This May 10, 2019 photo provided by the Louisiana State Police shows blood stains on the shield and uniform of Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, in West Monroe, La., after troopers punched, dragged and stunned Black motorist Ronald Greene during his fatal 2019 arrest. (Louisiana State Police via AP)
It marks a significant expansion of the federal inquiry that began as a blow-by-blow examination of the troopers’ violence against Greene and their apparent efforts to cover it up. Investigators are now moving up the chain of command, probing allegations that supervisors disregarded the video evidence, quashed a recommendation to arrest one of the troopers and recently pressed a state prosecutor not to bring any charges, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and a half dozen people familiar with the case.
It took 474 days for state police to launch an internal inquiry and officials from Gov. John Bel Edwards on down refused to release body camera video for more than two years. That was until the AP obtained and published it in May, showing white troopers beating Greene and dragging him by his ankle shackles, even as he pleaded for mercy and wailed, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!”
“Why would the top command people be so adamant on protecting their officers when it’s apparent that the officers didn’t do everything right?” said Andrew Scott, a former Boca Raton, Florida, police chief who testifies as an expert witness in use-of-force cases. “There’s a culture and a custom and practice that this type of behavior is condoned or winked at by command staff and has been allowed to perpetuate itself over the course of many years.”
Walker is also investigating Louisiana state troopers’ beatings of at least two other Black motorists. They include Aaron Larry Bowman, who was pulled over near his Monroe home just 20 days after Greene’s death and was struck 18 times with a flashlight, leaving him with a broken jaw, ribs and wrist, and a gash to the head.
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Article URL : https://apnews.com/article/arrests-death-of-ronald-greene-017487c5dddbc8643d12885451939717