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Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield are examining the power of sheriffs’ offices in Mississippi as part of The Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship.

A former sheriff’s deputy who subjected Mississippi residents to physical and sexual assaults was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in federal prison.

The officer, Christian Dedmon, was associated with a group of law enforcement officers that terrorized Rankin County and called itself the “Goon Squad.”

During the hearing, Judge Tom Lee of the U.S. District Court said that, while Mr. Dedmon was not the most senior officer facing prison time, his actions were “the most shocking, brutal and cruel acts imaginable.”

Daniel Opdyke, a member of the squad, was also sentenced Wednesday. Mr. Opdyke received almost 18 years in prison. His attorneys said he had played a smaller role in the abuse.

Earlier in the week, two other group members, Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton, were sentenced to 20 years and almost 18 years. Mr. Elward had shot one of the victims in the mouth; Mr. Middleton was a lieutenant who supervised the group.

Two more squad members are expected to receive sentences Thursday. All six pleaded guilty to state and federal charges last year.

An investigation by the Justice Department found the former officers, most of whom worked for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, beat and tortured two Black men during a warrantless raid of their home last year.

The deputies showed up after the department’s former chief investigator, Brett McAlpin, received a tip that Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker were involved in suspicious activity. The officers burst inside, shocked Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker with Tasers and abused them with a sex toy, the investigation found.

Mr. Dedmon, 28, played a prominent role in the assault, prosecutors said. He slapped Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker with the sex toy, tried to shove it in their mouths and threatened to rape them.

Mr. Dedmon also beat and sexually assaulted a white man, Alan Schmidt, during a December 2022 traffic stop, according to an interview with Mr. Schmidt and statements from prosecutors. Mr. Schmidt told The New York Times and Mississippi Today that Mr. Dedmon threatened to kill him and dump his body in the Pearl River while Mr. Opdyke and Mr. Elward watched.

During that incident, Mr. Dedmon fired his gun into the air, then punched Mr. Schmidt and shocked him with a Taser, Mr. Schmidt recalled. He also pressed his genitals against Mr. Schmidt’s mouth and bare buttocks while Mr. Schmidt was handcuffed.

“I pray to God for these officers’ souls to be healed of the evil within that caused them to commit these acts,” Mr. Schmidt wrote in a victim impact statement read by prosecutors Wednesday. “I know that I am not their only victim.”

In court, Mr. Dedmon denied sexually assaulting Mr. Schmidt, but apologized for his conduct. “Instead of doing the right thing, I chose to show off,” he said. “If I could take every bit of it back, I promise I would.”

A culture of misconduct reigned at the sheriff’s office, Mr. Dedmon said, and he rose through the ranks to become the department’s youngest investigator because of his willingness “to do bad things.”

Prosecutors told the judge that according to a memorandum on their investigation that is still under seal, Mr. Dedmon had been involved in other similar episodes.

Mr. Opdyke’s lawyers had asked the judge to sentence their client to seven years in prison, 10 years less than the maximum.

They made the case that Mr. Opdyke, 27, deserved lenience because he was the youngest and least-experienced deputy in the Goon Squad and had committed the fewest acts of abuse during both cases. They also said Mr. Opdyke, who was neglected and abused as a child, saw the group leader Mr. McAlpin as a father figure and followed him “right or wrong, without question.”

“It was not until he got indoctrinated into the Goon Squad cult that he briefly became a person that nobody recognized,” Jeffery Reynolds, one of Mr. Opdyke’s lawyers, said.

Mr. Opdyke accepted responsibility for his actions and read an apology. “I swore to protect you,” he said, facing Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker. “But when it came to action I was a coward, and I failed to do it.”

As he spoke, Mr. Parker walked out of the courtroom. “That apology was only because he got caught,” Mr. Parker later said.

Local activists said they hoped the sentences were the beginning of a long process that would hold law enforcement officers accountable for decades of abuses. They renewed their calls for Sheriff Bryan Bailey of Rankin County to be criminally charged.

“The only missing defendant is Bryan Bailey,” Malik Shabazz, a lawyer representing Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker, said. “The sheriff created this culture and climate.”

Mr. Bailey, who has not attended any of the hearings so far this week, did not respond to requests for comment.

An investigation by Mississippi Today and The New York Times last year exposed a decades-long reign of terror by nearly two dozen Rankin County deputies.

