Mississippi ex-law enforcement officer, part of "Goon Squad", receives 17.5-year sentence for civil rights assault on two black men without warrant.
Leading member of Mississippi "Goon Squad" that tortured two Black men receives 17.5-year prison sentence; four others await sentencing. The former Mississippi law enforcement officer, who was part of a group known as the "Goon Squad", has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on US civil rights charges for assaulting two black men, including shooting one in the mouth. Hunter Elward, who pleaded guilty last year, is the first of six white former law enforcement officers involved to be sentenced in a US district court in Mississippi. The men are charged with several federal crimes including deprivation of rights and obstruction of justice. Elward and his colleagues went to a home in Braxton, Mississippi, without a search warrant in January 2023, detained the black men, and physically and sexually assaulted them while screaming racial slurs for nearly two hours. The men had been accused of "suspicious behavior" by a white neighbor.