Source: Black Lawyers for Justice / Black Lawyers for Justice
Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, the two Black men who were tortured and sexually assaulted by six White law enforcement officers in Braxton, Mississippi recently sat down with CNN’s Ryan Young to speak about their horrific incident, which changed them for life.
During the interview, Eddie Parker relived the attack with CNN as he stood in the very spot he was attacked.
“It’s hard to stand right here, knowing what happened right here, he told CNN. “Justice is what it all boils down to. I’m just like them, you know, whether they in uniform or not.”
He continued, “I crawled here to this spot and then they, uh, started beating me here and tasting me and you can see, you know, blood spots and all my blood spots there.”
Michael Jenkins, who was shot in the tongue during the indecent, could barely speak because of his injuries.
“It hurts. And I’m embarrassed,” Jenkins said when asked about his difficulties speaking.
When he was asked if anyone from the police department reached out to him and his family to apologize, all he could do is shake his head no.
As previously reported by NewsOne, in February, multiple white police officers in Braxton, Mississippi falsely accused two Black men of selling drugs and “dating white women” before handcuffing and brutally torturing them, including shooting one of them in the mouth.
Michael Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker were in a private residence in the village of Braxton on Jan. 24 when the location was raided by six white officers without a warrant, Black Lawyers for Justice said in a press release emailed to NewsOne.
The officers allegedly accused Jenkins and Parker of “dating white women” and “selling drugs” — allegations attorneys have denied — before handcuffing them. After they were restrained, the officers allegedly “repeatedly” brutally beat and kicked the men while using a Taser on both and threatening to kill them. A witness even described the officers participating in something of a Taser contest with Jenkins and Parker being the targets, Jenkins’ mother said.
During interviews with the AP, both Jenkins and Parker confirmed that police stunned them with Tasers repeatedly over roughly 90 minutes. They also forced the two men to lie on their backs while officers poured milk over their faces. One officer would eventually put a gun in Jenkins’ mouth pulling the trigger, leaving him a broken jaw and with wounds that required parts of his tongue to be sewn back together.
Police allege Jenkins was shot after pointing a weapon at them, but Jenkins’ attorney says his client never had a gun.
AP also found that many of the officers involved in the incident were a part of the sheriff’s office’s Special Response Team, an “elite” police unit that draws similar comparisons to the SCORPION unit involved in the beating and death of Tyre Nichols.
A civil rights investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department has been opened by the DOJ, but no arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.
Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker have also filed a $400 million federal lawsuit, which names three officers, including Hunter Elward as well as Sheriff Byran Bailey.
Click here to watch the interview.
SEE ALSO:
Calls For DOJ Indictments After Mississippi Cops Fired For Torturing Black Men
Horrific Details Emerge As Mississippi Police Accused Of Shooting Black Man’s Tongue Off
