Third Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ member sentenced for involvement in assault of Black men News
watkinswd / Pixabay
Third Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ member sentenced for involvement in assault of Black men

The third of six members of the Mississippi deputy group who referred to themselves as the “Goon Squad,” Daniel Opdyke, was sentenced Wednesday to 17 and a half years in federal prison for his involvement in the torture of two black men.

In January 2023, six members of Mississippi law enforcement entered the home of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker without a warrant or exigent circumstances. Despite having no probable cause to believe that either man was involved in criminal acts, the Mississippi officers handcuffed both men in their home. The officers reportedly told the men to “stay out of Rankin County” and repeatedly called them racial slurs. The officers then beat both men and tased them 17 times. They also forced the men to ingest liquids. Eventually, former deputy Hunter Elward put his gun in Jenkin’s mouth and fired the weapon.

The law enforcement agents then exited the home, providing no medical aid or assistance to either victim. Outside the home, the agents destroyed surveillance footage and falsely charged Jenkins with crimes.

Following the crime, Mississippi State Attorney General Lynn Fitch spoke out against the agents in a statement with the Department of Justice.

Without a relationship of trust between law enforcement officers and those they swear to serve and protect, our fight for justice and against crime is doomed to fail.  This brutal attack caused more than physical harm to these two individual victims, it severed that vital trust with the people.  This abuse of power will not be tolerated. The Attorney General’s Office is committed to delivering justice for these victims and all Mississippians, and we are grateful for this strong partnership we have with our US Attorney’s Offices and FBI Field Office. Working together, it is my hope that we can help these victims heal and restore confidence in our criminal justice system.

In total, the six law enforcement agents were charged with 16 felonies, including civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence and obstruction of justice. The agents pled guilty to all charges against them. Attorney for the victims Malik Shabazz said after the sentencing, “Let this be a strict warning to all gangs in police departments all across America. Let this be a strict warning to all rural police officers… that you will not get light sentences.”

Ex-deputy Opdyke was the third of the six officers to be sentenced Wednesday, with two other agents sentenced earlier this week.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Bank of England granted political independence

On May 6, 1997, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced that the Bank of England would be granted political independence for the first time in the three-hundred year history of the Bank. This policy was statutized in the subsequent Bank of England Act of 1998 gave the Bank independent control of British monetary policy effective June 1, 1998. Read the Bank of England Act of 1998.

Chinese Exclusion Act barred Chinese laborers from US

On May 6, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, barring Chinese laborers from entering the United States and prohibiting courts from bestowing US citizenship on Chinese. Connecticut Senator Joseph Hawley spoke out against the Act in these words: Let the proposed statue be read 100 years hence, dug out of the dust of ages and forgotten as it will be except for a line of sneer by some historian, and ask the young man not well read in the history of this country what was the reason for excluding these men and he would not be able to find it in the law. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and its successors were abolished in 1943 at the insistence of President Franklin Roosevelt.