More than 20 people said they were tortured during warrantless raids and violent interrogations by deputies, most of whom have not yet been charged with a crime and some of whom still work for the sheriff’s department.

The post Goon Squad Officer Gets 40-Year Sentence for ‘Shocking, Brutal’ Acts appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A minister collapsed at the Mississippi State Capitol on Wednesday while standing with fellow clergy members pleading with lawmakers to expand Medicaid coverage to some of the state’s poorest residents.

The Rev. Darryl Magee, senior pastor at St. Thomas Missionary Baptist Church in Bolton, was carried away from the building by ambulance after experiencing a medical emergency. He was resuscitated by doctors at the Capitol and rushed to Baptist Medical Center, where he was awake and with family on early Wednesday afternoon.

The emergency halted a press conference, where about 50 clergy members from different denominations were advocating for Medicaid expansion. Dozens of people watched silently in the rotunda while doctors worked to save the pastor’s life. Several bystanders hugged others or wiped tears from their faces, and many ministers prayed for Magee as he was being tended to.

Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who holds enormous sway over the Medicaid expansion debate, was being addressed by those speaking at the press conference. After Magee collapsed, Hosemann watched from the third-floor railing while responders revived the pastor.

“Providing affordable health care for hard-working and vulnerable Mississippians is a matter of life and death,” Jason Coker, the president of the nonprofit Together for Hope, said shortly before Magee collapsed. “All the clergy here today are asking our government, the government of Mississippi, to choose life.”

The harrowing moment at the Capitol occurred as the Republican-controlled Senate considers legislation that overwhelmingly passed the Republican-controlled House in February to expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor. Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from Southaven, is expected to release a separate expansion proposal in the coming days.

As Easter Sunday approaches, Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr., the senior pastor of New Horizon Church International in Jackson, urged lawmakers to remember that a key lesson from the religious holiday was that Jesus sacrificed himself to benefit other people.

He specifically asked the 52-member Senate to set partisanship aside and approach Medicaid expansion, a policy some conservative Republicans oppose, in the same manner. 

“I call upon the Senate to inconvenience itself, to be willing to make a sacrifice, so that those that are lacking in this state can get their due share,” Crudup said. “So their families can be stronger and the state of Mississippi will be better because those folks are healthier.” 

Mississippi only offers Medicaid to families who make up to 28% of the federal poverty level – the federal minimum. However, thousands of Mississippians make more money than 28% of the poverty level, but don’t make enough money to afford health insurance.

Experts estimate that 123,000 uninsured Mississippians would gain coverage under the expansion plan that passed the House. That number includes the 74,000 people under the poverty level and an additional 49,000 uninsured adults whose income is between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty level.

“I know log truck drivers that this bill could help,” Heath Ferguson, the lead chaplain for Mississippi’s Baptist Health System, said during the press conference on Wednesday. “I know small-town folks that this could help. I know that those who work from barber shops to our tire shops who need this help. And I also know lots of small-church pastors that need this help tremendously.”

As emergency responders worked to save Magee’s life, the group of clergy joined hands with others gathered at the Capitol for a prayer circle.

“I pray now, God, for a favorable outcome for Pastor Magee,” state Sen. Gary Brumfield, D-McComb, prayed. “We pray that you would move in this situation … We pray, too, God, that you would move in this Senate, that you will meet the needs that people are crying out for in our state.”

The post Pastor urging lawmakers to expand Medicaid rushed to hospital after collapsing at Capitol appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Answer Man returns with all the answers to questions readers are asking about March Madness.

Q. What do you think about Mississippi State’s chances in the NCAA Tournament?

A. The Bulldogs could make a run, and I say this for a couple reasons. In the NCAA Tournament, every game is on the road and defense travels. Under Chris Jans, State plays excellent defense. The Bulldogs guard. They protect the rim. That will serve them well. The Bulldogs led the SEC in steals. They were third in defensive field goal percentage. They were first in three-point defense. Those are all reasons why they were 8-1 in neutral site games this season. Secondly, basketball’s postseason is all about playing your best in March – peaking, as the announcers put it. State played really well in the SEC Tournament, beating LSU and and fifth-ranked Tennessee both by double digits before losing a close one in the semifinals to No. 12 Auburn.

