Mississippi deputies accused of abusing two black men fired

Five Mississippi deputy sheriffs alleged to have been involved in the assault of two men have been fired or have resigned, officials have said.

Michael Corey Jenkins, 32, and Eddie Terrell Parker, 35, say Rankin County Sheriff Department officers entered a home without a warrant in January.

They allege they then tased them, assaulted them and shot one of them in the mouth.

Attorneys for the men have called for charges against the officers.

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, their attorneys and relatives said the fact the five officers were no longer with the department was a sign of progress, but that more needs to be done.

"They treated our children as if they weren't even human," said Mary Jenkins, the mother of Mr Jenkins, who was shot in the incident.

"It's not enough to fire those deputies because all they will do is go on to another police department and do the same thing."

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey announced on Tuesday that deputies involved in the encounter were terminated last week following findings from an internal investigation.

He said the deputies - whose names he declined to provide - had previously been placed on administrative leave.

"We understand that the alleged actions of these deputies have eroded the trust of the public in our department. Rest assured that we will work diligently to restore that trust," Mr Bailey said.

The Rankin County Sheriff Department later told the BBC that some of the five deputies involved in the incident had already resigned before this week's announcement and the remaining ones fired.

Earlier this year, the US Department of Justice announced it was conducting an investigation into the sheriff's department over civil rights violations, including the incident with Mr Parker and Mr Jenkins and other violent encounters with black men.

Attorneys for Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker, who are both black, have said six white deputies were involved in the incident. They say a sixth officer from another agency may have been involved.

They have called on the sheriff department to release the names.

Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking $400m (£316.9m) in damages.

Deputies claim that on 24 January, they carried out a raid in response to a report of drug activity at the home in Braxton, Mississippi.

Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker allege that the deputies entered the home without a warrant and after turning off their body cameras.

They say that during a 90-minute encounter, the deputies brutally abused them, used stun guns on them, hurled racist slurs, and waterboarded them.

Mr Jenkins said one of the deputies also put a gun in his mouth and fired it, leaving him with serious facial injuries.

He was taken to the hospital only later, after deputies refused to assist him, the lawsuit alleges.

Mr Parker was taken to the Rankin County Jail where he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, though prosecutors did not move forward with charges, according to his attorney.

According to court documents, Mr Jenkins has suffered permanent nerve damage as a result of the incident.