Five Louisiana law enforcement officers have been charged with crimes in connection with the 2019 death in police custody of Black driver Ronald Greene after a grand jury in Union Parish indicted them Thursday evening.
The big picture: The charges range from negligent homicide to malfeasance and are the first to be filed over Greene's death, which followed a high-speed chase near the city of Monroe, AP notes. Bodycam footage obtained by AP last year appeared to show Louisiana state troopers placing him in a chokehold and punching him during his arrest.
- Greene's family has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit.
Details: Louisiana State Police Master Trooper Kory York faces one count of negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office, per CNN affiliate KNOE.
- Trooper John Clary was charged with one count of obstruction of justice and another of malfeasance in office and both Trooper Dakota Demoss and former Troop F Cmmdr. John Peters face one count each of obstruction of justice.
- Union Parish Sheriff's Deputy Chris Harpin faces three counts of malfeasance in office, per KNOE.
What they're saying: "We're all excited for the indictments, but are they actually going to pay for it?" said Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, who's been pressing state and federal investigators to act ever since her 49-year-old son's May 10, 2019, death, AP reports.
- "As happy as we are, we want something to stick."
Meanwhile, the defendants insist in court documents that Greene’s death was "caused by crash-related blunt force chest trauma that resulted in a fractured sternum and ruptured aorta" and that they used force “for their own personal safety and for the safety of the public," CNN reports.
