By Josh Daniels
Ronald Greene was a black barber of 49 years old who had just gone into remission after battling cancer for two years. He was on his way to Florida to meet his wife, but he never made it to “The Sunshine State”. In May 2019, Greene’s family was informed that he had sadly passed away. Police said that he committed a traffic violation and would not pull over. Greene then began to race away, and in the chase after him, he crashed into a tree and did not survive. For two years, the Greene family mourned over his death, but they were never told the truth about what happened that day.
New body cam footage obtained by the Associated Press indicates that the police covered up an atrocity. Greene’s death was not the result of a car crash – he was murdered.
Following the high-speed chase, the authorities approached Greene’s car. He is heard screaming, “I’m sorry I’m sorry,” as he is almost immediately shot by a stun gun through the passenger side window. Greene exited through the passenger side and was wrestled to the ground. One officer did state that Greene resisted arrest and was grabbing him as they were trying to handcuff him.
At this point, things began to take a more violent turn. Officer Hollingsworth, the one who shot Greene with the stun gun, proceeded to strike Greene multiple times before finally getting him into handcuffs. He can be heard over the recording saying that he “beat the living *expletive*” out of Greene and that “all of the sudden he just went limp”. Hollingsworth was fired for his actions and died in a car accident after he learned he would be fired.
State Trooper Kory York took Greene, face down and handcuffed, and dragged him while he was not resisting in any way. York was suspended for 50 hours without pay for his misconduct. Greene was left in this position for 9 minutes as the officers cleaned blood off of them without rendering medical aid.
Finally, Greene was put into the back of an ambulance. You can see him in the released footage bleeding from his head and lifeless. He died shortly after on the way to the hospital.
Union Parish Coroner Renee Smith has stated that the death was deemed as accidental and from cardiac arrest, but there was no mention in the case of the interaction with the officers. Greene’s death is under investigation by the F.B.I., and the Greene family has filed a lawsuit for wrongful death against the state police department, accusing them of covering up his death.
