AP Finally Gets Video of Deadly Ronald Greene Arrest

Louisiana state troopers were captured on body camera video stunning, punching, and dragging a Black man as he apologized for leading them on a high-speed chase—footage of the man’s last moments alive that the AP obtained after authorities refused to release it for two years. “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!” Ronald Greene can be heard telling the white troopers as the unarmed man is jolted repeatedly with a stun gun before he even gets out of his car along a dark, rural road. The 2019 arrest outside Monroe, La., is the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. But unlike other in-custody deaths across the nation where body camera video was released almost immediately, Greene’s case has been shrouded in secrecy and accusations of a cover-up. Louisiana officials have rebuffed repeated calls to release footage and details about what caused the 49-year-old’s death.

Troopers initially told Greene’s family he died on impact after crashing into a tree during the chase. Later, State Police released a one-page statement acknowledging only that Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital. Only now in the footage obtained by the AP from one trooper's body camera can the public see for the first time some of what happened during the arrest. The 46-minute clip shows one trooper wrestling Greene to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face. Greene wails “I’m sorry!” as another trooper delivers another stun gun shock to his backside and warns, “Look, you’re going to get it again if you don’t put your ... hands behind your back!” Another trooper can be seen briefly dragging the man facedown after his legs had been shackled and his hands cuffed behind him. Instead of rendering aid, the troopers leave the heavyset man unattended, facedown and moaning for more than nine minutes, as they use sanitizer wipes to wash blood off their hands and faces. (Much more here.)