"Goon Squad" plead guilty to state charges in racist assault

A group of six (former) officers have entered guilty pleas after invading a home, without a warrant or any kind of probable cause, and torturing two men for at least 90 minutes. The only complaint they were responding to was a neighbor saying that she saw two black men staying with a white woman and that she thought his seemed suspicious.

Arriving with a plan to plant drugs and a gun, the officers broke into the home, tazed and assaulted the two men, and even staged a "mock execution" where one officer removed a bullet from his gun and dry fired into the victim's mouth. . . but then pulled the trigger again, breaking the man's jaw and almost causing him to lose his tongue. In addition to telling the two men to get back on "their side" of the river, there were of course racial slurs involved.

Ex-Mississippi law enforcement officers known as "Goon Squad" plead guilty to state charges in racist assault - CBS News

 

"Eventually, Elward removed a bullet from his gun, forced Jenkins onto his knees and put the gun into his mouth, the document stated. Elward fired the gun, which did not discharge, then racked the slide, put the gun back in Jenkins’ mouth and pulled the trigger again, according to the document. The bullet lacerated Jenkins’ tongue, broke his jaw and went out through his neck.

According to the charging document, the officers then devised a cover story and discussed planting a gun Middleton had in his patrol car on Jenkins. Instead, Elward planted a BB gun, and the officers discarded one shell casing, the document stated. Hartfield threw the men’s soiled clothes in the woods and took the hard drive from the home’s surveillance system before throwing it in a creek, according to the document."

Wow thats ****ing crazy.

 

Par for the course...
Cops being Cops, Etc...
Probably pled guilty for a lighter sentence...

 

This story has always seemed like the Left's caricature of law enforcement:

 

I think they pled guilty to federal charges as well. Both the Federal and State charges should run consecutively, not concurrently once the sentencing has been determined.

 

Generally, if you plead guilty to the charges, the court usually is more sympathetic. However, federal sentencing guidelines is a different matter and it does not include whether you plead guilty or not.

 

And yet, that's what the cops pleaded guilty to. I guess it isn't so much of a caricature after all.

 

It is not a left's caricature of law enforcement. However, what they did would remind a lot of old, very old folks, who lived in the Jim Crow South where law enforcement did this more, especially in rural areas. We just didn't have the internet and news 24/7/365 in that time frame. What they did should disgust any current and retired law enforcement officer.

 

Is some rightie going to step up and make some excuses about "thug culture" and how the police were somehow justified for some reason like high crime in the area ?

Will there be some plea for leniency here ? Will they go into general population in the prison ?

 

They will live in PC or adSeg their entire prison stay and will have to watch their backs 24/7. Wouldnt be surprised if someone from adseg gets them.

 

If they don't... Just make up some straw man.

What they did is of course extremely reprehensible and disgusting and they should be thrown into prison for the rest of their life if you ask me.

But I have to wonder why the race of the offenders and the victim is part of the central theme of the story because anytime someone post a story and the races are reversed they are accused of racism.... Just trying to make black people look bad etc .... So on and so forth

 

And you were doing so well, right up to the "But I have to wonder......."

 

The race is part of the story because they used racial slurs when committing their crimes and were obviously racially motivated. I'm sorry the facts are inconvenient for your agenda.

 

Hope they get the Max...

 

I'm sorry that the fact is hard for you to deal with that I don't have an agenda.

 

Your previous post indicates otherwise. Meanwhile, have you now come to understand why race was mentioned . . . since it was an obvious motivation?

 

Sounds like a legitimate case of bad cops.

 

Yeah it's called facts.

 

Unfortunately, positions of power, like being a police officer, sometimes attract people who enjoy exerting power over others, like in the case of this "goon squad". I wonder if they are wife beaters, too. It has to be said, however, that this is not the norm for ALL police officers.

I learned a good lesson in judgement of human nature when I started with my first teaching assistant (TA) assignment in graduate school. One of my "friends" also became first-time TA at the same time. The moment he felt that he had some "power" over his students, he became a totally different person. He let his students fail in tests left and right and overall was what you would describe as a major-league a$$hole. All in the name of "teaching" them chemistry. In reality, he enjoyed having power over others, possibly for the first time in his life, and he abused the power. He was the prototype of sucking up to the top (his professors), but trampling those below him (his students). I don't know how many people are out there who cannot handle power, but I am sure there are a lot in all kinds of professions, not just in law enforcement. It is the duty of their superiors to identify this kind of behavior and deal with it.

In the case of the goon squad, I bet a superior either was too lazy to notice, or they covered up for them, because I bet it wasn't the first time they abused their power.

 

Entire department is suspicious IMO.

 

True. And, in the very least, the recent cases that these particular cops had been involved in should be put under scrutiny.

 

More irrational generalizing of cops based on an extremely rare anecdote. Par for the course for Dems.

 

IMO, its very telling of the department culture that these officers thought they could do what they did and get away with it. I hope they are investigating other actions taking by these goons and the entire department. Should be looking at people convicted by evidence/arrest produced by these 6 as well. I'm sure these two men weren't their only victims.

 

Oh, so these cops are “extremely rare” ?
Today is the 15th. How many days before the next police brutality incident makes the papers ?
Objectively speaking , of course.

 

In a nation of 320 million people you can have anecdotes of literally anything supplied regularly. So yes, it is extremely rare.