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.

Nearly two years after Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker survived hours of a sadistic torture plot conjured up by six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers, the U.S. Justice Department has launched a pattern or practice investigation into Rankin County,

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

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

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has broadened its investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in Mississippi, where a notorious “Goon Squad” of deputies has been accused of torturing residents for nearly two decades.

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,

The DOJ has received information about other troubling incidents, including deputies overusing stun guns and entering homes unlawfully.

The Justice Department will determine if allegations of widespread violence and improper searches amount to a pattern of discrimination in the department.

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.