Q. What about the first round matchup with Michigan State?

A. As with most 8 and 9-seed games, it’s a virtual toss-up. Michigan State is a slight favorite, but I think State should be favored. Michigan State lost four of its last five regular season games and split two games in the Big 10 Tournament at Minneapolis. Give Michigan State a huge edge in NCAA Tournament familiarity. Under Tom Izzo, the Spartans are March Madness regulars. Michigan State has played in 26 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, the nation’s longest active streak and the third longest in history. That’s probably why the Spartans are favored.

Q. If I am a State fan, what should I worry about most?

A. That’s an easy one: free throw shooting. In the Big Dance, free throws often decide the outcome. And, for State, free throws have been anything but free. State was last in the SEC, and it wasn’t close with the Bulldogs hitting only 67%. That won’t cut it in the mid-to-late March. If you are into worrying, here’s a bigger reason to fret: Should No. 1 seed North Carolina advance, as expected, that’s the next opponent for the Mississippi State-Michigan State winner. In Charlotte, that would be almost like a home game for the Tar Heels.

 Q. Should I be worried about 19-year-old freshman Josh Hubbard, State’s leading scorer and recent winner of the Howell Trophy, playing for the first time under the bright lights of the NCAA Tournament?

A. Honestly, that would be the least of my worries. From what I can tell, Josh Hubbard is fearless. He can’t wait.

Q. It has been 28 years since Mississippi State became the only Magnolia State team to make it to the Final Four of the men’s tournament. Could it happen again?

A. The odds are definitely against it. In ’96, from mid-February forward, Richard Williams’ Bulldogs were as consistently as good as anyone in the country, including eventual national champion Kentucky. This State teams has not been nearly as consistent in February and March. As good as these Bulldogs are defensively, they do not have the inside defensive force that Erick Dampier provided 28 years ago. Plus, the free throw thing is really worrisome. It’s possible, not likely. The Vegas odds are 150 to 1 against State winning it all 33 to 1 against State making The Final Four. 

Q. Let’s switch to the women. Ole Miss and Jackson State are both dancing. What are their chances?

A. The Women’s NCAA Tournament is so much more top-heavy than the men. In reality, there are probably 20 men’s teams that could get hot at the right time and win it all. In the women’s tournament, I would take South Carolina, LSU and UConn, give you the rest of the field and give you odds. South Carolina is far and away the betting favorite and should be. Jackson State is a 33.5-point underdog to UConn in the first round. Coach Tomekia Reed’s team has little chance at all to advance, especially since it’s a home game for UConn. This should not take away from what Reed’s team has achieved, which is much. The Tigers went 18-0 (9-0 on the road) in the SWAC. They were perfect. That’s a heckuva feat.

Q. What about Iowa and Caitlin Clark?

A. Win or lose, Clark will surely make the NCAA Women’s Tournament TV ratings the highest in history. She has elevated the sport. All eyes are on Clark, but Iowa’s team just isn’t as athletic as the teams it must eventually beat to win it all. I’m talking about South Carolina, LSU and UConn, South Carolina especially.

Q. So, who you got to win the titles?

A. The UConn men and the South Carolina women. Yes, both are the betting favorites. There’s good reason for that. But if you’re looking for a darkhorse, take the Auburn men. The championship odds are 18-to-1 against the Tigers who have won six straight, seven of eight and 11 of their last 14. They are blistering hot at the right time.

The post Can State make a run in the NCAA Tournament? Yes, but the Bulldogs must hit their freebies appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The DeSoto County town of Lewisburg can lay claim to being the baseball capital of Mississippi. The defending state champion Lewisburg High Patriots, with a roster that includes 13 Division I baseball signees, currently rank No. 10 nationally and play a regional schedule of national powerhouses. Coach Rusty Cagle joins the podcast to discuss his team.

Stream all episodes here.

The post Podcast: Exploring the baseball factory known as Lewisburg. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield are examining the power of sheriffs’ offices in Mississippi as part of The Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship. Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter who has examined civil rights-era cold murder cases in the state for more than 30 years.

Two former law enforcement officers who were part of a self-styled “Goon Squad” that tortured, sexually assaulted and beat residents of a Mississippi county were given hefty prison sentences on Tuesday for brutally attacking two Black men last year.

A federal judge ordered Hunter Elward, who shot one of the victims in the mouth, to serve 20 years in prison. Jeffrey Middleton, a former lieutenant who supervised the Goon Squad, was sentenced to nearly 18 years.

