'Empty Words': Ronald Greene's Mother Reacts To Handling of Police Reform

By Alyssa Wilson Published: October 28, 2021

‘Empty Words’: Ronald Greene’s Mother Reacts To Handling of Police Reform

Ronald Greene smiles in an undated photo provided by his family. A Louisiana State Police trooper has been suspended without pay for kicking and dragging Greene, 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 Greene “on his stomach by the leg shackles” following a violent arrest and high-speed pursuit, according to internal State Police records obtained by The Associated Press. (Courtesy of the Greene family via AP)

In Summary

The mother of Ronald Greene, who died in the custody of Louisiana State Police, spoke to BNC about her thoughts on Louisiana’s police reform efforts.

WARNING – This story contains details about police violence. Resources for those triggered by this content are available here.

Ronald Green’s mother is speaking out about law enforcement’s involvement in her son’s death in Louisiana State Police custody.

Greene was another unarmed Black man who died after being arrested by police in 2019. His mother, Mona Hardin, joined Making the Case w/Yodit to reflect on her son’s life and his death at the hands of police.

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Louisiana State Police has come under fire for a long history of troubling complaints about officers who resort to excessive force during arrests. Body camera footage, released by the Associated Press, shows a Louisiana State Police trooper dragging Greene on his stomach, choking him, beating him, and jolting him with stun guns.

The police department repeatedly refused to release the body camera footage and initially said Greene died from injuries sustained in a car crash. The highest-ranking trooper on scene during Green’s death received no disciplinary action for lying about the video.

Colonel Lamar Davis, the Superintendent of the department, spoke to BNC about his efforts to clean up the agency, but Hardin isn’t buying it. “I find it all shallow. It’s words,” she said. “He started there a year ago and it’s just words because if there’s any meaning to what’s going on and how you feel, especially speaking on your own integrity for Louisiana state troopers, there needs to be more than just words. Empty words,” she said, speaking to the force’s culture.

Despite her son’s death, Hardin said she’s not anti-police, but she wants police to stop harming communities of color.

If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.  