Governor John Bel Edwards gives COVID briefing January 13, 2022.
The special House committee looking into the circumstances of the State Police custody death of Ronald Greene has requested that Governor John Bel Edwards appear at their meeting on June 16th. Houma Representative Tanner Magee says it’s unclear when Edwards saw the police body camera video that shows troopers beating Greene before he died.
“The best way to clarify it is to have them come down and tell the committee what exactly and get it straight from the horse’s mouth as they say,” said Magee.
Greene died in May of 2019 and a recent Associated Press Investigative Report says Edwards and his top lawyers saw the body-camera video of Greene’s violent arrest in October of 2020. But Magee says the district attorney who could move forward with criminal charges against the state troopers involved didn’t see the video until the spring of 2021.
“The governor’s office says that was the video they showed them, so I think the best way to get to it, it’s just to have them come and say what videos they showed and how they showed it and get to the bottom of it,” said Magee.
Greene’s family was told he died in a car crash in Union Parish. But police body camera video shows Greene was beaten by troopers following a high-speed chase. During Wednesday’s meeting, Magee read written testimony from Doctor Frank Peretti, a coroner in Arkansas who oversaw Green’s autopsy.
“How did Louisiana State Police explain the cause of Ronald Greene’s head injuries, he said when I called them to obtain information about the circumstances of the accident they informed me that his head injuries were caused by and he put in quotes “tree branches,” said Magee.
A special legislative committee has been holding hearings since March looking into a coverup. Magee hopes the meeting on June 16th featuring Governor Edwards will be the last one.
On Wednesday afternoon the governor’s executive counsel Matthew Block released this statement:
“We are confident that this testimony will demonstrate that neither the Governor nor anyone his staff had any role in any attempt to cover up the facts related to Mr. Greene’s death.”
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