Chris Hollingsworth and Dakota DeMoss: Ronald Greene was brutally beaten and tased by cops, proves bodycam clip
MONROE COUNTY, LOUISIANA: Bodycam footage released to the public shows Ronald Greene being beaten, tasered and dragged by his feet by troopers in an attempt at his arrest, which eventually led to his death. Greene, all the while, was heard screaming in agony, "I'm your brother, I'm scared!"
The horrific incident took place in May 2019, in Monroe County, Louisiana. State troopers Chris Hollingsworth and Dakota DeMoss pulled over Greene, a 49-year-old barber after a 115 mile-per-hour chase. Greene died in an ambulance after suffering a cardiac arrest.
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What went down during the arrest?
The body camera footage shows the series of events beginning with state troopers Chris Hollingsworth and Dakota DeMoss stopping Greene's SUV, as he appears to raise his hands and repeating, "OK, OK. I'm sorry," and "I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!"
Hollingsworth then goes on to tase Greene through the driver's side window as both troopers ask him to get out of the vehicle. Greene is seen exiting through the passenger side when Hollingsworth wrestles him to the ground, puts him in a chokehold and punches him in the face. The other trooper appears to be calling him a 'stupid motherf**ker.' As if this wasn't enough, Hollingsworth appears to lie on one of Greene's arms in an attempt to handcuff him and strikes him multiple times.
He was then left unattended, facedown and groaning for more than nine minutes, while the troopers were busy cleaning the blood off their hands and faces, using sanitizer wipes. One of the troopers was heard saying, "I hope this guy ain't got f**king AIDS." Greene was then hackled by another trooper, Kory York, as he dragged the man facedown on his stomach, not before York was seen kicking Greene as he tried to shift from his stomach onto his side, possibly in an attempt to breathe better.
For a few minutes, Greene is not seen on the camera. When he is seen again, he seems to be limp, unresponsive and bleeding from his head and face. The troopers then transfer him onto an ambulance gurney, with his arm cuffed to the bedrail.
What caused Ronald Greene's death?
In the initial statement given by the troopers to the Greene family, they said that Greene had died on impact after crashing into a tree during the chase. It was only later, state police released a one-page statement acknowledging that Greene was alive when the troopers pulled him over. Greene died on his way to the hospital.
The cause of Greene's death remains unclear. Union Parish Coroner Renee Smith told AP last year that his death attributed to cardiac arrest. A federal and state investigation into Greene's death has been initiated. "They murdered him. It was set out, it was planned. He didn't have a chance. Ronnie didn't have a chance. He wasn't going to live to tell about it,' Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, alleged. An attorney for Greene´s family, Lee Merritt, remarked that the footage 'has some of the same hallmarks of the George Floyd video, the length of it, the sheer brutality of it.'
In a separate recording, made hours after the alleged incident, Hollingsworth was heard telling a colleague, "Choked him and everything else trying to get him under control. He was spitting blood everywhere, and all of a sudden he just went limp."
What happened to the troopers?
A single-vehicle highway crash caused Hollingsworth his life, hours after when he found out that he's going to be sacked for Greene's death. York, on the other hand, was suspended without pay for 50 hours for deactivating his bodycam on duty. DeMoss was arrested in connection with a separate police pursuit last year when he was alleged of using 'excessive force' while handcuffing a motorist.
Greene's family filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the troopers, accusing them of 'brutalizing' Greene, and 'leaving him beaten, bloodied and in cardiac arrest' before covering up the cause of his death.