The Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation into the sheriff’s department in Mississippi’s Rankin County after several of its deputies – including some who were in a self-styled “Goon Squad” – abused and tortured two Black men in a racially charged home raid last year.

Authorities said the civil rights probe would examine whether officers systemically targeted minorities with excessive force.

Feds will seek to determine if the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department engaged in a pattern of violence, illegal searches and arrests or other discriminatory practices.