Who are officers charged in Ronald Greene's deadly arrest?
Five Louisiana law enforcement officers have been charged with state crimes for their roles in the 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, whose death authorities initially blamed on a car crash until The Associated Press published long-withheld body-camera video showing the Black motorist being stunned, beaten and dragged.
Louisiana officers charged in Black motorist’s deadly arrest
Facing the most serious charges from a state grand jury was Master Trooper Kory York, who was seen on the body-camera footage dragging Greene by his ankle shackles, putting his foot on his back to force him down and leaving the heavyset man face down in the dirt with his hands and feet restrained for more than nine minutes. Use-of-force experts say these actions could have dangerously restricted Greene’s breathing, and the state police’s own force instructor called the troopers’ actions “torture and murder.”
news.yahoo.comLouisiana grand jury convenes in Black man's deadly arrest
A Louisiana grand jury began hearing evidence Monday in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, long-awaited testimony that will determine whether state charges are brought against the white troopers seen on body-camera video stunning, striking and dragging the Black motorist by his ankle shackles following a high-speed chase. Prosecutors planned to present a wide range of felony counts related to the troopers' use of force and their decision to leave the heavyset Greene handcuffed and prone for several minutes before rendering aid. “I want justice to be done,” John Belton, the Union Parish district attorney, told The Associated Press.
news.yahoo.comMcCarthy says ‘everybody in the country’ bore ‘some responsibility’ for Jan. 6 insurrection
During a press conference on Thursday, when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was asked if he still felt that former President Donald Trump bore some responsibility for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, he said that “everybody in the country” bore "some responsibility" for it.
news.yahoo.comJustice Department opens probe into Louisiana State Police
The U.S. Justice Department is opening a sweeping civil rights investigation into the Louisiana State Police amid mounting evidence that the agency has looked the other way in the face of beatings of mostly Black men, including the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene.
'No excuse' to withhold deadly arrest video, governor says
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said there was “no excuse” for a video he watched of the deadly arrest of Black motorist Ronald Greene failing to reach prosecutors for another six months. Edwards said there isn't a good explanation for the key video not being promptly turned over but emphasized that he didn't know in October 2020 that he was seeing evidence that wasn't available to the authorities with the power to charge the troopers seen beating, stunning and dragging Greene. “There’s no excuse for it,” Edwards said.
news.yahoo.comGovernor saw deadly arrest video months before prosecutors
With racial tensions still simmering over the killing of George Floyd, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and his top lawyers gathered in a state police conference room in October 2020 to prepare for the fallout from a troubling case closer to home: troopers’ deadly arrest of Ronald Greene. There, they privately watched a crucial body-camera video of the Black motorist’s violent arrest that showed a bruised and bloody Greene going limp and drawing his final breaths — footage that prosecutors, detectives and medical examiners wouldn’t even know existed for another six months. While the Democratic governor has distanced himself from allegations of a cover-up in the explosive case by contending evidence was promptly turned over to authorities, an Associated Press investigation based on interviews and records found that wasn’t the case with the 30-minute video he watched.
news.yahoo.comFormer police boss denies cover-up in Ronald Greene death
The former head of the Louisiana State Police says Gov. John Bel Edwards trusted his troopers to "do the right thing” and took a hands-off approach in police matters, even after Black motorist Ronald Greene died in a violent confrontation with troopers.
Former police boss denies cover-up in Ronald Greene death
Gov. John Bel Edwards trusted Louisiana State Police to “do the right thing” and took a hands-off approach in police matters, even after Black motorist Ronald Greene died in a violent confrontation with troopers following a high-speed chase, the former head of the agency told state lawmakers Tuesday. Kevin Reeves distanced himself — and the Democratic governor — from the investigation of Greene’s 2019 death during a three-hour bipartisan grilling that included accusations of racism and gross negligence by the state's premier law enforcement agency. The hearing became heated at times as lawmakers expressed incredulity and frustration in Reeves' demurrals and refusal to condemn the white troopers captured on body camera video punching, stunning and dragging Greene during his fatal arrest on a rural roadside in northeast Louisiana.
news.yahoo.comLawmakers launch 'all levels' probe into Ronald Greene death
Louisiana’s House speaker announced a bipartisan legislative investigation Thursday into the deadly 2019 arrest of Black motorist Ronald Greene, an inquiry that will examine the state's response at “all levels," from troopers to the governor.