Mr. Elward broke down in tears as he turned to face Eddie Parker, 36, and Michael Jenkins, 33, and apologized for what he had done to them.

“I hate that I was involved in this,” he said. “I hate what’s happened to them.”

As Mr. Elward left the podium, Mr. Parker stood up and said that he forgave him.

Outside the courtroom, Mr. Jenkins, the man Mr. Elward shot in the face during what was
described as a mock execution, said that he did not forgive Mr. Elward. “If he wouldn’t have
gotten caught, he would still be doing the same thing,” Mr. Jenkins said.

Four other officers will face sentencing this week in the federal courthouse in Jackson. All of them pleaded guilty this summer to federal civil rights offenses related to their brutal treatment of Mr. Parker, Mr. Jenkins and a white man, Alan Schmidt, who was assaulted in a separate incident in December 2022.

So far charges against officers in Rankin County have been narrowly focused on these two incidents, but residents in impoverished pockets of the county say that the sheriff’s department has routinely targeted them with similar levels of violence.

Last November, The New York Times and Mississippi Today published an investigation revealing that for nearly two decades, deputies in the Rankin sheriff department, many of whom called themselves the Goon Squad, would barge into homes in the middle of the night, handcuff people and torture them for information or confessions.

In the pursuit of drug arrests, the deputies rammed a stick down one man’s throat until he vomited, dripped molten metal onto another man’s skin and held people down and beat them until they were bloody and bruised, according to dozens of people who said they witnessed or experienced the raids.

Many of those who said they had experienced violence filed lawsuits or formal complaints detailing their encounters with the department. A few said they had contacted Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey directly, only to be ignored.

Sheriff Bailey, who has denied knowledge of the incidents, has faced calls to resign by local activists and the N.A.A.C.P. He has said he will not step down.

The sheriff’s department in Rankin County, a suburban area just outside Jackson, came to
national attention last year after five Rankin County deputies and a Richland police detective raided the home of Mr. Parker and his friend, Mr. Jenkins, following a tip about suspicious activity.

The officers handcuffed the men and tortured them by shocking them repeatedly with Tasers, beating them and sexually assaulting them with a sex toy. Mr. Elward put his gun into Mr. Jenkins’s mouth and shot him, shattering his jaw and nearly killing him.

“They tried to take my manhood away from me,” Mr. Jenkins said in a statement to the court on Tuesday morning. “I don’t ever think I’ll be the person I was.”

The officers destroyed evidence and, to justify the shooting, falsely claimed that Mr. Jenkins had pointed a BB gun at them, federal prosecutors said.

During Mr. Middleton’s portion of the hearing, a federal prosecutor revealed that deputies
under his supervision had carried commemorative coins printed with the words “Goon Squad.”

Early versions of the coin had an image of a confederate flag on one side and a noose on the
other, said the prosecutor, Erin Chalk.

She also said that deputies had repeatedly shocked Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker with their
Tasers, as if they were playing “Taser hot potato,” competing to see who could inflict the most damage.

Mr. Middleton apologized to the victims and his community. “I have failed every law
enforcement officer in the United States because my actions have tarnished the badge,” he said.

Judge Tom Lee of U.S. District Court chastised Mr. Middleton for not stopping the attack or
taking responsibility for the actions of the men under his command.

“Mr. Middleton was not a mere bystander,” he said. “He’s the superior officer. He knew what was happening. He could have stopped it.”

Both Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker said they were satisfied with the sentences handed down by Judge Lee.

Over the next two days, the other officers involved in the incident, who each could be sentenced to a decade or more in prison, will appear in federal court in Jackson.

Prosecutors are expected to detail the officers’ violent actions, and victims will have an opportunity to share their stories.

Two of the department’s deputies will also be sentenced for violently attacking Mr. Schmidt, 28.

Malcolm Holmes, a professor in the department of criminal justice and sociology at the University of Wyoming, said that the Goon Squad case was “going to be one that finds its way into the chronicles of history.”

“There’s so much well-documented evidence that this is a pattern of behavior,” he said, noting that the case revealed “something we’ve covered up for a long time, particularly in rural America.”

The sentencing hearings this week are expected to reveal more details about violence perpetrated by Rankin County deputies, including what happened to Mr. Schmidt.

In an interview with The Times and Mississippi Today last week, Mr. Schmidt spoke publicly for the first time about what happened in December 2022 when a Rankin County deputy pulled him over for driving with an expired tag.

