The Murder of Ronald Greene: On the Charges and Remedies of Five Officers in the 2019 Greene-Carrying Death
FARMERVILLE, La. — Five Louisiana law enforcement officers were charged with state crimes ranging from negligent homicide to malfeasance Thursday in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene. They are the first charges to emerge from a death that began with a car crash and ended with white officers brutally beating a black man after he screamed “I’m scared!” while they pinned him to the ground.
State police commanders told investigators to not arrest a trooper shown in body-camera video hitting Greene in the head and later boasting about beating him, according to investigators. The trooper who died in the single-vehicle crash hours after he was told he would be fired over his role in the arrest was widely seen as the most culpable of the half-dozen officers.
The panel has considered detailed evidence regarding the troopers’ use of force and their decision to leave handcuffed Greene prone for several minutes before aid is rendered. And for the first time in the case, a medical expert deemed Greene’s death a homicide.
“We are all excited for the indictments, but we don’t know if they are going to pay for it or not!” said Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, who for more than three years has kept the pressure on state and federal investigators and refused to bury the remains of We want something to stick, no matter how happy we are.
Belton had long held off on pursuing state charges at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, which is conducting a separate criminal investigation. After years of considering civil rights charges against officers, federal prosecutors gave the go-ahead for a grand jury to be convened this spring.
The grand jury investigation into state police brass to see if they tampered with the justice system to protect troopers, expanded last year, but prosecutors are not saying when they will make a decision on charges.
All the while, the video was kept from the initial autopsy, and officials on down declined repeated requests to release it because of ongoing investigations.
But then last year, the AP obtained and published the footage that showed what really happened: Troopers swarming Greene’s car, stunning him repeatedly, punching him in the head, dragging him by his ankle shackles and leaving him prone on the ground for more than nine minutes. At times, Greene could be heard pleading for mercy and wailing, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/15/1143304588/louisiana-officers-charged-ronald-greene-death
Deputy U.S. Attorney David Edwards is the spokesman for a Louisiana state police investigation of a man’s death in 2020
Such reports were cited by the U.S. Justice Department this year in launching a sweeping civil rights investigation into the Louisiana State Police, the first “pattern or practice” probe of a statewide law enforcement agency in more than two decades.
Edwards has repeatedly said he did nothing to influence or hinder the Greene investigation and has described the troopers’ actions as both criminal and racist. He claims that he was unable to testify at a hearing last month because he attended a ceremony for an infrastructure project.
A news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said that two Washington, DC, officers had been convicted in relation to the death of a man during a 2020 police pursuit.
The maximum prison term for the charge of second-degree murder is 40 years. Both Sutton and Zabavsky face a maximum of 20 years for the obstruction of justice charge, and five years for the conspiracy charge.
In October 2020, Hylton-Brown, 20, was driving a Revel scooter on the sidewalk without a helmet, prompting officers to turn on their emergency lights and attempt to make a traffic stop, CNN previously reported citing an indictment.
The indictment said a police pursuit that spanned more than 10 blocks and at times accelerated to double the residential speed limit was the result of that. The officers tailed Hylton-Brown into an alleyway and as he exited the alley he was struck by an oncoming civilian vehicle, CNN reported.
In a statement to CNN, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said, “Since the beginning of this process, MPD has supported the independent and thorough review process conducted by the United States Attorney’s Office. We have faith in the judicial system, and we know that the jury was well-reasoned in how they arrived at their decision.
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CNN tried to reach Hannon but has not received a response. CNN is trying to reach an attorney.