A fourth former Mississippi officer is sentenced to 40 years in racially charged torture cases

A fourth former Mississippi law enforcement officer who pleaded guilty to torturing two Black men was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday, as accounts of the horrifying brutality of a self-styled “Goon Squad” of deputies gripped a federal courtroom.

A judge imposed the harshest sentence so far on former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon, saying he committed the most “shocking, brutal and cruel acts imaginable.”

Details of a nightmare of racially motivated beatings, torture, sexual assaults and even a mock execution in January 2023 unfolded for a second day as victims came face-to-face with their tormentors, and each of the rogue former officers was sentenced for what the FBI director described as “atrocious” acts of “pure hell.”
The emotional sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon, under heavy courtroom security, focused on Dedmon and his sexual assault on one of the victims. An officer with the US Marshals Service told people in court to keep control over their emotions, saying the hearing would be highly contentious.

Read more: CNN