Ronald Greene

On May 10, 2019, Ronald Hardin Greene, an unarmed 49-year-old Black man, was killed after being arrested by Louisiana State Police following a high-speed chase outside Monroe, Louisiana.

During the arrest, he was stunned, punched, pepper sprayed and placed in a chokehold.

He was also dragged face down while handcuffed and shackled, and he was left face down for at least nine minutes.

At least six white troopers were involved in the arrest; five were criminally charged in December 2022.

When Greene's corpse was brought to the hospital, police told doctors that his car had run into a tree, a story a doctor said "does not add up", given the nature of Greene's injuries and the fact that there were two stun-gun probes lodged in his body; police later acknowledged that Greene had died during a struggle, but did not mention specifics about any use of force by officers.

Although authorities refused to release body camera footage for two years, the Associated Press obtained and published a portion of it in May 2021.

In 2022, a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

One trooper involved in the death, Dakota DeMoss, was given letters of reprimand and counseling for violating the department's rules about courtesy and recordings.

DeMoss was later arrested for using excessive force while handcuffing a motorist in a separate incident; he was subsequently fired in June 2021.

Shortly after midnight on May 10, 2019, State Trooper Dakota DeMoss attempted to pull over Ronald Greene, a 49-year-old African-American barber, for an unspecified traffic violation near Monroe, Louisiana.

Greene did not stop, and troopers chased him on rural highways at over 115 mph.

During the chase, DeMoss radioed that "We got to do something. He's going to kill somebody."

When Greene finally did stop, DeMoss and Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth rushed to Greene's vehicle as Greene said repeatedly, "OK, OK. I'm sorry" and appeared to raise his hands.

Within seconds, Hollingsworth shot Greene with a stun gun through the driver's window while commanding Greene to get out of the car.

After Greene, who was unarmed, got out through the car's passenger side, one trooper wrestled him to the ground, put him in a chokehold, and punched him in the face.

Hollingsworth struck Greene multiple times.

While they tried to handcuff Greene, one of the troopers said "He's grabbing me", and another said "Put your hands behind your back, bitch."

Greene cried "I'm sorry!"

and "I'm your brother! I'm scared!"

Another trooper stunned Greene a second time, and said he would shoot again "if you don't put your fucking hands behind your back".

After handcuffing Greene and shackling his legs, Trooper Kory York dragged Greene facedown along the ground.

Before York dragged Greene, Greene had tried to prop himself up on his side, leading York to shout at Greene: "Don't you turn over! Lay on your belly!"

After dragging Greene, York told him: "You better lay on your fucking belly like I told you to! You understand?"

Instead of rendering aid, the troopers left Greene unattended, facedown and moaning, for at least nine minutes while they cleaned blood off themselves with sanitizer wipes.

One trooper said, "I hope this guy ain't got fucking AIDS."

Another trooper referred to Greene as a "stupid motherfucker".

At some point during the arrest, the troopers said that they did not want to have Greene sit up because they feared he would spit blood on them, to which Lieutenant John Clary told them not to sit Greene up.

At another point, according to an investigator's report filed around early April 2021, "Greene's eyes are squeezed shut as he shakes his head back and forth moaning in pain, movements consistent with having been sprayed in the face with (pepper) spray", and about this time an officer "asked Greene if he has his attention now" and another said, "Yeah, that shit hurts, doesn’t it?"

After several minutes, Greene, unresponsive and bleeding from the head, was put in an ambulance, handcuffed to the stretcher.

He was dead on arrival at the hospital.

A 2021 medical report stated Greene was bruised, bloodied, and had two stun-gun prongs in his back; the emergency room physician wrote that the troopers' initial claim that Greene had been killed in a collision with a tree "does not add up."

An autopsy commissioned by Greene's family found severe injuries to his head and several wounds to his face.

Authorities repeatedly refused to release body camera footage, or details about Greene's death, for two years.

Troopers initially told Greene's family that he died by crashing into a tree.

Later, troopers released a statement that said Greene "became unresponsive" and died on his way to the hospital after a struggle with the troopers.

A second trooper, Chris Hollingsworth, died in a single-vehicle car accident in September 2020, hours after learning he would be fired for his role in Greene's death.

A third trooper, Kory York, was suspended for 50 hours for dragging Greene and improperly turning off his body camera, and has since returned to duty.

, a federal wrongful death lawsuit and a federal civil rights investigation remain pending.

In December 2022, five officers, including four state troopers and a Union Parish sheriff's deputy, were charged with crimes related to Greene's death.

Master Trooper Kory York was charged with negligent homicide and ten counts of malfeasance in office, while other officers were charged with malfeasance and obstruction of justice.