Ronald Greene death: Louisiana $4.85M settlement ‘cannot erase pain,’ lawyer says

“No amount of money can erase” the pain that motorist Ronald Greene’s death at the hands of Louisiana police inflicted on his loved ones, but a $4.85m settlement the state has agreed to pay his family helps illustrate how “the truth must always come to light,” their attorney, Ben Crump, said in a statement.

Crump’s statement was one of the first public reactions from him and his clients to news, first reported by The Guardian, that mediation talks on May 12 yielded a settlement between Louisiana authorities and Greene’s family.

Subject to approval by Louisiana’s legislature, the settlement would end a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by Greene’s daughter, Tayla.

The lawsuit was filed after the Associated Press in 2021 obtained video footage showing officers punching, kicking and using stun guns on her father.

The AP’s publication of that footage, captured by officers’ body-worn cameras but initially kept secret, drew national attention to Greene’s case and prompted widespread outrage.

Greene, who is Black, died when five white officers violently arrested him on the side of a road outside the Louisiana community of Monroe in 2019.

Authorities for two years shielded the public from the truth about the circumstances of the traffic stop and high-speed chase preceding Greene’s death. State police refused to release footage of the arrest and claimed Greene, 49, died after crashing into a tree during the chase.

Yet the video later obtained by the AP showed officers shocked the unarmed Greene with stun guns as he apologized for the pursuit. Officers tackled Greene to the ground, put him in a chokehold and punched him.

They dragged Greene while he was handcuffed and his legs were shackled, then left him on the ground without providing aid.

“I’m your brother!” Greene screamed during his arrest. “I’m scared! I’m scared!”

Officers initially sought to stop Greene for an unspecified alleged traffic violation.

Two of the officers were later charged by local authorities with misdemeanor battery: Kory York of Louisiana’s state police, and Chris Harpin of the Monroe-area Union Parish Sheriff’s Office. Each pleaded no contest.

Another officer, Gage Hollingsworth of the state police, died in a high-speed, single-car wreck in 2020, hours after being told he was fired over his role in Greene’s death.

Federal Justice Department prosecutors declined to bring charges in the case. In the final days of Joe Biden’s presidency, the department found that Louisiana state police engaged in a pattern of excessive force during arrests and car chases. But the department rescinded those conclusions after Donald Trump began his second term.

The AP reported the truth about Greene’s death roughly a year after a bystander recorded video of a white Minneapolis police officer murdering Black resident George Floyd, igniting international racial justice protests. Crump represented Floyd’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit that ended with a $27m settlement.

Louisiana Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill confirmed a settlement agreement with Greene’s family on May 13 without detailing specifics. “It was time to end this litigation,” she said in a statement, alluding to the fact that Greene died during the administration of former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat.

A few days after Murrill’s statement, Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, wrote on social media that she and her family were “still fighting for accountability” seven years after her son’s death. “We ALL hurt like hell, Ronnie,” Hardin wrote. “Missing you terribly.”