The U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into a Mississippi sheriff’s department whose officers tortured two Black men.

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.

The investigation comes after Rankin County sheriff's deputies and a Richland police officer, called the "Goon Squad," were sentenced to federal prison.

The City of Lexington, Miss. and its police department deprive people of their constitutional rights, discriminate against Black people, engage in excessive force and unlawfully jail people, the Justice Department said.

An investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) found that a police department in the majority Black city of Lexington, Miss., discriminated against Black people and sexually harassed women, as well as engaged in a number of other violations related to free speech,

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Mississippi U.S. Attorney's Office reported the Lexington Police Department violated residents' civil rights.