BATON ROUGE, La. — Facing criticism around what he knew, and when, Governor John Bel Edwards went public Tuesday afternoon.
“I have never done anything to impede or impair an investigation,” Edwards said. “I’ve never done anything to prevent justice from being served.”
The governor has been blasted by allies and critics after reports he knew about the death of Ronald Greene hours after it happened back in May 2019 but stayed silent.
“In 2019, all I knew is that an incident had occurred and that it was being investigated,” Edwards said.
Edwards says he got a text message from the former head of state police, Kevin Reeves, that night saying there was a lengthy, violent struggle, leading to a suspect being unresponsive. That text didn’t mention Greene by name. Edwards says it wasn’t until more than a year later when he saw body cam video of what happened to Greene the night he died.
“The manner in which Mr. Greene was treated that night was criminal,” Edwards said.
State police said the 49-year-old died from injuries in a crash after leading them on a high-speed chase in north Louisiana. An autopsy later indicated Greene, who is Black, died at the hands of officers, who are white, after allegedly being beaten and tased. Cocaine use was also noted as a contributing factor.
“I cannot imagine, that had Mr. Greene been white he would have been treated that way,” Edwards said.
“I felt comfortable about nothing,” said Louisiana NAACP President Mike McClanahan after listening to Edwards’ news conference.
McClanahan says words from the governor mean nothing, until officers involved in Greene’s death are arrested.
“The fact remains that there was an in-custody death. There was a murder,” McClanahan said. “To call it anything other than a murder, you’re doing a disservice to the community, but you’re really doing a disservice to the family of that young man that was killed. He was murdered.”
Gov. Edwards says actions by the officers were unlawful and he trusted state police to handle the investigation. Edwards says while never fast enough, change is happening.
“There are some people in whom racism is so entrenched that they’re just going to have to be separated from their badge as soon as possible,” Edwards said.
Recent changes for state police include a ban on chokeholds and impact weapons to the head and neck. There will also be enhanced accountability for body worn cameras and a mandated review of footage on a quarterly basis.