Five years later, the federal investigation into Ronald Greene’s death remains ongoing

By Jim Mustian
The Associated Press

FARMERVILLE, La. (AP) – Mona Hardin has waited five long years for a resolution to the federal investigation into her son’s fatal arrest by Louisiana state troopers, a fear compounded by the fact that nearly one in two major civil rights cases is ongoing Time has passed her.

It took only a few months for Tire Nichols’ violent death last year to lead to a federal lawsuit against five Memphis police officers. A half-dozen white law enforcement officers in Mississippi have been federally convicted in the torture of two black suspects last year. And federal prosecutors long ago quickly filed charges in the murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

Each of these cases occurred months or years after the death of Ronald Greene in northern Louisiana on May 10, 2019, which sparked national outrage after The Associated Press released long-suppressed body camera video showing white police officers running toward the black motorist, before they are stunned. He hit and dragged him while he screamed, “I’m scared!”

But half a decade after Greene’s violent death, the federal investigation remains open and unresolved, with no end in sight. And Hardin says she feels ghosted and forgotten by a Justice Department that no longer even returns her calls.

“Where is Ronald Greene’s justice?” asked Hardin, who refuses to bury her son’s cremated remains until she accepts some level of responsibility. “I still have my boy in this urn and that hurts me more than anything. We didn’t mourn the loss of Ronnie because we were in the fight.”

Justice Department spokesman Aryele Bradford said the investigation was ongoing and declined to provide further details.

Under federal law, there is no statute of limitations for potential civil rights lawsuits in this case because Greene’s arrest was fatal. But prosecutors have wavered for years over whether to file charges, having initially all but assured Greene’s family that a full FBI investigation would lead to some kind of charges.

A federal prosecution appeared so imminent in 2022 that a state law enforcement official told the AP he expected an indictment. The FBI had shifted its focus at the time from the officers who left Greene handcuffed and face down for more than nine minutes to the state police, who were suspected of obstructing justice by suppressing video evidence, overturning the recommendation of a detectives to arrest a police officer and obstructing the exertion of pressure on a prosecutor.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors asked local District Attorney John Belton to wait until the federal investigation was completed before filing state charges. They later changed course and in late 2022, a state grand jury indicted five officers on charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to criminal conduct. Only two are still facing charges. A trial is scheduled for later this year for a high-ranking police officer seen on video dragging Greene facedown by his shackles.

State police initially blamed the 49-year-old’s death on a crash following a high-speed chase over a traffic violation north of Monroe. However, this explanation was called into question by photos of Greene’s body on a stretcher showing his bruised and battered face, a hospital report that noted he had two stun guns in his back, and the fact that his SUV had only minor damage. Even the emergency room doctor questioned the officers’ initial report of an accident, writing in his notes: “Doesn’t make sense.”

All that changed two years later, when AP released graphic body camera video of Greene’s final moments, showing him being surrounded by soldiers as he appeared to raise his hands, begging for mercy and wailing, “I’m your brother!” am scared! I’m scared!” Police officers repeatedly tasered Greene before he could even get out of the car. One of them tackled him to the ground, held him in a chokehold and punched him in the face. Another called him a “stupid mother.” They then ordered a handcuffed Greene to remain facedown on the floor even as he struggled to support himself on his side.

A re-examined autopsy ordered by the FBI ultimately debunked the crash story and listed “prone position” as other contributing factors to Greene’s death, including neck compression, physical exertion and cocaine use.

Greene’s family members weren’t the only ones confused by the pace of the federal investigation. Then-Gov. John Bel Edwards expressed private frustration with the lack of answers at a closed-door meeting with state lawmakers, saying he had believed Greene’s treatment was criminal and racist since he first saw the video in late 2020.

“Are they ever going to come out and press charges?” the Democratic governor asked, as part of an AP report that he was informed within hours of Greene’s death that the soldiers had engaged in a “violent, protracted battle.”

“This was a cover-up of the first order,” Michael McClanahan, president of the Louisiana NAACP state conference, told sign-holding protesters at the Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville on May 10.

“Why call the police when they’re the ones who could kill you?” McClanahan said. “Back then it was Ronald Greene, but it’s been a long time since Ronald Greene. Enough is enough.”

Perhaps the biggest hurdle to a federal lawsuit was the untimely death of Chris Hollingsworth, the police officer who was seen on video repeatedly hitting Greene in the head with a flashlight and who was later recorded on his own body camera as he called out a colleague and said, “I beat him to death.” Hollingsworth died in a high-speed car accident in 2020 after being told he would be fired for his actions in Greene’s death.

Another key point of contention was whether prosecutors could prove that the officers acted “intentionally” when they abused Greene – a key aspect of the civil rights allegations that has complicated such prosecutions across the country. The FBI even enhanced video of the arrest in an ultimately fruitless attempt to determine whether he had been pepper-sprayed after his detention, focusing on an exchange in which a deputy said mockingly, “S–hurts, doesn’t it?” “”

The Justice Department has also conducted a comprehensive investigation into the Louisiana State Police’s use of force and whether it engages in “racially discriminatory policing.” The department began this “pattern or practice” investigation nearly two years ago following an AP investigation that found Greene’s arrest was one of at least a dozen cases in which police officers or their superiors used evidence for beatings, ignoring or concealing them, shifting blame, and eradicating efforts to prevent it.

Also pending is the federal wrongful death lawsuit that Greene’s family filed four years ago, seeking damages from the officers who have denied wrongdoing. The civil case has been put on hold while the criminal case continues.

Hardin said it is long past time for the state of Louisiana to make amends.

“It started with a lie – we were told Ronnie had died in a car accident,” she said. “This was wrong and needs to be addressed. I will go to my grave knowing that I did everything I could to bring justice to Ronnie.”