The Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation into the sheriff’s department in Mississippi’s Rankin County after several of its deputies – including some who were in a self-styled “Goon Squad” – abused and tortured two Black men in a racially charged home raid last year.

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into a Mississippi sheriff’s department whose officers tortured two Black men.

"We will continue this transparency and will fully cooperate with all aspects of this investigation," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called the former officers’ actions “egregious and despicable” and imposed sentences near the top of federal guidelines for five of the six.

Six former officers, who were members of a self-proclaimed "Goon Squad," were sentenced to decades in prison for torturing two Black men.

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday launched a civil rights probe into the Rankin County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi after several of its former officers known as the "Goon Squad" were prosecuted for torturing and sexually abusing two Black men.

Feds will seek to determine if the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department engaged in a pattern of violence, illegal searches and arrests or other discriminatory practices.

This investigation is separate and independent from the federal criminal civil rights prosecutions of Rankin County deputies related to the assaults of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a civil rights investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department following a racist attack on two Black men by white officers. The investigation will determine whether the department engages in patterns or practices that violate the Constitution and federal law by evaluating all types of force used by officers,