The FBI issued a statement Wednesday night in regards to a January officer-involved shooting in Rankin County.
The attorneys for Michael Jenkins say he was shot in the mouth after six law enforcement officers, at least five of which were Rankin County deputies, spent time beating and tasing him. A press conference was held Wednesday at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, in which the Associated Press reports Jenkins and Eddie Parker, who alleges he was given the same treatment as Jenkins without being shot, were both there to tell their stories.
Jenkins, who reportedly lost his tongue in the incident, nodded answers to questions.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was already looking into the shooting, which took place January 24, but on Wednesday evening, the FBI also released a statement about a federal investigation into the case.
“The FBI Jackson Field Office, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi have opened a federal civil rights investigation into a color of law incident involving the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office. The FBI will conduct the investigation in a fair, thorough, and impartial manner. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment further at this time,” the statement reads.
Sheriff Bryan Bailey and MBI have also both said there’s not much they can say given the ongoing investigation. Bailey said, however, that anyone who was found to have broken the law, whether civilian or law enforcement, would be subject to the appropriate consequences under the law.
This is an ongoing story.