According to the federal indictment, deputies Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward and Daniel Opdyke arrived at the scene shortly afterward. Two other deputies, including the one who pulled Mr. Schmidt over, were also present throughout the arrest, Mr. Schmidt said. Neither has been criminally charged.

Mr. Schmidt said the deputies accused him of stealing tools from his boss, and then Mr. Dedmon pressed a gun to his head and fired it into the air before threatening to dump his body in the Pearl River.

“I thought this was it,” Mr. Schmidt said. “I’m never going to see my family again.”

Mr. Dedmon and the other deputies punched Mr. Schmidt and held his arm in a fire ant hill, then shocked him repeatedly with a Taser, Mr. Schmidt said.

Mr. Dedmon also pressed his genitals against the man’s face and bare buttocks as he yelled for help and kicked at the deputy, Mr. Schmidt said.

“It still goes through my head constantly,” Mr. Schmidt said of the experience.

Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett has begun to review and dismiss criminal cases that had involved Goon Squad members, his office confirmed last week, but Mr. Bramlett declined to share details about the cases under review.

State lawmakers introduced a bill in January that would expand oversight of Mississippi law enforcement, allowing the state board that certifies officers to investigate and revoke the licenses of officers accused of misconduct, regardless of whether they are criminally charged. Lawmakers have said that the Goon Squad and several other incidents of alleged police misconduct in Mississippi helped prompt the bill.

The Mississippi House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to pass the bill last week. The state senate is expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks.

The post Goon Squad Officer is Sentenced to 20 Years in Mississippi Torture Cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Since the fall of 2021, the city of Jackson’s garbage pickup has gotten by with piecemeal measures due to a lack of consensus among City Council members in selecting a vendor. The chaos peaked last spring, when resident’s garbage went uncollected for two weeks as city officials continued to quibble over picking a contractor.

On Tuesday afternoon, the council finally voted in favor of executing a six-year contract with Richard’s Disposal to collect the city’s garbage. The contract includes four one-year options to add on.

The vote was 4 to 3, with council persons Angelique Lee, Brian Grizzell, Virgi Lindsay, and president Aaron Banks voting in favor, and council persons Ashby Foote, Kenneth Stokes, and Vernon Hartley in opposition. In past votes when the mayor’s office proposed Richard’s as the vendor, Banks voted against the contract, but last week the council president told the Clarion Ledger he was left with no other option but to change his vote.

The council also voted to amend the contract by removing the 96-gallon carts that Richard’s had planned to provide to residents. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s office will have to negotiate the amended contract with the vendor.

Last month, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality fined the city $900,000 for the period it did not pick up garbage last year. However, the city will only have to pay $375,000 as long it collects garbage for the next two years.

Throughout the process, the opposing council members argued that Lumumba was steering the council towards voting for his favored vendor, Richard’s. Lumumba and his office repeatedly argued that Richard’s, a Black-owned business that employs mostly local residents for its Jackson operation, provided the best bid to the city in the previous RFP — request for proposals — process. Moreover, the mayor argued, it’s his role to pick the contract to present to the council.

“You can’t be the executive body and the legislative body at the same time,” Lumumba said during Tuesday’s meeting.

During this RFP, the city only received two bids: Richard’s and National Collection Systems. NCS’s bid, the mayor’s office said, didn’t meet the minimum requirements for the RFP, including being able to pay for backup trucks and to get an insurance bond to repair trucks as well as having enough residential pickup experience. Thus, Richard’s was the only remaining bid. Dissenting council members argued that it was suspicious that no other bids met the city’s requirements.

“We’ve been goaded into this selection,” Hartley said.

Other members countered that no other vendors were willing to deal with the city at this point.

“We’re wondering why we don’t have a number of bidders, it’s because they don’t want to deal with this dysfunctional body,” Lee said.

The post After years-long internal feud, Jackson picks a long-term garbage vendor appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield are examining the power of sheriffs’ offices in Mississippi as part of The Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship. Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter who has examined civil rights-era cold murder cases in the state for more than 30 years.

One of six former law enforcement officers who called themselves the Goon Squad was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday, months after he and his co-defendants pleaded guilty to federal civil rights offenses for torturing and sexually assaulting two Black men and a third white man who has remained anonymous until now.

