Louisiana House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, described a recent Associated Press report which revealed that Gov. John Bel Edwards knew about the violent, fatal arrest of a Black man by Louisiana State Police long before the details of the arrest went public “greatly disturbing.”
Schexnayder said in a written statement that he had talked to Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, and Attorney General Jeff Landry over the weekend about the report on Edwards, though he didn’t say what the three Republicans might do in response.
Instead, he alluded to a possible legislative investigation or impeachment, saying the Legislature was fully prepared to use its authority to serve as “check and balance to other branches.”
“What happened to Ronald Greene is inexcusable and should never happen to anyone. His family and the citizens of this state deserve to know the truth,” Schexnayder said.
“It’s time to find out who knew what – and when – and hold them accountable,” he said.
The Republican Party of Louisiana has also called on Edwards, a Democrat, to be investigated for his role in a potential coverup of Greene’s death. The Louisiana Senate has already set up a task force to look into the Greene case, though it hasn’t been focused on the governor.
In 2019, Greene died in state police custody after being involved in a high-speed chase outside Monroe. State police insisted for over a year that Greene died as a result of a car wreck that happened at the end of the chase, even though a local coroner cast doubt on that cause of death.
Over a year later, in 2021, the Associated Press published body camera footage showing troopers beating Greene and jolting him with stun guns after his car crash and before he died, contradicting the state police account. Greene’s family is suing the state for a wrongful death in his case.
Edwards didn’t publicly contradict or challenge the state police account of Greene’s death by car crash for over a year, though the Associated Press report last week shows that former state police superintendent Col. Kevin Reeves gave Edwards a different story about Greene’s arrest shortly after it happened.
Hours after Greene’s death, Reeves texted Edwards to say there had been a “violent, lengthy struggle” when troopers tried to arrest Greene after a high-speed chase. “The suspect remained combative but became unresponsive shortly after EMS arrived,” Reeves texted Edwards the day after Greene’s death, according to the Associated Press.
Reeves retired suddenly in 2020, when scrutiny of the Greene case increased and after his son, who’s also a state trooper, was found at fault for an on-duty auto accident that killed two people. The governor has repeatedly praised Reeves for his service as head of the state agency.
Edwards hasn’t publicly addressed Friday’s Associated Press report yet. Greene’s death is the subject of a federal civil rights investigation, but the governor’s office told the Associated Press that Edwards and members of his staff are not under investigation.
Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jarvis DeBerry for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and Twitter.
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