Gov. Edwards denies allegations he helped coverup death of black man
BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) – Governor John Bel Edwards is denying reports he interfered in the investigation of a black man killed by state police.
49-year-old Ronald Greene was allegedly beaten by Louisiana State Police. In May of 2019, Greene led police on a high-speed chase that ended in his death. Initial police reports said Greene died in a car wreck, though body cam footage was later leaked, showing the officers punching, tazing, and beating Greene, who was unarmed. An autopsy by the FBI said Greene died from the officers' attack.
The legislative black caucus met with Governor Edwards Tuesday afternoon after reports claimed he learned of the officer's "violent, lengthy struggle" with Greene just hours after the incident. The governor, however, denies all wrongdoing and says he has never done anything to help cover up Greene's death.
"There are implications that I knew more or that one or more of my staff members tried to cover up what happened. I will say that that is simply and categorically false," Governor Edwards said. He says he did receive a text from state police the night Greene died in may of 2019, though the text was vague. He says he trusted state police would investigate Greene's death thoroughly.
After Hurricane Laura, the governor says he learned of the allegations against the officers when a civil suit was filed. The body cam footage was turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice, and Governor Edwards says he was asked not to speak about it's contents. Once the video was leaked, however, the governor said the officer's actions were criminal. Recent reports, however, said Governor Edwards has known what happened since the night Greene died and accused him of helping to cover up the officer's actions.
"It is just simply not who I am. It's not what I do. I can't even conjure the words in my mind to ask or direst that a criminal investigation be delayed or changed or altered or any of those things," Governor Edwards added.
Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus says, District 44 State Representative Vincent Pierre, says things should have been handled differently. "The governor should have known about this incident," he told News Ten. Pierre says communication between the governor and state police should have been different, regarding Greene's death.
"As a caucus, we have enough. We need to get answers of some of the things that have transpired. Listen, we are very concerned with the way it's handled, and we're hoping this can be handled much differently," he added.
After the meeting with the Legislative Black Caucus Tuesday, Governor Edwards said the caucus still has a lot of concern about what's yet to be done in law enforcement in Louisiana.