Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards says any allegation that he, or his staff, participated in a cover-up of the death of Ronald Greene, who died in State Police custody after being severely beaten by troopers in May 2019, is “simply and categorically false.”
HAPPENING NOW: Gov. Edwards is holding a media briefing to discuss the ongoing investigation into the death of Ronald Greene. #lagov
Posted by Governor John Bel Edwards on Tuesday, February 1, 2022
This comes after an AP report discovered evidence that the Governor may have been aware of the nature of Mr. Greene’s death in May of 2019, at a time when State Police were publicly saying Greene died in a car crash. Edwards confirmed he received a text early in the morning of May 10th from State Police Superintendant Colonel Reeves that a man had died after a violent conflict with troopers. The video would later be released in October of 2020 showed definitively that Greene was savagely beaten.
Edwards said he was not told and has never repeated the message that Greene died in a car crash, but was asked by the US Department of Justice to not release the videos as it may compromise their investigation. Edwards said he assumed this request applied to his comments as well.
State House Speaker Clay Schexnayder recently announced he's considering legislative action against the Governor for potential "gross misconduct" related to allegations of a coverup. Edwards strongly denied accusations that he provided information to Schexnayder about Greene's death that was false or misleading and that he "never ever" told the Speaker Mr. Greene died in a car wreck. Edwards called any Legislative investigation into whether he was aware of information about State Police misbehavior related to Greene's death "unnecessary" and would be a "witch hunt".
Edwards pushed back on the insinuation that he was involved in the investigation, saying he trusted that the “matter would be handled appropriately by State Police”. The Governor was less clear when explaining comments he made four months ago suggesting that allegations of a coverup made against State Police were overblown, despite early messaging from LSP that stated Greene's death was the result of a crash.
“I have never, and will never do anything to impede or impair an investigation. I will never do anything to prevent justice from being served,” said Edwards.
Edwards disagreed that State Police had initially proliferated a message that Greene died in a car crash (despite a track record of LSP doing so documented by the AP). He said if there is evidence that members of State Police knowingly passed along a message that Greene died in a car crash it should be investigated.
Edwards pushed back on insinuations that he participated in an election year cover-up, saying it “goes against every ounce of my character and principles,” and reiterated comments he has made after the video was released condemning the Troopers’ actions.
“I’m not here to make excuses for what took place, those officers do not represent the standards to which all officers should be held,” said Edwards “The manner in which Mr. Greene was treated was criminal.”
