After Two Years, Leaked Video Exposes How Louisiana State Pigs Tortured Ronald Greene to Death

May 24, 2021 | revcom.us

 

May 10, 2019, outside Monroe, Louisiana, Ronald Greene, a 49-year-old Black barber, does not pull over for an unexplained traffic stop. Instead, he takes off. He is chased by Louisiana State Police (LSP) and finally pulls over. Ronald Greene is then brutally tortured—beaten, punched, tased three times, and dragged by the shackles on his legs. He’s left face down for nine minutes, He is never given medical treatment and dies in police custody.

But because the perpetrators were the only witnesses, for over two years the LSP blocked release of the body-cam footage from any of the six murderers, and the coroner’s report as well. The initial state police report does not mention troopers using force or arresting Greene. His family was told he died in a car crash after a high-speed chase. But a doctor who was told by police that Greene died as a result of a crash concluded that made no sense, since the prongs from the taser were left stuck in Greene’s skin. After the LSP Criminal Investigations Division looked into the in-custody death, the LSP released a one-page statement saying Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital.

Pig Body-Cam Video Leaked to the Press

But on May 19, 2021, the Associated Press released the 46-minute body-cam video from one of the pigs that had been leaked to them—which shows the grotesque torture and murder of Ronald Greene. The 46-minute clip shows nothing less than a lynching (the video clip at the top of this article is a 2+ minute excerpt released by AP).

One trooper is seen wrestling Greene to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face while another can be heard calling him a “stupid motherfucker” as Greene cries “I’m sorry. I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!” The video shows Greene being stunned three times with a taser. He is shown bleeding profusely. In one scene he is being held up, unresponsive. Instead of giving him medical aid, the troopers leave him face down and moaning for more than nine minutes while they wipe his blood off their hands and faces. “I hope this guy ain’t got fucking AIDS,” says one pig. In one of the scenes, Greene can be seen being dragged by ankle shackles. When he tries to roll on his side, a white officer pushes him back face down into the dirt with his boot. A cop says, “I beat the ever-living fuck out of him. Choked him and everything else.” Greene died on the way to the hospital.

Greene’s daughter filed a wrongful death suit against the murdering pigs a year ago. She told CNN that her father had battled cancer for two years and had recently entered remission before his death. He was traveling to Florida from Louisiana to reunite with his wife on the night of his murder.

For over two years Greene’s mother has agonized over his death, never believing the official story. After watching the video, she said: “They murdered him. It was set out, it was planned. He didn’t have a chance. Ronnie didn’t have a chance. He wasn’t going to live to tell about it.” The ACLU of Louisiana said:

We now know what Louisiana State Police have been trying to hide: Ronald Greene was tortured to death by officers who denied him life-saving aid for more than nine minutes. What we are witnessing on this video is a brutal killing—a killing that was committed by cops but also condoned by our laws, perpetuated by white supremacy, and encouraged by a culture of impunity and violence.

Ronald Greene