Roland Greene
Today marks the three-year anniversary of Ronald Greene’s death. The 49-year-old Black man died following a lengthy high-speed chase that ended in Union Parish. Two years later body camera video was released, showing Troopers stunning and punching Greene as he apologized. Paramedic Cindy Ott recently described what she saw when she arrived on the scene.
“Face was covered in blood, there was some lacerations to the face and forehead, also noted blood to the left side of his head,” said Ott.
At this time none of the troopers involved Greene’s arrest have been charged and Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth has since died in a one-vehicle wreck. There’s a recording of Hollingsworth admitting he beat Greene with a flashlight.
Federal prosecutors have been looking into whether civil rights violations occurred and local district attorney John Belton says he plans to convene a grand jury once he receives the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s investigative files. Belton told a legislative committee last month that he believes the troopers involved committed criminal acts.
“I can not promise an indictment nor can I promise a conviction, I did however promise to Mr. Greene’s family on numerous occasions that I will continue to seek justice for them as I do for all victims,” said Belton.
Belton says he’ll provide an update on the case to the Greene family at 1 PM today.
Meanwhile, State Police remains under the microscope for its handling of Greene’s death and whether they tried to cover up details of how he died. A high-ranking state trooper, Lt. Colonel Kenny VanBuren, has said he believes there is a cover-up. Baton Rouge Representative Denise Marcelle says they are still trying to get to the bottom of it.
“A lot of coroner’s reports that are not there, a lot of Lt. John Clary’s whether the video was there, wasn’t there, when he assessed it , all of those things bring about questions,” said Marcelle.
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