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.

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

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.

The Justice Department will investigate whether the Rankin County Sheriff's Office engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force and racial discrimination.

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.