State organizations and Louisiana State Police respond to bodycam footage involving Ronald Greene

FILE – In this Aug. 28, 2020 file photo, family members of Ronald Greene listen to speakers as demonstrators gather for the March on Washington, in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Officials told The Associated Press, federal authorities are investigating the death of Greene during what Louisiana State Police described as a struggle to take him into custody following a rural police chase last year. The death of the 49-year-old remains shrouded in secrecy because State Police have declined to release body-camera footage related to the May 2019 chase north of Monroe, La. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool via AP)

by: Michael Scheidt

Posted: May 20, 2021 / 04:00 PM AST

Updated: May 20, 2021 / 04:22 PM AST

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The Associated Press obtained video of the deadly arrest involving Ronald Greene.

On the same day, various local organizations responded to the release of the bodycam footage.

The joint statement can be found below:

The NAACP, ACLU of Louisiana, VOTE, ADL South Central Region (Anti-Defamation League), Urban League of Louisiana, and VERA Institute for Justice issue the following statement in response to the release of bodycam footage showing the killing of Ronald Greene at the hands of Louisiana State Police:
“Today, we saw limited video footage of Louisiana State Police officers brutally assaulting Ronald Greene and failing to render aid once he was under their control. It’s apparent that Mr. Greene died from his wounds and not the fictitious car accident reported by these officers to cover up his death in 2019.
The statement issued by the Louisiana State Police exacerbates the distrust that this gruesome incident has engendered within the community. Mr. Greene’s death did not happen in a vacuum. There have been recent, deeply troubling incidents involving excessive force and racism by the State Police directed at people of color.
There has been no public transparency since Mr. Greene’s death 474 days ago and no relief to the heartbreak experienced by his family. Yet the State Police’s statement is only concerned about the unauthorized release of the appalling video, and not its disturbing content. This apathetic response, and the apparent continuing cover-up of this incident demonstrates why the State Police should not be responsible for investigating how Mr. Greene died, and calls into question whether systemic racism has inappropriately influenced the agency’s assessment and reporting on similar incidents across the state over many years.
While we await the results of the FBI’s ongoing investigation, we call on the Louisiana State Police leadership to release all videos of this incident in their possession and urge Governor Edwards to implement independent oversight of the agency as a whole.”

The Louisiana State Police also commented on the release of the video:

The investigation into the death of Ronald Greene remains under review by federal and state authorities. The premature public release of investigative files and video evidence in this case is not authorized and was not obtained through official sources. LSP is confident in the judicial system and fair review of this incident and continues to offer our full cooperation. Unauthorized release of evidence undermines the investigative process and compromises the fair and impartial outcome for the Greene family, LSP employees, and the community.