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Days after the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department reached a $2.5 million settlement with two Black men tortured by “Goon Squad” officers last May, Rankin County Supervisor Steve Gaines referred to the men as “dopers” and rapists.
Now those men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, are suing Gaines individually for damages in separate lawsuits filed in Rankin County Monday. “These statements were false, widely disseminated, and caused severe reputational and emotional harm,” they say…