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Mississippi ex-deputy gets 40-year sentence in racist torture

Two former Mississippi deputies wept in court Wednesday as a federal judge sentenced them to years in prison and condemned their cruelty for breaking into a home with four other white officers and torturing two Black men.

By Rogelio V. Solis / AP

March 20, 2024

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

This combination of photos shows, from top left, former Rankin County sheriff's deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield appearing at the Rankin County Circuit Court in Brandon, Miss., Aug. 14, 2023. Two Black men who were tortured for hours by the six Mississippi law enforcement officers in 2023 called Monday, March 18, 2024, for a federal judge to impose the strictest possible penalties at their sentencings this week.
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John Osborne, 62, of Jackson, sits outside the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 19, with signs of support for the two men abused by then six Mississippi Rankin County law enforcement officers who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on Michael Corey Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker in 2023. The six former law officers pleaded guilty to a number of charges for torturing them and their sentencing begins Tuesday in federal court.
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Michael Corey Jenkins, who along with Eddie Terrell Parker had been victims of torture by then six Mississippi Rankin County law officers in 2023, shows the scar left from having a gun fired off in his mouth by one of the now former lawmen, while outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 19. Jenkins still suffers from the injury. Former Mississippi Rankin County Sheriff's Deputy Hunter Elward, received a 20-year in prison sentence, for his role in the torturing Tuesday.
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Mary Jenkins, right, and Melvin Jenkins, center, parents of Michael Corey Jenkins, and Linda Rawls, aunt of Eddie Terrell Parker, walk towards Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20, for sentencing on the third of the six former Mississippi Rankin County law enforcement officers who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on their child and nephew in 2023. The six former law officers pleaded guilty to a number of federal charges for torturing them and sentencing began Tuesday in federal court.
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Michael Corey Jenkins, left, and Eddie Terrell Parker enter the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20, for sentencing on the third of the six former Mississippi Rankin County law enforcement officers who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on them in 2023. The six former law officers pleaded guilty to a number of federal charges for torturing them and their sentencing began Tuesday in federal court.
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Michael Corey Jenkins, right, follows a friend as he enters the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20, for sentencing on the third of the six former Mississippi Rankin County law enforcement officers who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on him and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker in 2023. The six former law officers pleaded guilty to a number of federal charges for torturing them and their sentencing began Tuesday in federal court.
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"Now I am locking them up," says Eddie Terrell Parker, showing off a handcuff necklace that he wears at the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20. Parker and Michael Corey Jenkins, was assaulted by then six Rankin County law men in 2023, witnessed the sentencing of former deputy Daniel Opdyke to 17.5 years in federal prison for his actions. Opdyke is the third of the six former officers who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on them and have pleaded guilty to a number of federal charges.
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Lead civil attorney Malik Shabazz, second from left, speaks to reporters while his clients, Eddie Terrell Parker, left, Michael Corey Jenkins, and his father Melvin Jenkins, center, and mother Mary Jenkins, right, listen while outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20, following the federal court sentencing of the third of six former Mississippi Rankin County law enforcement officers who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on Parker and Jenkins in 2023.
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Melvin Jenkins, second from left, speaks to reporters while standing with lead civil attorney Malik Shabazz, left, and his son Michael Corey Jenkins, second from right, and wife Mary Jenkins, regarding the sentencing of the third of six former Rankin County law enforcement officers, who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on his son Michael and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker in 2023., while outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20. Former Rankin County deputy Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison for his actions.
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Melvin Jenkins, second from right, speaks to reporters while standing with lead civil attorney Malik Shabazz, second from left, and his son Michael Corey Jenkins, right, on the sentencing of the third of six former Rankin County law enforcement officers, who committed numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture on his son Michael and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker in 2023, while outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20. Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison for his actions.
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Civil co-counsel Trent Walker, center, speaks to reporters on the sentencing of the third former Rankin County law enforcement officer, while his clients, Eddie Terrell Parker, left, Michael Corey Jenkins, listen while outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20. Former Rankin County deputy Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison for his role with five other now former Rankin County law enforcement officers, in the racially motivated, violent torture of Parker and Jenkins.
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Civil co-counsel Trent Walker, right, speaks to reporters on the sentencing of the third former Rankin County law enforcement officer, while his one of his clients, Eddie Terrell Parker, left, and his aunt, Linda Rawls listen, while outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 20. Former Rankin County deputy Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison for his role with five other now former Rankin County law enforcement officers, in the racially motivated, violent torture of Parker and Jenkins.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Attorney Jeffery Reynolds expresses disappointment on the 17.5 years federal prison sentence his client former Rankin County deputy Daniel Opdyke received for his role in the racially motivated, violent torture of Black two men, Wednesday, March 20, in Jackson, Miss. Opdyke and five other now former Rankin County law enforcement officers pleaded guilty to numerous charges on the torture of the men.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Eddie Terrell Parker and his aunt Linda Rawls express their joy at the 40-year prison sentence given former Rankin County sheriff's deputy Christian Dedmon by a federal judge, Wednesday, March 20, in Jackson, Miss. Dedmon was sentenced for his part in the racist torture of Parker and Michael Corey Jenkins by a group of white officers who called themselves the “Goon Squad”.

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