CNN
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The Rankin County Sheriff’s Office says it will conduct a review and analysis after a Wednesday report from The New York Times and Mississippi Today detailed messages in an encrypted WhatsApp group chat between known “Goon Squad” members and other law enforcement officers, some of whom are still employed by the county.

The “Goon Squad” was the name a group of deputies gave themselves because of their willingness to use excessive force and not report it, federal prosecutors said in court documents.

Some of the messages discuss brutalizing and demeaning suspects, as well as exchanging disturbing crime scene photos and pictures of “rotting corpses,” the report said.

In one exchange from a 2022 domestic violence arrest, then-Deputy Hunter Elward wrote, “Did you Tase him in the face!?”

Fellow Goon Squad member Daniel Opdyke asked if they had shocked the man in the anus.

Another deputy said the suspect would have “gotten more lovings,” seeming to indicate they held back because of potential witnesses, saying, “All the neighbors were outside watching.”

Chat members also “discussed taking nude pictures of a woman they had arrested,” the Times reported.

Another exchange discusses deputies getting “points” for shooting someone.

The “reporting on a WhatsApp group chat is believed to contain information from a former deputy’s private cell phone. Since we cannot compel any employee to turn over his / her private cell phone data, we have requested the full private text thread from the New York Times for use in an internal review and analysis,” an attorney for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to CNN.

“There are three individuals who remain employed with this Department that were added to this private group chat by a former deputy, and none are alleged to have violated someone’s constitutional rights or committed any criminal act,” the statement said.

Former deputies and Goon Squad members Elward, Opdyke and Jeffrey Middleton all participated in the chat reviewed by the Times and Mississippi Today. Former Deputy Brett McAlpin is also mentioned in one exchange, according to the report.

McAlpin, Middleton, Elward and Opdyke, along with former Deputy Christian Dedmon and Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield have all pleaded guilty to the sexual assault and kidnapping of two innocent Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, in Rankin County in January 2023. They are serving concurrent state and federal prison sentences.

The planning of the assaults on Jenkins and Parker took place on WhatsApp, according to the Department of Justice. It is unclear if the group chat referenced by the Justice Department is the same as the one on which the Times and Mississippi Today reported.

CNN has not obtained the full group chat that was described in the report.

One member of the group chat, who no longer works for the sheriff’s department, called his messages “absolutely all jokes,” in an interview with the New York Times.

Neither the department nor Sheriff Bryan Bailey “knew of the existence of ‘a shift of officers who called themselves the ‘Goon Squad’ until a bill of information was filed in federal court,” the sheriff’s office statement said.

The statement continues, “It was also around this time we learned that the five former deputies coordinated their criminal activity via private text messaging, presumably in an attempt to avoid detection by this Department and Sheriff Bailey.”

In March, after the sentencing of the former law enforcement officers, CNN spoke with attorney Jeff Reynolds, who represents Opdyke. Reynolds noted Opdyke cooperated in the case by sharing the WhatsApp encrypted text messages.

“The explanation by some that they were just ‘joking’ about torturing people in their what they thought were secret WhatsApp texts rings hollow given the multiple incidents of torture that have now been documented,” Reynolds said Wednesday in a statement to CNN about the latest report.

CNN has reached out to attorneys of the other Goon Squad members alleged to have taken part in the chat for comment but has not received a response.

Malik Shabazz, the lead attorney for Jenkins and Parker, said the “latest revelations regarding the Rankin County Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ text messages are not surprising at all.”

“For years, the lawlessness of Rankin County deputies, especially the night shift, had become notorious to residents. Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker were not shot and tortured in a vacuum. There will be much more to come,” Shabazz said.

“It was just unbelievable,” Angela English, president of the NAACP Rankin County chapter, told CNN, speaking about the report. “What I have read is extremely disturbing … we will not give up the fight.”

Mary Asa Lee, communications director for Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, told CNN in an email the office does not “comment on open investigations.”

The office of US Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi Todd Gee also declined to comment on the current investigation.

But earlier this month, Gee, along with members of his criminal and civil rights divisions, held a listening session in Rankin County inviting residents to share accounts of police misconduct.

“We know from members of the public who have already called… that there have been a lot of other incidents here in Rankin County over the years,” Gee said. “I can’t emphasize enough to you, please let us know what has happened to you, what has happened to your friends, what has happened to your family.”

It’s graduation time in Mississippi. See photos of graduates around the state:

Mississippi State University: MSU holds its commencement ceremony.

University of Mississippi: Ole Miss celebrates 2024 graduates with Convocation in the Grove

University of Mississippi Medical Cente: UMMC spring 2024 graduation ceremony

Jackson State University: More than 500 undergraduates received degrees during JSU graduation Saturday

Alcorn State University: Alcorn State spring 2024 graduation ceremony in Lorman

Ridgeland High School: Ridgeland High graduates 215 during its commencement ceremony

Jackson Academy: JA celebrates class of 2024 graduates during commencement ceremony

St. Joesph Catholic School: St. Joe graduates celebrating 73 graduates

Mississippi University for Women: MUW celebrates spring commencement

University of Southern Mississippi: Family and friends gather to celebrate graduates at Southern Miss graduation ceremony

Madison Central High School: Madison Central commencement exercises for 2024 graduates

Brandon High School: Rain falls but doesn’t dampen spirits during the Brandon High graduation.

