High-profile attorney calls for federal civil rights charges in Ronald Greene killing

A renowned attorney is calling for federal civil rights charges in the killing of a Black Louisiana motorist by Louisiana State Police.

Ben Crump, who has worked on several high-profiled civil rights cases such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, asked for the U.S. Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the Ronald Greene case and file charges against the officers involved in the case.

"We know that federal charges have more latitude to look at more things than Louisiana laws look at," Crump said. "D.A. John Belton has to go with the state charges but the Department of Justice Civil Rights division can look at a multitude of issues, misconduct, untruths, excessive force. They can look at a multitude of things that need to be looked at when you look at the Ronald Greene video."

Greene was brutally beaten and died during a State Police arrest shortly after midnight on May 10, 2019, following a two-parish, high-speed chase that ended in a car crash in Union Parish near Monroe. Greene originally failed to pull over for an unspecified traffic violation about 30 miles south of the Arkansas state line.

Crump was in attendance with Greene's family and supporters at the Union Parish Courthouse Tuesday for a court hearing focusing on whether or not a motion filed by former LSP Trooper Kory York's attorney alleging his right against self-incrimination was violated would be granted.

York, along with John Clary, Dakota Demoss, John Peters and Christopher Harpin, were indicted in December 2022 on charges related to Greene's death. York's attorney Michael Small filed a motion on June 13 for a Kastigar hearing, which could dismiss the indictment against York.

The motion alleged York was informed prior to an interview that nothing he said during the interview would be used against him. However, he alleges his statements were used in expert testimony which helped the grand jury's decision to indict him.

Video footage from troopers’ body-worn cameras showed Greene being dragged, kicked and punched while he was restrained on the roadside. Police originally attributed Greene’s death to his car crashing into a tree, but forensic examinations would later refute that claim.

"Why did the police use such excessive force against this unarmed Black man," Crump said. "That's why we need the federal Department of Justice to come in and have a federal civil rights, criminal investigation now. They do not need to delay this. It is relevant. It is critical now that they launch this federal civil rights, criminal investigation and even though I know they were are in small-town America, we hope that they can hear us all the way in Washington, D.C. that Ronald Greene's life matters just as much as anybody else's."

The families of other Black men who died while in police custody, including Oscar Grant and Glenn Foster, were also in attendance at Tuesday's hearing.

Mona Hardin, Greene's mother, said they are seeking federal charges for her son's death and want to shed light on what was shown in the bodycam footage.

"It's just like what Ben Crump said, when we're on the federal level, they open a whole different can of possibilities because on a federal level you don't turn a blind eye to this," Hardin said. "We have to walk away from this and wait for what happens next."

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This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Ben Crump calls for Justice Department to file charges in Greene killing