Latest Weather Blog
Civil rights attorney, family demand DOJ investigation into Ronald Greene case after charges dropped
Related Story
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Civil rights attorney Ben Crump on Tuesday asked the Department of Justice to intervene in the investigation of the federal trial of Ronald Greene's 2019 death after Louisiana prosecutors dismissed the most serious remaining charge in Greene's deadly arrest.
Crump was joined in his demands by Greene's family and the parents of Tyre Nichols, another man who was fatally beaten during an arrest by Memphis Police.
Three officers were found guilty of witness tampering related to the coverup of the beating while being acquitted on other charges that alleged Nichols’ civil rights were violated resulting in Nichols' 2023 death.
In November 2022, a grand jury indicted five state troopers involved in Greene's arrest. The charges alleged that the officers stunned, punched and pepper-sprayed Greene after a high-speed chase.
Now, only two still face charges, multiple felony malfeasance counts against York and another officer, all but eliminating the chance that anyone will face significant prison time in a death that troopers initially blamed on a car crash.
Most recently in the trial, a negligent homicide count against veteran trooper Kory York seen on body-camera video dragging the Black motorist by his ankle shackles and forcing him to lie face down before he stopped breathing was dropped. Now only York and one other officer face charges.
York and the other officer now face multiple felony malfeasance counts, all but eliminating the chance that anyone will face significant prison time in a death that troopers initially blamed on a car crash.
Nichols' mother RowVaughn Wells said the DOJ should intervene in the investigation of Greene's death and questioned why Greene's death was being treated differently than Nichols when there are so many similarities.
"When it became clear that our stories were so similar, we became very good friends, and we learned to lean on one another. When my son's case came to federal trial. I started asking questions and asking some of the federal prosecutors in Memphis, had they heard Ronald Greene's story. Some of them said they did. Some of them said they didn't," Wells said.
Wells wondered why there was not a civil rights case against those involved in Greene's death like her son.
"I mean, this was 2019, and he was beaten by five Louisiana State Troopers, and this lady right here is still fighting for justice. So I guess my question is, how come some cases are treated with more respect than others? And so we need to bring awareness to those cases that are not being treated equally," she said.
Greene's mother also agreed with this disparity, calling for "equal justice across the board."
"It's ugliness that we cannot turn our backs on," Mona Harden said.
News