Pearl High School: Pearl High celebrates 276 graduates

Madison-Ridgeland Academy: Madison-Ridgeland Academy commencement ceremony

Mississippi College: MC holds three Friday ceremonies for almost 600 grads.

Delta State University : DSU celebrates spring 2024 graduates during commencement

Northwest Rankin High School: Family and friends gather to celebrate Northwest Rankin graduates

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School: St. Andrew’s class of 2024

Mississippi Valley State University : MVSU commencement ceremony

Florence High School: Florence graduates celebrate commencement

Jackson Preparatory School: Jackson Prep honors 2024 graduates during commencement

Germantown High School: Germantown High celebrates class of 2024 at graduation ceremony

Richland High School: Richland High celebrates graduates during commencement exercises

Millsaps College: There’s beautiful weather for graduation in the Bowl at Millsaps.

Belhaven University: Over 350 Belhaven graduates and families celebrate commencement

Tougaloo College: Tougaloo College commencement honors 127 graduates as well as alumni

High-level college athletics put an end to its longstanding amateurism policies last week, leaving administrators at schools like Ole Miss and Mississippi State to find a way forward under the new order.

The NCAA, Power Five conferences and lawyers representing plaintiffs in three antitrust cases agreed to a settlement that will obligate the NCAA to backpay nearly $2.8 billion in damages for current and former college athletes. The same agreement, which still requires the approval of a judge, will require universities to begin sharing revenue with their athletes ‒ with fall of 2025 reportedly targeted as a start date.

What do these changes mean for Ole Miss and Mississippi State? Here’s a look at three big questions facing both schools.

How will Mississippi State, Ole Miss handle the additional expense?

The athletic departments at both Ole Miss and Mississippi State operated at deficits in the most recent reporting year. The Rebels lost over $8 million, with the Bulldogs’ revenue report outlining a loss in excess of $5 million.

Now, the NCAA will be reducing its distributions to schools to help pay the $2.8 billion in damages it owes as a result of the settlement. It says 24% of that $2.8 billion will be made up for by distribution reductions to schools like Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

The initial revenue distribution cap is expected to be at least $20 million, increasing in proportion to athletic department revenues over time. For context, Mississippi State spent roughly $121 million total in the most recent fiscal year. Ole Miss spent about $150 million.

Both institutions face a challenge when it comes to balancing the budget with the sizable new costs.

Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter outlined the approach he’ll take during an interview with The Clarion Ledger in January.

“Are you asking your development staff to raise money in a different way?” Carter said. “We’re always looking for new revenue sources. Obviously, a worst-case scenario is you have to downsize your sports. You have to figure out what makes sense. If the industry of college athletics becomes more businesslike, you may have to start running it more like a profit-loss business.

“That is a worst-case scenario. Nobody in college athletics wants to do that, take opportunities away from college athletes. As we go through this model, everything’s on the table.”

How does this change impact Ole Miss, Mississippi State NIL?

The college football roster construction economy has been driven by name, image and likeness payments since they were made legal in the summer of 2021. Some NIL payments are endorsement deals, with athletes receiving compensation in exchange for advertising a product. Others more closely resemble outsourced pay-for-play, with outside collectives affiliated with each school paying players to join their program.

With a settlement reached and a revenue-sharing cap proposed, there are questions as to whether the NCAA can restrict supplemental NIL payments as a means to circumvent a salary cap.

At Ole Miss, in particular, an aggressive collective has helped drive unprecedented football success. The Rebels won 11 games in 2023 for the first time ever.

“College athletics is evolving and some much needed balance is coming,” Walker Jones, who runs the Rebels’ collective, posted on social media last week. “Ole Miss athletics and (The Grove Collective) will be at the forefront of this evolution and are well positioned to lead and compete at the highest level.”

At Mississippi State, second-year athletic director Zac Selmon took charge amid an NIL surge sparked by the departure of former AD John Cohen.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position to be successful,” Selmon told The Clarion Ledger after 2023 football season. “Successful doesn’t mean reckless, too. Some schools, I think – or some collectives, some NIL boosters, however you want to define them – have been reckless. And a lot of times reckless without any backing.”

BASEBALL: Why Mississippi State baseball will – and won’t – win Charlottesville NCAA Regional

How do Rebels, Bulldogs prioritize their revenue-sharing budget?

Though the future of NIL is unclear, it seems certain that college athletics is headed toward a salary cap.

If each university can distribute around $20 million to its athletes annually, how much of that is spent on football? Men’s and women’s basketball? Baseball?

It’s a challenging question, particularly for Mississippi State and Ole Miss, which have priorities that might not align with their peers. The Bulldogs and Rebels are two of the proudest baseball programs in the country. Do they take money out of football’s budget to spend on baseball? Or do they invest everything they can in football, which is likely to remain the most financially competitive space?

Revenue sharing and women’s sports at Ole Miss, Mississippi State

And what say will Title IX have in how the money gets allocated? 

The federal gender equity law adds another factor for athletic departments to consider as they slice up the pie. 

Women’s basketball operates at a deficit at both Ole Miss and Mississippi State, though the NCAA could soon begin distributing unit payouts which could change that picture. 

The Rebels have won three NCAA Tournament games in the last two seasons, and pay their coach, Yolett McPhee-McCuin, over $1 million annually. Mississippi State has been to the Final Four twice since 2017.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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