cases,” said Barnett.

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.

The Associated Press contributed to the case.