The Department of Justice is investigating members of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Response Team for civil rights violations due to their alleged involvement in four violent encounters with at least four Black men, since 2019, The Associated Press revealed.
Today (March 27), the news outlet reported that the Mississippi response team is a tactical unit whose officers receive advanced training. According to police and court records, the deputies currently in question were reportedly involved in each of the four incidents. In two of the cases, Black men alleged that authorities shoved guns in their mouths during separate run-ins.
In one of the encounters, a sheriff deputy pulled the trigger, resulting in Michael Corey Jenkins requiring hospital care to have parts of his tongue sewn back together. The outlet mentioned that one of the fatally shot men’s mothers also stated that an officer held their knee on her son’s neck as he informed them that he couldn’t breathe.
The DOJ launched their civil rights investigation after an officer from the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department shot Jenkins on Jan. 24. While visiting a friend at his home, Jenkins stated that six white RCSD deputies blasted into the residence, pointed a gun in his mouth, and fired a single shot. The incident left Jenkins with a broken jaw and lacerated tongue.
However, the Rankin County officers alleged that Jenkins was shot after he first pointed a gun at authorities. Jenkins’ attorney, Malik Shabazz, countered the allegations by informing the outlet that his client did not have a firearm during the encounter. “They had complete control of him the entire time. Six officers had full and complete control of Michael the entire time,” Shabazz said. “So that’s just a fabrication.”
According to a lawsuit filed by Jenkins and his friend, Eddie Terrell Parker, they were both handcuffed, beaten, and repeatedly tased for over 90 minutes. The outlet also noted that the men were forced to lie on their backs as officers poured milk over their faces. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was brought in to review the incident. Their findings matched information given by the victims. In 2020, Carvis Johnson, another Black man, filed a lawsuit against the RCSD after authorities placed a gun in his mouth during a drug bust in 2019. He was not shot. The deputies’ names have not yet been released.