Nate Rosenfield

Nate Rosenfield is an investigative reporter and the co-founder of The Bell Project, a newsroom covering torture in the American criminal justice system. His reporting has helped spur new laws and led to criminal and civil rights investigations. His previous work has appeared in The New York Times, the Guardian, Mississippi Today, Reveal, the Tampa Bay Times, Grist Magazine, and elsewhere. His investigations into Mississippi sheriff's deputies that tortured residents for two decades was the recipient of an Edward R. Murrow award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and two Goldsmith Awards among other prizes. He graduated from Columbia Journalism School’s Toni Stabile Investigative Fellowship.

Featured Work

In a Brutal Mississippi Jail, Inmates Say They Were Enlisted as Enforcers

The New York Times & Mississippi Today
Nov. 14, 2025
High-ranking inmates known as trusties were ordered to do guards’ bidding, former inmates and guards said, and the culture of violence in the jail went straight to the top.

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Where the Police Used a Taser on a Bible-Reading Great-Grandmother

The New York Times & Mississippi Today
Jan. 14, 2025—Photo © Rory Doyle
A lack of state standards leaves Mississippi police and sheriff’s departments on their own to decide when to use stun guns, and many give officers a free hand.

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How a ‘Goon Squad’ of Deputies Got Away With Years of Brutality

The New York Times & Mississippi Today
Nov. 30, 2023—Photo © Rory Doyle
They barged into homes in the middle of the night, then held people down while they beat and choked them, witnesses said. For years, signs of the violence went ignored.

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Death at a Mississippi Jail: Brutal Beating or a Fall From Bed?

The New York Times & Mississippi Today
Dec. 30, 2025—Photo © Vickie D. King
An inmate says that no one wanted to listen when he tried repeatedly to confess to a crime at a facility known for violence.

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‘They Beat Me Like a Slave’: Signs of Violence in Sheriff’s Office Dated Back Years

The New York Times & Mississippi Today
July 10, 2025—Photo © Rory Doyle
The F.B.I. and a Mississippi sheriff investigated complaints about brutal assaults, but the deputies accused remained on the force and never faced charges.

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‘Did You Tase Him in the Face!?’ Inside ‘Goon Squad’ Deputies’ Group Chat

The New York Times & Mississippi Today
May 29, 2024
Years of messages from an encrypted WhatsApp text thread show conversations of sheriff’s deputies, including those who terrorized Mississippi residents.

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New Evidence Raises Questions in Mississippi Police Killing

The New York Times & Mississippi Today
Aug. 22, 2023
Experts who reviewed the autopsy report on Damien Cameron say investigators missed clear signs that deputies suffocated him while he was being subdued.

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