Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey is running for reelection unopposed even after a "goon squad" of his deputies pleaded guilty to torturing Black men.

A Mississippi sheriff who oversees a department where five deputies were convicted of torturing two Black men earlier this year — and where at least five people died in its custody in 2021 — is running for reelection unopposed.

Malik Shabazz, an attorney for the two men tortured in January, told a CBS affiliate in Jackson on Tuesday that he believes the problem extends beyond the group of officers who pleaded guilty and that the sheriff, Bryan Bailey, should be removed from office.

“We must press for the maximum sentence for this hate crime, and we must continue to press for the removal of Bryan Bailey as sheriff,” Shabazz said. Activists in Rankin County have also been calling for the sheriff to resign.

For now, Bailey remains on the ballot in November, according to the Rankin County elections website. Bailey received a total of 22,850 votes in the Republican primary on August 8. He’ll be running unopposed though there is an option to write in a candidate.

    • @BrianTheeBiscuiteer
      9•1 year ago

      I could also see a new sheriff that’s trying to “clean things up” getting undermined by the officers at every turn, making it pretty much impossible to run on any kind of positive record.