Hyde-Smith campaigns with sheriff linked to Rankin County abuse scandal

Sheriff Bryan Bailey oversaw a police department accused of brutal abuse, including torture and sexual assault. Now, he’s campaigning with Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Hyde-Smith and Bailey appeared together at a March 7 political breakfast in Rankin County. The senator is currently running for a second term.

In January 2023, five officers from the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office entered a home without a warrant and proceeded to torture the two men inside, both of whom were Black. The men were repeatedly tased, beaten with a wooden plank, and had a sex toy forced down their throats. One of the men was accidentally shot when an officer forced a gun into his mouth, shattering his jawbone. The victims say the officers used racial slurs throughout the attack.

All five officers pleaded guilty to several charges filed against them, including committing a hate crime. But several Rankin County residents say the attack was not an isolated incident.

The New York Times reported that dozens of Rankin County residents had either witnessed or been victims of similar police violence. Most of the alleged victims were poor or Black. One man said officers repeatedly shocked him with a taser before shoving a stick down his throat, causing him to vomit blood. Another man said officers dragged him from his bed in the middle of the night and threatened to sodomize him with a flashlight.

The group of offending officers allegedly referred to themselves as “The Goon Squad.”

Bailey said he was stunned to learn of the abuse and had no prior knowledge of it, even though several residents said they reported the brutality directly to his office.

“I have 240 employees, there’s no way I can be with them each and every day,” he told The New York Times.

Hyde-Smith has never made a public statement about the January 2023 incident or the trials that followed. She has previously come under fire for opposing a bipartisan police reform bill and making racially insensitive remarks.

Bailey has faced other accusations of wrongdoing.

In 2016, a local district attorney said Bailey unlawfully obtained a subpoena to spy on the phone and text message records of his ex-girlfriend. No charges were filed against him. Local officials were accused of covering up the investigation.

Last month, several inmates at the Rankin County jail said Bailey had them do manual labor on his mother’s chicken ranch. Some inmates said they were paid in cash or meals, while others said they weren’t compensated at all.

Bailey has also been accused of using county funds to purchase farm equipment and of using county-owned machinery for farmwork.

Hyde-Smith’s opponent in November will be Democrat Scott Colm, a local district attorney. In 2024, Colm helped prosecute a county sheriff’s office accused of sexually exploiting inmates.