Attorneys Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker, the pair who successfully litigated on behalf of Goon Squad victims Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, said publicly last week that they welcome the civil rights investigation the Justice Department has launched in the “pattern or practice” of Rankin County and the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Bryan Bailey.
“The public is now well aware of the heinous attack inflicted on two Black men by Rankin County deputies who called themselves the ‘Goon Squad,’” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in the press release announcing the investigation. “Those officers have since been convicted and sentenced, but we are launching this civil pattern of practice investigation to examine serious allegations that the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department systematically violates people’s constitutional rights through excessive use of force; unlawful stops, searches, and arrests; and discriminatory policing.”
The six Goon Squad defendants were sentenced to 132 years in federal prison for their crimes against Jenkins and Parker. And they received state sentences that ranged between 15 and 45 years after pleading guilty to the charges.
DOJ LITIGATION
DOJ’s Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi will jointly conduct the investigation.
“We thank them for that work, and for going further in our civil lawsuit,” Shabazz said.
Shabazz said that he and Walker have learned of “dozens of victims over the years who in Rankin County have been beaten and tortured” and subjected to innumerable violent acts by other officers prior to the exposure and conviction of the Goon Squad six earlier this year. They have asked for the removal of Sheriff Bryan Bailey from the Sheriff’s department.
“There is some remedy here,” said Shabazz. “This is long overdue, and this is the true road to justice. And it goes beyond just the Goon Squad, because the (Sheriff’s) department has been riddled with excessive force and violations of constitutional rights. And I can’t understand why Sheriff Bryan Bailey is still there. Those six defendants were sentenced to 132 years in federal prison for their crimes against Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Parker…. We thank them for that work, and for going further in our civil lawsuit.
“In our civil lawsuit in June of 2023, it says that this was not just an isolated incident and that the actions that occurred, the vicious torture, the sexual assault, and the outrageous litany of actions that occurred against Jenkins and Parker were not merely criminal acts on that day by the Goon Squad, but they were part of a systemic problem in Rankin County, where Sheriff Bailey and Rankin County failed to train, failed to supervise, failed to take credible allegations of excessive force, false arrest, and beatings and torture seriously.”
WALKER CONFIDENT
“I want to join in and thank the Justice Department, Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke, U.S. Attorney Todd Gee, and all the members of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division who have worked tirelessly since this case was brought to light,” co-counsel Walker said.
“We’re confident that once they get in and they get to digging into the past behaviors, the past criminal prosecutions that were brought by not just these officers, but by the department as a whole, that they will feel well justified in having opened this investigation because we believe there is more than adequate evidence that this pattern of abuse, pattern of discrimination, pattern of torture has been going on a long time to exceed term in office of Bryan Bailey,” Walker said.
“We feel that Sheriff Bryan Bailey is symptomatic of the problem that too long this has been going on with a wink and a nod, and we are confident that with the opening of this pattern and practice investigation that justice will continue to be forthcoming.”
COMPENSATION
A member of the press asked about the current state of health of Parker and Jenkins.
“Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins are happy, and they are appreciative of the fact that the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department is under formal investigation, Shabazz said. “They know this had gone on a long time before they were abused and attacked on January 24, of 2023.”
Shabazz and Walker are pursuing a civil lawsuit against Rankin County on behalf of Parker and Jenkins. They have asked for $400 million in damages from Rankin County and the Sheriff’s department.
“Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker must be adequately compensated for what has happened to them,” said Shabazz.
