5 Rankin County, MS, deputies fired or quit after “torturing” two men, shooting one in January – National & International News – WED 28Jun2023

5 Rankin Co. deputies fired or quit after “torturing” two men, shooting one in January.

Deadly heatwave spreads from Texas to Mississippi and Tennessee.

In rare move, US censures Israel over West Bank violence.

NATIONAL NEWS

5 Rankin Co. deputies fired or quit after “torturing” two men, shooting one in January

On January 24, five or six Rankin County deputies entered a home, supposedly as part of a drugs investigation. Two of the men in the house,  Eddie Terrell Parker (whose home it was) and Corey Jenkins (who was visiting), claim that the deputies tortured them for about two hours. Ultimately, one of the officers put his gun in Jenkins’ mouth and pulled the trigger. Jenkins survived but suffered severe permanent injuries.

Before the shooting, Parker and Jenkins have alleged that the officers pointed guns at both of them, tased them repeatedly, and even attempted to assault them both with a sex toy. There is no police body camera footage from the incident.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey announced yesterday that 5 officers involved in the incident had either quit the department or been fired. All the deputies in question were members of a special tactical unit called the Special Response Team. Some of the deputies had also been involved in previous fatal incidents with suspects. In those cases, the grand jury declined to bring charges. 

The January 24 incident is now the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.

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Deadly heatwave spreads from Texas to Mississippi and Tennessee

For the last two weeks, much of Texas and parts of Louisiana have been sweltering under a “heat dome” that has brought record temperatures. Unlike the dry heat usually experienced in Texas this time of year, the humidity has also been high, making the heat all the more dangerous and oppressive.

So far, the heat has been blamed for 13 deaths, including a Florida stepfather and stepson who succumbed while hiking at Big Bend National Park in Texas. The heatwave has also sent hundreds to the emergency room.

The heat dome is now creeping eastward. Much of the Southeast, including Mississippi and Tennessee, will see triple-digit temperatures after midweek. The high humidity may bring the heat index to 115 degrees in some areas.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

In rare move, US censures Israel over West Bank violence

The UN has issued a statement calling on Palestinians and especially Israeli defense forces and Jewish settlers to bring a halt to escalating violence in the West Bank. The US, which is usually hesitant to formally criticize Israel, signed on to this resolution, as did Russia.

For months, Israeli military police have been carrying out deadly raids in Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank. This has resulted in dozens of civilians being killed, including children. Israel has also been accused of encouraging Jewish settlers in the West Bank to attack Palestinian villages. On several occasions, mobs of heavily armed settlers will raid Palestinian villages, assault people and set homes and vehicles on fire.

In retaliation, armed Palestinian independence groups have carried out numerous attacks targeting both the settlers and Israeli civilians outside the West Bank. The Israeli police then use these attacks to justify more deadly West Bank raids, and on and on it goes.

The Jewish settlers live in heavily-defended compounds which are illegal under international law. Israel’s current far-right government has vowed to expand these settlements further, putting them at odds with the international community. Some see the raids as a tactic meant to terrorize Palestinians into retreating from territory where the settlers want to build.

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