Six former white law enforcement officers in Rankin County, Mississippi, have pleaded guilty to state charges for torturing two Black men in a racially motivated assault. The officers, who included five deputies from the Rankin County Sheriff's office and one former police officer from the City of Richland, admitted their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case. The incident occurred in January when the officers kicked down the door of the victims' home in Braxton and subjected them to hours of physical abuse, including kicking, handcuffing, waterboarding, and tasering. The victims, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, also alleged that one of the officers put a gun in Jenkins' mouth and shot him.

The officers faced charges such as home invasion, aggravated assault, conspiracy to hinder prosecution, and obstruction of justice. During the plea hearing, Circuit Judge Steven Ratcliff recommended that the officers accept the advised sentencing, which ranged from five years for most of the officers to 30 years for Hunter Elward, who faced an additional charge of aggravated assault for a "mock execution" involving a gun. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey released a statement expressing hope that the guilty pleas bring justice to the victims and emphasized the commitment of the sheriff's office to evaluate and modify its policies and training procedures.