Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has denied accusations that he delayed or interfered with investigations into the 2019 death of Ronald Greene, an unarmed Black man who was hit with a stun gun, punched, placed in a chokehold, and dragged face down while handcuffed and shackled by state police.
During a press conference on 1 February, the governor publicly condemned the actions of state police as racist and “criminal, and he rejected any characterisation that his administration sought to cover up his death or prevent legislative inquiries into the incident.
“We have to do more to identify that early on and separate people from their badges when they’re not worthy of wearing one, when they’re not committed to serving and protecting the public,” he said. “I cannot imagine that, had Mr Greene been white, he would have been treated that way.”
His remarks were his first on the matter following an Associated Press report published late last month revealing that the governor received text messages from state police roughly nine hours after Greene’s death, in which police told him that an unnamed man became “unresponsive” after a “violent, lengthy struggle” following a car crash.
Meanwhile, Greene’s family was told by state police that he died on impact in a crash following a police chase, and neither any messages to Governor Edwards nor state police reports of his death mention that he was beaten by police.
Last year, the Associated Press obtained and published long-withheld body camera video footage showing what exactly happened that night, unraveling the subsequent cover up and raising questions about what then-Louisiana State Police Superintendent Kevin Reeves and the governor’s office knew, and when, and to what lengths the details of Greene’s death were obscured.
That footage was published a year after his death, even after the family’s wrongful death lawsuit that was filed in October 2020 brought attention to the case.
No one has been charged with a crime for Greene’s death. The wrongful death suit and a federal investigation into his death are pending.
The Associated Press report suggests that the governor knew about the incident for two years, in the middle of a politically volatile election cycle, though the governor contends that he did not connect that the state police’s report of Greene’s death was about Greene until more than a year later, when the wrongful death suit was brought to his attention.
The governor said his office has never tried to hide or interfere with any investigation into Greene’s death, and that doing so “goes beyond every ounce of my being, every ounce of my character and my principles.”
Governor Edwards contends that he did not speak publicly about the footage of Greene’s death because he was told by the US Department of Justice that doing so could interrupt a federal investigation.
“Clearly, anyone who has seen the videos will see that Mr Greene did not die in a car accident,” he said. “The initial text I received did not say he died in a car accident, and if anyone ever said that, it was just plain wrong.
“What I have consistently said is that the cause of death is obviously a part of the investigation and that the state and federal prosecutors have to make the decision based on the proof that they have available to them.”
His press conference came moments after a heated meeting with the state’s Legislative Black Caucus, which pressed the governor about why he did not speak out of follow up with state police after receiving reports of the death of a person in their custody. (The governor’s sole reply to that text, according to messages obtained by the Associated Press: “Thank you”.)
“A man died in custody. You don’t ask his name? You don’t ask what happened? You don’t get any facts?” a caucus member asked the governor, according to audio obtained by the Associated Press.
“I am not going to tell you everything that has happened with the state police since I’ve been governor has been perfect,” the governor said. “They’re alleging that I have been personally involved in these things and I have not.”
He also reportedly has grown frustrated with the federal investigation, asking whether they are “ever going to come out and have a charged,” according to audio of the meeting obtained by the Associated Press.
“I apologize with the core of my soul that we haven’t made the progress over the last year that I hoped to have made and that I thought we were making with state police,” he said. “I am more disappointed in me than probably you are.”
In a statement on 31 January, US Attorney Brandon Brown and FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams Jr said the investigation into Greene’s death “has been comprehensive and those conducting the investigation have followed all credible leads.”
“If the investigation reveals prosecutable violations of any federal criminal statutes, the Department will take appropriate action,” they said.
The officials also said that reports “suggesting that the FBI has questioned people about the awareness of certain facts by Governor John Bel Edwards is inaccurate,” contrary to reporting from the Associated Press.
