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What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
It's time to stop denying the things that go on in America.
Multiple LSP troopers and sheriffās deputies arrived at the scene of the crash. They tased Mr. Greene repeatedly and pulled him out of his car. They punched him, dragged him by ankle shackles, and left him face down in the road. When Mr. Greene tried to roll onto his side, a trooper put his foot on Mr. Greeneās buttocks to hold him down on his stomach. That trooper later told a supervisor, āIām trying to keep him laying down. I was going to sit him up, but I donāt want him spitting blood all over us.ā Mr. Greene pleaded, āIām scared. Iām your brother. Iām scared.ā
The LSP troopers deactivated or muted their body-worn cameras. When a supervisor arrived, he casually stepped over Mr. Greene, who laid moaning on the ground, and instead asked the troopers if they were ok. None of the troopers rendered aid to Mr. Greene, who became unresponsive and died before he reached the hospital.
After Mr. Greene died, troopers filed reports attributing his death to a car accident. āWe investigate crashes every day,ā one trooper later told us. āNo way someone died from a car crash with that damage.ā One trooper who was there misdated the incident in an official report. LSPās designated use-of-force expert at the time believed that was a deliberate attempt to cover up the incident. Another trooper miscategorized camera footage in LSPās systems. And the supervisor who stepped over Mr. Greeneās body that night signed off on all the use-of-force reports.
Over 15 months passed before LSP opened an Internal Affairs investigation into Mr. Greeneās death. In the intervening days and months, LSP troopersāincluding one involved in Mr. Greeneās deathāwould go on to assault more drivers. It was not until September 2020, 16 months after the incident, that LSP fired one of the troopers involved. It would take until 2021 for LSP to suspend a second trooper and fire a third who was involved in both Mr. Greeneās death and an assault of a different Black man.
Mr. Greeneās death and its aftermath demonstrated serious failures at LSPāexcessive force, improper supervision, ineffective training, and breakdowns in accountability. As our civil pattern or practice investigation revealed, these failures were not isolated, but part of a larger pattern or practice of law enforcement conduct that deprives people in Louisiana of their rights under the Constitution.
Now before the whining and victim blaming starts...
Ronald Greeneās death on May 10, 2019, is far from the only instance of LSPās excessive force that has made headlines:
ā¢ In July 2018, a trooper shot and paralyzed a white teenagerāwho was a passenger in a car stopped for a minor traffic violationāwhen he tried to run away from the car.
ā¢ In March 2019, a trooper grabbed a Black man in his early 20s by his hair and repeatedly slammed his head into the hood of a car.
ā¢ In May 2019, a trooper hit a handcuffed 45-year-old Black man 18 times with a flashlight as other troopers watched, breaking his jaw, wrist, and three ribs.
ā¢ In July 2019, troopers handcuffed a Black man, slammed him against a police car, threw him to the ground, and repeatedly punched and kneed him.
ā¢ In May 2020, at least seven troopersāincluding one who was involved in Ronald Greeneās deathāgave a 29-year-old Black man a āwhoopinā that would give him ānightmares for a long time,ā as the troopers later wrote in text messages. One trooper told him, āIām going to punish you, dumb bitch.ā Troopers pulled his hair, punched him, and repeatedly hit him in the head with a flashlight.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
It's time to stop denying the things that go on in America.
Justice Department report finds Louisiana State Police show pattern of using excessive forceā
On the evening of May 10, 2019, near Monroe, Louisiana, a Louisiana State Police trooper tried to stop a 49-year-old Black man named Ronald Greene for speeding and running a red light. Mr. Greene drove away. For 14 minutes, officers pursued him until he lost control of his vehicle, crashing on the side of the road. According to a sergeant that LSP regarded as its in-house use-of-force expert, what happened in the ensuing hours, weeks, and months was a ācatastrophic failure in a million different directions.āMultiple LSP troopers and sheriffās deputies arrived at the scene of the crash. They tased Mr. Greene repeatedly and pulled him out of his car. They punched him, dragged him by ankle shackles, and left him face down in the road. When Mr. Greene tried to roll onto his side, a trooper put his foot on Mr. Greeneās buttocks to hold him down on his stomach. That trooper later told a supervisor, āIām trying to keep him laying down. I was going to sit him up, but I donāt want him spitting blood all over us.ā Mr. Greene pleaded, āIām scared. Iām your brother. Iām scared.ā
The LSP troopers deactivated or muted their body-worn cameras. When a supervisor arrived, he casually stepped over Mr. Greene, who laid moaning on the ground, and instead asked the troopers if they were ok. None of the troopers rendered aid to Mr. Greene, who became unresponsive and died before he reached the hospital.
After Mr. Greene died, troopers filed reports attributing his death to a car accident. āWe investigate crashes every day,ā one trooper later told us. āNo way someone died from a car crash with that damage.ā One trooper who was there misdated the incident in an official report. LSPās designated use-of-force expert at the time believed that was a deliberate attempt to cover up the incident. Another trooper miscategorized camera footage in LSPās systems. And the supervisor who stepped over Mr. Greeneās body that night signed off on all the use-of-force reports.
Over 15 months passed before LSP opened an Internal Affairs investigation into Mr. Greeneās death. In the intervening days and months, LSP troopersāincluding one involved in Mr. Greeneās deathāwould go on to assault more drivers. It was not until September 2020, 16 months after the incident, that LSP fired one of the troopers involved. It would take until 2021 for LSP to suspend a second trooper and fire a third who was involved in both Mr. Greeneās death and an assault of a different Black man.
Mr. Greeneās death and its aftermath demonstrated serious failures at LSPāexcessive force, improper supervision, ineffective training, and breakdowns in accountability. As our civil pattern or practice investigation revealed, these failures were not isolated, but part of a larger pattern or practice of law enforcement conduct that deprives people in Louisiana of their rights under the Constitution.
Now before the whining and victim blaming starts...
Ronald Greeneās death on May 10, 2019, is far from the only instance of LSPās excessive force that has made headlines:
ā¢ In July 2018, a trooper shot and paralyzed a white teenagerāwho was a passenger in a car stopped for a minor traffic violationāwhen he tried to run away from the car.
ā¢ In March 2019, a trooper grabbed a Black man in his early 20s by his hair and repeatedly slammed his head into the hood of a car.
ā¢ In May 2019, a trooper hit a handcuffed 45-year-old Black man 18 times with a flashlight as other troopers watched, breaking his jaw, wrist, and three ribs.
ā¢ In July 2019, troopers handcuffed a Black man, slammed him against a police car, threw him to the ground, and repeatedly punched and kneed him.
ā¢ In May 2020, at least seven troopersāincluding one who was involved in Ronald Greeneās deathāgave a 29-year-old Black man a āwhoopinā that would give him ānightmares for a long time,ā as the troopers later wrote in text messages. One trooper told him, āIām going to punish you, dumb bitch.ā Troopers pulled his hair, punched him, and repeatedly hit him in the head with a flashlight.
