The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into a Mississippi sheriff's department whose officers tortured two Black men in a case that drew condemnation from top U.S. law enforcement officials,

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

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday launched a civil rights probe into the Rankin County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi after several of its former officers known as the "Goon Squad" were prosecuted for torturing and sexually abusing two Black men.