Today marks the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's death at the hands of Derek Chauvin. Around the country, protesters and organizers will take to the streets for demonstrations, vigils and much more. While it is important to remember the one-year anniversary of Floyd's murder, it also important to remember another anniversary that just passed. This month marks the two-year anniversary of the death of Ronald Greene.
In May 2019, Greene was pronounced dead after an encounter with police officers in Louisiana. Officers initially claimed that they attempted to pull Greene over, but he refused to do so. Ultimately, police reports suggested that he ended up in a single-car crash. After the crash took place, officers indicated that he was apprehended and sent for medical attention, but died on the way to the hospital. However, new evidence is challenging the validity of the police report.
The report provided by Louisiana State Troopers began to fall by the wayside when the Baton Rouge NAACP found photos of Greene's bloodied and bruised face after the accident. Members of the Greene family were quick to point out that the injuries shown in the photos were inconsistent with those commonly sustained during a single-car accident. Months after the photos were uncovered, the Associated Press found audio recordings in which a state trooper bragged about beating Greene before he was pronounced dead. Then, the Associated Press unveiled videos of the interaction between Greene and the state troopers. Officers can been dragging, kicking and tasing Greene across the road before he is taken by an ambulance.
“The video evidence in this case does not show Greene screaming, resisting or trying to get away,” detective Albert Paxton wrote in a new report.
“The only screams revealed by the video were when Greene responded to force applied to him.”
The emergence of videos highlights another issue with the arrest report provided by police. The highest-ranking officer involved in the arrest John Clary had previously said that there was no body camera footage of the encounter. In fact, investigators found that an officer “pointed out that Lt. Clary’s body camera was recording, causing Lt. Clary to immediately turn it off.”
“The lack of transparency reeks of a potential cover-up,” Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche told the Associated Press.
“If the Louisiana State Police were vigilant and on top of its game, there would have been discipline and terminations years ago in this case.”
Thus far, none of the officers involved have been charged with a crime. One of the officers involved, Chris Hollingsworth, died in a car accident last year. Captain Chavez Cammon was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and John Clary has remained in his position.
The FBI continues to investigate the incident and will release its findings upon completion of the investigation.
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