Two more ex-officers receive sentences as judge decries brutal attack on 2 Black men

Jackson, Miss. — A fourth former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Wednesday for his part in the racist torture of two Black men by a group of white officers who called themselves the “Goon Squad,” receiving 40 years in federal prison.

Christian Dedmon, 29, did not look at the victims as he apologized and said he’d never forgive himself for the pain he caused.

All six former officers charged in the case pleaded guilty last year, admitting that they subjected Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racist torture in January 2023 after a neighbor complained the men were staying in a home with a white woman. Prosecutors said Dedmon slapped the men with a sex toy and threatened to brutalize them with it.

U.S. District Judge Tom Lee said Wednesday that Dedmon carried out the most “shocking, brutal and cruel attacks imaginable” against Jenkins and Parker and against a white man during a traffic stop weeks earlier.

Jenkins, who still has trouble speaking due to his injuries, said in a statement read by his lawyer that Dedmon’s actions were the most depraved of any of those who attacked him.

“Deputy Dedmon is the worst example of a police officer in the United States,” Jenkins said. “Deputy Dedmon was the most aggressive, sickest and the most wicked.”

Hours before Dedmon’s sentencing, former officer Daniel Opdyke, 28, cried profusely as he spoke before the judge announced his sentence of 17.5 years. Turning to look at the two victims, Opdyke said isolation behind bars has given him time to reflect on “how I transformed into the monster I became that night.”

“The weight of my actions and the harm I’ve caused will haunt me every day,” Opdyke told them. “I wish I could take away your suffering.”

Parker rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes, then stood and left the courtroom before Opdyke finished speaking. Jenkins said he was “broken” and “ashamed” by the cruel acts inflicted upon him.

The judge said Opdyke may not have been fully aware of what being a member of the Goon Squad entailed when Lt. Jeffrey Middleton asked him to join, but he did know it involved using excessive force.

“You were not a passive observer,” Lee said. “You actively participated in that brutal attack.”

All six former officers pleaded guilty last year to breaking into a home without a warrant and torturing the Black men with a stun gun, a sex toy and other objects.