La. GOP leader weighs action over gov's 'gross misconduct'
Louisiana’s top GOP lawmaker weighed taking legislative action Monday against Gov. John Bel Edwards for “gross misconduct and the highest level of deceit” in his response to the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene. House Speaker Rep. Clay Schexnayder’s comments followed an Associated Press report that showed the Democratic governor was informed within hours that troopers arresting Greene engaged in a “violent, lengthy struggle," yet he stayed silent for two years as state police told a much different story to the victim’s family and in official reports: that Greene died from a crash after a high-speed chase. “This would demonstrate gross misconduct and the highest level of deceit on behalf of the governor and others,” Schexnayder said in a statement.
news.yahoo.comGovernor kept mum amid conflicting accounts of deadly arrest
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat in a deep-red state, was immersed in a difficult reelection campaign when he received a text message from the head of the state police: Troopers had engaged in “a violent, lengthy struggle” with a Black motorist, ending with the man’s death. Edwards was notified of the circumstances of Ronald Greene’s death within hours of his May 2019 arrest, according to text messages The Associated Press obtained through a public records request.
news.yahoo.comMom demands answers in Black man's deadly Louisiana arrest
Ronald Greene’s mother chastised Louisiana state lawmakers Monday for not acting quickly enough to hold state troopers accountable for her son’s deadly 2019 arrest, saying the Black motorist’s death at the end of a high-speed chase was a “murder” that's been covered up, sugarcoated and mired in bureaucracy.
In Louisiana, a father, a son and a culture of police abuse
Growing up in the piney backwoods of northern Louisiana, where yards were dotted with crosses and the occasional Confederate flag, Jacob Brown was raised on hunting, fishing and dreams of becoming a state trooper. Fortunately for Brown, the state police was known as a place where who you knew often trumped what you did, and where most introductory chats eventually got around to a simple question: Who’s your daddy? Jacob Brown is the son of Bob Brown, then part of the state police’s top brass who would rise to second in command despite being reprimanded years earlier for calling Black colleagues the n-word and hanging a Confederate flag in his office.
news.yahoo.comIn Louisiana, a father, a son and a culture of police abuse
Growing up in the piney backwoods of northern Louisiana, where yards were dotted with crosses and the occasional Confederate flag, Jacob Brown was raised on hunting, fishing and dreams of becoming a state trooper. Fortunately for Brown, the state police was known as a place where who you knew often trumped what you did, and where most introductory chats eventually got around to a simple question: Who’s your daddy? Jacob Brown is the son of Bob Brown, then part of the state police’s top brass who would rise to second in command despite being reprimanded years earlier for calling Black colleagues the n-word and hanging a Confederate flag in his office.
news.yahoo.comLeaked memo shows Louisiana State Police asked staff not to destroy Ronald Greene case files, more than 2 years after his death
Louisiana State Police told staff to preserve records in the case of Ronald Greene, who died in custody in 2019, according to a leaked memo reviewed by Insider.
news.yahoo.comAP: Body cam prompts new look at what killed Black motorist
The FBI is taking the unusual step of ordering a new look at the autopsy of Black motorist Ronald Greene to consider evidence not provided after his 2019 death, including body camera video of Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching and dragging him during his arrest.
AP: Body cam prompts new look at what killed Black motorist
The FBI is taking the unusual step of ordering a new look at the autopsy of Black motorist Ronald Greene to consider evidence not provided after his 2019 death, including graphic body camera video of Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching and dragging him after a high-speed chase. “No cause of death is carved in stone,” Peretti told the AP.
news.yahoo.comLouisiana police blocked investigators from charging one of their own for the death of an unarmed Black man during a traffic stop: report
A Louisiana State Police investigator said in documents obtained by USA Today Network that he was blocked from charging an officer in Greene's death.
news.yahoo.com‘He died like an animal’: Some police still ‘hogtie’ people despite risks
Ronald Greene, a 49-year-old Black man, died after what the police described as resisting arrest and a struggle with officers. The hobble device can be used to restrain someone’s legs without placing them in the compromised hogtie position. Many departments do not track the use of the hobble device, or when it is used to hogtie, in their use-of-force data. They use phrases like maximal restraint, four-point restraint, hobble, RIPP Hobble or Total Appendage Restraint Procedure (TARP). “Are you still with us?” an officer asked Smith as soon as the hogtie was complete.
thewestsidegazette.comThe ranking police officer in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene denied having body camera footage for two years, according to an AP report
Police initially said that Greene died in a car crash; they later said he died on the way to the hospital. Video of the arrest was published by the AP.