Hunter Elward, the deputy who shot one of the victims in the mouth, received the maximum penalty allowed under his plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Mr. Elward broke down in tears as he stood before a U.S. District Court judge, Tom Lee, and apologized to the victims and their family members. Mr. Elward turned to face Eddie Parker, 36, and Michael Jenkins, 33, who were tortured and sexually assaulted by the officers during a raid on Mr. Parker’s home.

“I hate that I was involved in this,” he said. “I hate what’s happened to them.”

As Mr. Elward left the podium, Mr. Parker stood up and said that he forgave him.

During the hearing, Mr. Elward said that he had witnessed brutal conduct by other deputies throughout his seven years at the department, which his lawyer, Joe Hollomon, said was “the culture of Rankin County sheriff’s department.”

Outside the courtroom, Mr. Jenkins, the man Mr. Elward shot in the face during what was described as a mock execution, said that he did not forgive Mr. Elward. “If he wouldn’t have gotten caught, he would still be doing the same thing.” Mr. Jenkins said.

Both men said they were satisfied with Judge Lee’s sentence.

Over the next two days, the other officers involved in the incidents, who each could be sentenced to a decade or more in prison, will appear in federal court in Jackson, Miss. Prosecutors are expected to detail the officers’ violent actions, and victims will have an opportunity to share their stories.

The sheriff’s department in Rankin County, a suburban community just outside Jackson, came to national attention last year after five Rankin County deputies and a Richland Police detective raided the home of Eddie Parker, 36, and his friend, Michael Jenkins, 33, following a tip about suspicious activity.

The officers handcuffed and tortured the men by shocking them repeatedly with Tasers, beating them and sexually assaulting them with a sex toy. Mr. Elward put his gun into Mr. Jenkins’s mouth and shot him, shattering his jaw and nearly killing him.

“They tried to take my manhood away from me,” Mr. Jenkins said in a statement to the court on Tuesday morning. “I don’t ever think I’ll be the person I was.”

The officers destroyed evidence and, to justify the shooting, falsely claimed that Mr. Jenkins had pointed a BB gun at them, according to federal prosecutors.

Three of the department’s deputies also pleaded guilty in a separate incident, but prosecutors have so far provided few details about what happened. Prosecutors are expected to read a statement written by the victim in that case, 28-year-old Alan Schmidt.

So far charges against officers in Rankin County have been narrowly focused on these two incidents, but residents in impoverished pockets of the county say that the sheriff’s department has routinely targeted them with similar levels of violence.

Last November, The New York Times and Mississippi Today published an investigation revealing that for nearly two decades, deputies in the Rankin sheriff department, many of whom called themselves the Goon Squad, would barge into homes in the middle of the night, handcuff people and torture them for information or confessions.

In the pursuit of drug arrests, the deputies rammed a stick down one man’s throat until he vomited, dripped molten metal onto another man’s skin and held people down and beat them until they were bloody and bruised, according to dozens of people who said they witnessed or experienced the raids.

Many of those who said they had experienced violence filed lawsuits or formal complaints detailing their encounters with the department. A few said they had contacted Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey directly, only to be ignored.

Sheriff Bailey, who has denied knowledge of the incidents, has faced calls to resign by local activists and the N.A.A.C.P. He has said he will not step down.

Malcolm Holmes, a professor in the department of criminal justice and sociology at the University of Wyoming, said that the Goon Squad case was “going to be one that finds its way into the chronicles of history.”

“There’s so much well-documented evidence that this is a pattern of behavior,” he said, noting that the case revealed “something we’ve covered up for a long time, particularly in rural America.”

The sentencing hearings this week are expected to reveal more details about violence perpetrated by Rankin County deputies, including what happened to Mr. Schmidt.

In an interview with The Times and Mississippi Today last week, Mr. Schmidt spoke publicly for the first time about what happened in December 2022 when a Rankin County deputy pulled him over for driving with an expired tag.

According to the federal indictment, deputies Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward and Daniel Opdyke arrived at the scene shortly afterward. Two other deputies, including the one who pulled Mr. Schmidt over, were also present throughout the arrest, Mr. Schmidt said. Neither has been criminally charged.

Mr. Schmidt said the deputies accused him of stealing tools from his boss, and then Mr. Dedmon pressed a gun to his head and fired it into the air before threatening to dump his body in the Pearl River.

“I thought this was it,” Mr. Schmidt said. “I’m never going to see my family again.”

