A $4.85 million settlement agreed to by Louisiana authorities will not undo the damage caused by Ronald Greene's death during a violent police arrest, his family's attorney said this week. Ben Crump framed the payout as vindication of a painful truth that authorities tried to bury for years.
"The truth must always come to light," Crump said in a statement responding to news of the mediation agreement reached on May 12. The settlement, pending legislative approval, will resolve a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by Greene's daughter, Tayla.
Greene, a Black motorist, was arrested by five white Louisiana officers in 2019 outside Monroe following a traffic stop and high-speed chase. For two years, state police kept the public in the dark about what happened. Officials claimed Greene died when he crashed into a tree during the pursuit.
Body camera footage told a different story. When the Associated Press obtained and published the video in 2021, it revealed officers shocking Greene with stun guns while he begged for mercy. "I'm your brother. I'm scared. I'm scared," Greene screamed during the arrest. Officers tackled him, placed him in a chokehold, punched him repeatedly, then dragged him while he was handcuffed and shackled before leaving him on the ground without medical attention.
The release of that footage sparked national outrage and shifted the case from a local incident into a symbol of excessive force. It came roughly a year after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which ignited international racial justice protests. Crump also represented Floyd's family and secured a $27 million settlement in that case.
Two officers faced consequences in Louisiana courts. Kory York of state police and Chris Harpin of the Union Parish Sheriff's Office were each charged with misdemeanor battery and pleaded no contest. A third officer, Gage Hollingsworth, died in a high-speed single-car crash in 2020, just hours after being told he was being fired for his role in the arrest.
The federal Justice Department declined to bring criminal charges. In the final days of Joe Biden's presidency, prosecutors concluded that Louisiana's state police had engaged in a pattern of excessive force during arrests and car chases. Those findings were rescinded after Donald Trump took office.
Louisiana's Republican attorney general, Liz Murrill, confirmed the settlement agreement on May 13, saying "it was time to end this litigation." She noted that Greene died during the administration of former Democratic governor John Bel Edwards.
Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, posted on social media days later that her family remains "still fighting for accountability" seven years after her son's death. "We ALL hurt like hell, Ronnie," she wrote. "Missing you terribly."
Author James Rodriguez: "A settlement quiets the lawsuit, but Hardin's words remind us that some families never get the accountability they need."
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