Two Black men tortured by white “Goon Squad” deputies are considering a lawsuit against Rankin County Supervisor Steve Gaines for calling them “dopers” and rapists.

“He will be held legally accountable. He has to be,” said Malik Shabazz, a lawyer for the two men, Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins. “Some of what [Gaines] said is obviously defamatory.”

Two days after the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department announced it was paying Parker and Jenkins $2.5 million, Gaines told the 100 people gathered at the sheriff’s breakfast that the department’s lawyer, Jason Dare, “beat the pants off of those guys — the dopers, the people that raped and doped your daughters. He beat their pants off.”

Neither of the two men have been convicted of felony drug or rape charges in Rankin County or neighboring Hinds County, according to court records. In 2019, Parker was convicted in Alabama of drug possession with intent to sell.

In 2023, six Rankin County law enforcement officers, some of whom called themselves the “Goon Squad,” tortured the two men with Tasers, used a sex toy on them and shot one of them in the mouth. Deputies planted a BB gun and drugs on the men to try and cover up their crimes, but they were caught. They are now serving between 10 and 40 years in federal prison.

In an emailed response, Gaines said his 22-minute speech covered “a wide range of issues facing Rankin County.

“I want to be clear that my comments wre not aimed at anyone personally, and I did not name any individuals,” Gaines said.

“Law enforcement and safety in Rankin County are topics of deep concern to me because much of my career has been dedicated to protecting the safety and wellbeing of our community. I take my role as supervisor very seriously, and I strive to serve each and every Rankin County citizen in my district. If there was any confusion, I want to clarify that my focus — then and now — is supporting the ongoing efforts by law enforcement in Rankin County to keep our community safe and strong.”

On Friday, Angela English, president of the Rankin County NAACP, asked Gaines to step down: “There is no way you can effectively do your job with the kind of racial hatred you have in your heart.”

Behind the scenes, some local power brokers are urging Gaines to resign. “It’s devastating to us trying to rebuild trust in the community, which was already destroyed,” said one elected official, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. “It’s infuriating, because we’re the ones having to pick up the pieces.”

Pressure on the sheriff’s department has been mounting since the torture allegations emerged. The local chapter of the NAACP has repeatedly called on Sheriff Bryan Bailey to step down. 

But at the May 3 breakfast gathering, Gaines and other county officials threw their support behind the sheriff. “Bryan’s got his legs back under him,” he said. “You can’t go through what he’s went through with all the fake news and false information and stay together like Bryan has.”

Bailey thanked Gaines and said, “My board of supervisors stood behind me  110%.”

The sheriff said he thought about stepping down over the past 28 months. “I was ready to quit, give up,” he said, but his mentor and former father-in-law, Irl Dean Rhodes, urged him to stay, saying, “You don’t quit. You’re going to run again.”

In 2023, Bailey faced no opposition, but that won’t be the case in 2027.

Retired Sgt. Ronnie Moore, 58, said he plans to run for sheriff because “everybody wants a change.” In the 72% white county, he served among the small number of Black deputies for three decades before retiring last year from the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department.

“You have to love everybody. You’ve got to have a heart for people,” he said. “It ain’t all about wearing a badge and carrying a gun. It ain’t all about Black and white, but about what’s right and wrong.”

He doesn’t believe in “throwing dirt,” he said, “but if you do wrong, karma will come back and get you.”

Moore said of Gaines’ remarks, “Instead of putting out the fire, they’re pouring gas on it. God sees them people.”

Bailey has insisted he knew nothing about what deputies did to Parker and Jenkins and denied these former deputies’ accusations that there was a culture of violence in the department. He said if he had known, he would have stopped it.

After recently announcing his candidacy at the Briar Hill Baptist Church and the Exchange Club of Richland, Scott Womack, 57, has spent his days attending civic events, shaking hands and asking for votes.

He worked for 27 years as a special agent at the state auditor’s office, serving as lead agent on the investigation into the Mississippi Beef Plant, a $55 million, taxpayer-funded debacle, which ended in prison sentences for some. He also served as a chief deputy for Simpson County.

“Our team’s campaign will focus on restoring the trust, integrity, pride and confidence in the position of sheriff in Rankin County,” he said.

There must be a focus on restoring trust with Rankin County employees and citizens through safety and excellent service, he said. In addition, “we will explore ways to work with county leadership to minimize civil litigation, and I will utilize my relationships with local, state and federal agencies to help restore confidence,” he said.

Another lawsuit alleging abuse is pending in federal court against the department, and plaintiffs’ lawyers have discussed bringing other possible cases.

An investigation by Mississippi Today and The New York Times exposed a decades-long reign of terror by nearly two dozen Rankin County deputies, but the six officers are the only ones who have been charged.

Another story by Mississippi Today and the Times revealed that the sheriff spent more than $150,000 in taxpayer money on equipment and supplies that were allegedly used at his mother’s commercial chicken farm. State Auditor Shad White is now investigating these allegations.

Jessica Pishko, a lawyer and national expert on sheriffs, said it’s rare for sheriffs to get removed by petition, but Mississippi’s statute makes it tougher than most other states.

Under state law, the governor is the only one with the power to remove the sheriff and can only act if he or she receives a petition demanding the sheriff’s removal signed by at least 30% of the qualified voters.

English said NAACP officials gathered thousands of signatures for a petition to remove Bailey but stopped last Thanksgiving when they ran into roadblocks under Mississippi law that requires them to gather all the signatures within 180 days. In addition to that, any signatures collected more than 60 days before the petition is filed are considered invalid.

Rankin County has more than 102,000 registered voters, which means any such petition would require more than 30,000 signatures. In contrast, 10% of voters can sign a petition to trigger a recall election of a sheriff in California counties with more than 100,000 registered voters.

In Mississippi, there is no requirement in the law for sheriffs to be certified law enforcement officers, but they can’t be atheists. 

In many states, sheriffs have to violate their oath to get removed from office, said Pishko, author of “The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy.” 

That oath requires sheriffs to uphold the federal and state constitutions as well as obeying the laws. “Unfortunately,” Pishko said, “there are a lot of bad things that sheriffs can do that don’t violate their oath.”

Updated 5/13/25: This story has been updated to include a response by Rankin County Supervisor Steve Gaines.