The New York Times and Mississippi Today rained more controversy down on Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey in an article published Thursday:
Two newly discovered videos taken inside the Rankin County jail show officers mocking and laughing at an intellectually disabled inmate, the same man guards had filmed days earlier being shocked in an electrified vest after he asked for a Coke. Former department employees said the videos, recorded in 2018, were shared widely on an encrypted WhatsApp group chat. The footage provides a deeper look into the culture of the jail, where a recent investigation by Mississippi Today and The New York Times revealed that guards and jail administrators routinely beat inmates. In one video, Larry Buckhalter stands before the camera in his prison jumpsuit and a party hat and sings “Happy Birthday” to “Barry,” an apparent reference to Barry Vaughn, the former head of the jail who is now undersheriff. In the second video, someone off camera instructs Buckhalter to “tell him you love him.” “I love you, Barry!” he says, and gleefully announces it is his last day in jail. As he speaks, a man in uniform standing behind him slams a plastic sign to the floor. Startled, Buckhalter jumps and screams as people off camera laugh.
The videos were created days after Buckhalter had asked jail guards for a Coke in October 2018. Shortly after his request, the guards strapped him into an electrified vest, intended to keep violent inmates under control. Then they filmed him screaming and convulsing while they shocked him. “Now you get a Coke!” a female guard says at the end of the video. “It’s all over! I’m so proud of you, Larry!”Rest of article, including all three videos.
The Sheriff's attorney, Jason Dare, responded to the article:



5 comments:
Couldn't write this as a fiction script if you tried.
What a disgrace for Rankin County. A permanent scar.
The governor needs to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the rankin county sheriff’s office
The Barksdalers are so powerless.
This looks to me like a-hole culture, hiding behind Bible studies and prayer breakfasts.
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