news.yahoo.comLouisiana State Police release all footage related to Ronald Greene's violent arrest
Louisiana State Police have released all body camera footage related to the 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, a Black man who died in custody after a high-speed chase following a traffic violation, Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis said Friday. The videos have been uploaded to the department's YouTube page. The Associated Press earlier this week obtained and published some recordings of the incident, which showed officers tasing, punching, and placing Greene in a chokehold as he pleaded with them. In another video, obtained by CNN before its release by state police, a trooper, seemingly a supervisor, appears to praise the other troopers for how the handled they arrest. The officers' treatment of Greene has been described as "torture" and "sadistic" by a former police officer and a use-of-force expert. An autopsy report obtained by CNN was uncertain about the cause of death, but said lacerations of Greene's head were "most consistent with multiple impacts from a blunt object." On Friday, Davis offered his "sincere condolences" to Greene's family and said the department has and will continue to make "significant change." Read more at The Washington Post and CNN. More stories from theweek.com5 riotously funny cartoons about GOP resistance to the January 6 CommissionWhy Emily Wilder got fired and Chris Cuomo didn'tAngelina Jolie stands perfectly still, unshowered, covered in bees for World Bee Day
news.yahoo.comNearly 2 years after the incident, Louisiana police release additional video footage from Ronald Greene's arrest and death in police custody
The AP obtained and published 46 minutes of the graphic footage this week. On Friday night, police released nine videos related to the death of Greene.
news.yahoo.com'Gonna be sore:' La. troopers boasted of beating Black man
New court filings show Louisiana State Police troopers joked in a group text about beating a Black man after a high-speed chase last year, saying the beating would give the man nightmares for a long time. “He gonna be sore tomorrow for sure,” Trooper Jacob Brown, who was charged in the case and resigned Wednesday, texted three of his colleagues. They also exchanged 14 text messages peppered with “lol” and “haha” responses in which they boasted about the beating and mocked Harris. DeMoss and Harper also are charged in Harris' arrest and were placed on administrative leave after the internal investigation. Troopers initially blamed 49-year-old's death on a crash at the end of a high-speed chase.
AP: Trooper kicked, dragged Black man who died in custody
A Louisiana State Police trooper has been suspended without pay for kicking and dragging Greene, a handcuffed Black man whose in-custody death remains unexplained and the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. Body camera footage shows Master Trooper Kory York dragging Greene on his stomach by the leg shackles following a violent arrest and high-speed pursuit, according to internal State Police records obtained by The Associated Press. (Courtesy of the Greene family via AP)A Louisiana State Police trooper has been suspended without pay for kicking and dragging a handcuffed Black man whose in-custody death remains unexplained and the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. The video shows troopers choking and beating the man, repeatedly jolting him with stun guns and dragging him face-down across the pavement, the attorney told AP. AdState Police have repeatedly refused to publicly release the body camera footage.
Black man's family views graphic video of in-custody death
Greene died following a police chase in Louisiana in 2019, and his death is now under federal investigation. “This family has been lied to the entire time about what happened,” said civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who also viewed the footage. Police initially told Greene’s family he had “died on impact” after crashing into a tree, the doctor wrote. Greene’s death, which followed a chase near Monroe over an unspecified traffic violation, was ruled accidental and attributed to cardiac arrest, said Renee Smith, the Union Parish coroner who was not in office when that determination was made. The State Police report refers to Greene crashing into a tree as the “the most harmful event” in the crash.
Trooper who faced firing in Black man's death dies in crash
(Michael M. Santiago/Pool via AP)A Louisiana state trooper has died following a single-vehicle highway crash that happened just hours after he learned he would be fired for his role last year in the in-custody death of a Black man. But Greene’s family alleges troopers used excessive force and “brutalized” him while taking him into custody. State Police, despite growing pressure, have repeatedly declined to release body-camera footage and other records related to Greene’s arrest, citing the ongoing investigations. The controversy deepened last week when Greene’s family released graphic photographs showing deep bruises and cuts to his face, and other photos showing his car with little damage. That came Sept. 9 — the same day the AP filed a records request for body camera footage of Greene’s arrest.
Trooper wounded in crash faced firing in Black man's death
The death of the 49-year-old remains shrouded in secrecy because State Police have declined to release body-camera footage related to the May 2019 chase north of Monroe, La. (Courtesy of the Greene family via AP)A Louisiana state trooper was critically injured early Monday in a single-vehicle highway crash that came hours after learning he would be fired for his role last year in the in-custody death of a Black man. The crash Monday that critically wounded Hollingsworth happened along Interstate 20 in Monroe shortly before 3 a.m., just hours after the trooper received a letter Sunday of “intent for discipline,” said Capt. Greene's death also remains the subject of a civil rights investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department. He called for an investigation of “everybody up the chain of command” who had been aware of the agency's response to Greene's death.
AP: Feds probing in-custody death of Black man in Louisiana
The handling of Greene's death has eroded the agency's credibility even further, said Eugene W. Collins, president of the Baton Rouge branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Shreveport confirmed the federal investigation into Greene's death but declined further comment. State Police have released few details about Greene's death. Greene's family contends the crash was not serious enough to account for his fatal injuries. “Obviously the body cam footage is critical,” said Mark Maguire, a Philadelphia attorney also representing Greene's family.