Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Trooper allegedly assaulted Black man who died
A Louisiana State Police trooper has been suspended without pay for allegedly kicking and dragging a handcuffed Black man whose in-custody death remains unexplained and the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.
Body camera footage shows Master Trooper Kory York dragging Ronald Greene “on his stomach by the leg shackles” following a violent arrest and high-speed pursuit, according to internal State Police records.
The records are the first public acknowledgement by State Police that Greene was mistreated, and they confirm details provided last year by an attorney for Greene’s family who viewed graphic body camera footage of the May 2019 arrest and likened it the police killing of George Floyd. The video shows troopers choking and beating the man, repeatedly jolting him with stun guns and dragging him face-down across the pavement, the attorney told AP.
State Police have refused to publicly release the body camera footage. The agency has been tightlipped about Greene’s death and initially blamed the man’s fatal injuries on a car crash outside Monroe, La.
York, who turned his own body camera off, is seen on other bodycam footage yanking Greene’s shackles and repeatedly using profanity toward Greene.
“It is now undisputed that Trooper York participated in the brutal assault that took Ronald Greene’s life,” said Mark Maguire, a Philadelphia civil rights attorney who represents Greene’s family. “This suspension is a start but it does not come close to the full transparency and accountability the family continues to seek.”
Col. Lamar Davis, who took over as State Police superintendent last year, told York that his suspension had been decided by his predecessor, Kevin Reeves.