Mr. Dedmon and the other deputies punched Mr. Schmidt and held his arm in a fire ant hill, then shocked him repeatedly with a Taser, Mr. Schmidt said.

Mr. Dedmon also pressed his genitals against the man’s face and bare buttocks as he yelled for help and kicked at the deputy, Mr. Schmidt said.

“It still goes through my head constantly,” Mr. Schmidt said of the experience.

Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett has begun to review and dismiss criminal cases that had involved Goon Squad members, his office confirmed last week, but Mr. Bramlett declined to share details about the cases under review.

State lawmakers introduced a bill in January that would expand oversight of Mississippi law enforcement, allowing the state board that certifies officers to investigate and revoke the licenses of officers accused of misconduct, regardless of whether they are criminally charged. Lawmakers have said that the Goon Squad and several other incidents of alleged police misconduct in Mississippi helped prompt the bill.

The Mississippi House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to pass the bill last week. The state senate is expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks.

The post Goon Squad Officer is Sentenced to 20 Years in Mississippi Torture Cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A majority of Mississippi’s Republican primary voters support expanding Medicaid coverage to the working poor, according to a recent poll commissioned by the American Cancer Society. 

The poll, conducted on February 19-20 by private polling firm Cygnal, surveyed 600 people and showed that 55% of likely GOP primary voters in the Magnolia State support Medicaid expansion to cover low-income individuals. 

“This showed what we’ve been feeling for a while now, which is that just among Republican primary voters, a majority of them support expanding Medicaid to close the coverage gap,” said Kimberly Hughes, the Mississippi government relations director at the American Cancer Society Action Network.

The coverage gap is made up of low-income workers who make more than 28% of the federal poverty level — the maximum income allowed to currently qualify for Medicaid in the state — but less than the 100% of the federal poverty level needed to get subsidies that would make private insurance plans affordable.

It’s estimated that 123,000 uninsured Mississippians would gain coverage under expansion – that includes the 74,000 people under the poverty level and an additional 49,000 uninsured adults whose income is between 100% and 138% of the FPL. 

The Republican-controlled House overwhelmingly passed a bill to expand Medicaid, and its fate now lies with the GOP-majority Senate, which has yet to take a full vote on the issue. Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, previously told reporters he plans to introduce a Medicaid expansion plan this week. 

A reason that some senators, particularly those from rural districts, are reluctant to support expansion is a fear that they could attract a GOP primary challenger who would potentially criticize them for voting in favor of the policy. 

But Brent Buchanan, president & founder of Cygnal, said the poll surveyed Republican voters proportionally across the state’s four congressional districts who indicated that there was little opposition to Republicans passing Medicaid expansion legislation.

“Who would be on the other side funding you getting beaten over this? It doesn’t exist,” Buchanan said. “The way I view Medicaid expansion is that no primary voter is waking up thinking about expansion. This is an issue that has a great upside and very limited downside.” 

The ACS poll reflects similar conclusions that several Mississippi Today/Siena College polls showed last year. 

An April poll conducted by the two organizations found that 60% of overall voters including, 52% of Republicans voters, supported the policy, and a June poll of likely GOP primary voters also found 52% of primary voters supported the policy. 

The post Poll: Majority of Mississippi Republican voters support Medicaid expansion  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Vaccinated appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Spring is here and so is our raffle!

Do you want to Win a Staycation in Jackson, Mississippi, “The City With Soul” while also supporting the good work of a local non-profit?

Keep the awesome prizes for yourself or give them to a loved one for a birthday, special celebration, or even a much-needed “Mommy Get Away.”

Enter the raffle offered by Growing Up Knowing, a 501C3 that empowers youth across Mississippi by providing relevant sex education and wellness through its signature programs, “My Body, My Boundaries” and “Tween Talk: A Comprehensive Sex Education” and start planning a fun weekend!

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or 75 Entries for $75
or 100 Entries for $100

The raffle will last until March 30th! Do not miss your chance to win and by supporting GUK, you are supporting a healthier Mississippi all around. Visit our raffle website to purchase entries!

Growing Up Knowing (GUK) is a local education and health nonprofit that provides free age-appropriate programs to Mississippi youth and their parents/caregivers. Our mission is to promote healthy life decisions through family education and community partnerships. Growing Up Knowing engages young people and their families in real conversations about sexual health and preventing abuse. To learn more, visit us at www.growingupknowing.org.

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