World News | Feds Probing In-custody Death of Black Man in Louisiana
by PTIBaton Rouge (US), Sep 14 (AP) Federal authorities are investigating the death of a Black man during what Louisiana State Police described as a struggle to take him into custody following a rural police chase last year, officials told The Associated Press.
The death of 49-year-old Ronald Greene remains shrouded in secrecy because State Police have declined to release body-camera footage related to the May 2019 chase north of Monroe, Louisiana. Troopers say it began when Greene failed to stop for an unspecified traffic violation.
Greene's death drew new attention after his family filed a wrongful death lawsuit this year alleging state troopers “brutalized” Greene and “left him beaten, bloodied and in cardiac arrest” before covering up his actual cause of death.
Greene's family said authorities initially claimed Greene died after crashing into a tree but omitted what State Police now acknowledge was the “struggle” preceding his death. The lawsuit, drawing on witness accounts, alleges officers pinned Greene to the ground and used a stun gun on him even after he apologized for leading them on a chase.
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Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, said her family has not been able to grieve because so many questions remain unresolved. She said her son had been a well-liked barber who lived in West Monroe and had a “giving spirit.”
“This has gutted our family,” Hardin told AP. “How do people live with themselves after doing something like this?” The investigation comes amid heightened racial tensions within Louisiana State Police, an agency that has been plagued by misconduct cases in recent years.
Earlier this month, Gov John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said it was “unacceptable” that State Police had failed to discipline a trooper recorded using a racial slur on duty.
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 public has a right to know what happened to Mr. Greene that day," he said, "and the concealing of this information by the Louisiana State Police is not only disgusting but immoral.” State Police spokesman Capt. Chavez Cammon said the agency is “cooperating with federal officials” even as it conducts its own internal investigation.
Two law enforcement officials familiar with the case said State Police are investigating whether one of the responding troopers improperly turned off his body camera during Greene's arrest. They spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Edwards “is aware of the investigation and expects that there will be a comprehensive and fair evaluation of the facts,” spokeswoman Shauna Sanford wrote in an email. “He has not seen the video.” (AP)
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