Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

In just under a week, the family of Ronald Greene will have to face a grim reminder that justice for their loved one has not been met despite the mounting evidence points to an alleged coverup by law enforcement officials. If there was ever a reason to deny law enforcement officials implied immunity from prosecution, Greene’s death at the hands of LSP Troopers on May 10, 2019, is one such incident. It is three years and not one officer has been arrested, tried, convicted and sent to prison for their crimes, simply because the powers that be won’t take action. There are investigation after investigation being conducted on various levels, but yet, three years later, a case seen by many as a death by overly excessive force to apprehend an unarmed Black motorist, have many of us asking, “where’s the justice?” There is no disputing that Greene was beaten without any mercy on the night that he died. LSP officials from the beginning tried to justify officers’ actions as justifiable, that is until the public saw the leaked videos and all of a sudden LSP officials “started talking” about Greene’s death. But, instead of holding officers accountable for their actions and let the legal system play out, LSP officials became involved in a coverup in order to keep the facts of Greene’s death and the role of LSP officials hidden. According to testimony before The Special House Committee to Inquire in the Circumstances and Investigation of Ronald Greene, Lt. Col. Kenny VanBuren said that Greene’s death was a coverup. If that is true, those words would contradict testimony from former Supt. Kevin Reeves who said that no such thing happened when he head of the agency during the time that Greene died. Reeves would soon retire as developments began to surface, raising serious questions surrounding Greene’s death. VanBuren appeared to be very specific when talking about potential cover-ups when he said, “That incident(Greene) started out as use of force in custody death investigation and at some point, somebody made a decision to coin it a fatality. Here’s the deal, we talk cover-up, potential cover-up, we’re agreeing with y’all”.

According to media reports, things didn’t stop there. Retired Captain Mark Richards said that former Assistant Supt. Bob Brown asked him to block the crash report from being distributed, as Brown wanted that to be in the form of a written request, because what hw was asked to do was in Brown’s words, “highly uncommon”. It also appears that despite the public relations responses we hear from LSP, there appears to be serious problems throughout the agency that may be in serious need of a complete make-over. It should start with Gov. John Bel Edwards who is in his third LSP superintendent since he took office. Former Supt. Mark Edmonton after troopers on route to a trooper’s convention in California, decided on tax-payer’s money, took a side trip to Las Vegas, when details of that little outings became known, retired Kevin Reeves retired at the height of Greene’s death and now current LSP Supt., Col. Lamar Davis is fighting an uphill battle to convince the public that the agency is about change, even as Richards lamented what appears to be morale issues within the agency. He talked at the hearing about how some Troopers “get their time and just go”, while some retire “in disgrace” and others who retire “in disgust” and that he is one of those. As of press time, the House Committee appears to be finding out some troubling things emanating from Troop “A” in Baton Rouge and just based on what Trooper VanBuren said, former Supt. Reeves may be called back to answer some more questions concerning a cover-up. Things has been quiet at LSP, as the Dept. of Justice now knows what one of LSP’s own just said about the culture at LSP. Three years and counting. Where is the justice?