Five now-former members of Mississippi’s Rankin County Sheriff’s Department and one former member of the Richland Police Department pleaded guilty Thursday, August 3, to multiple charges including civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, and obstruction of justice.
The officers, who called themselves the “Goon Squad,” tortured two innocent Black men using a sex toy, Tasers, and a sword in an hours-long attack that ended with one man being shot through the mouth and neck.
All six acknowledged that while responding to a report of suspicious activity on January 24 this year, they kicked in a door at a house and began a sustained and unprovoked attack on two Black men there.