Former police boss denies cover-up in Ronald Greene death
BATON ROUGE, La. • Gov. John Bel Edwards trusted Louisiana State Police to “do the right thing” and took a hands-off approach in police matters, even after Black motorist Ronald Greene died in a violent confrontation with troopers following a high-speed chase, the former head of the agency told state lawmakers Tuesday.
Kevin Reeves distanced himself — and the Democratic governor — from the investigation of Greene’s 2019 death during a three-hour bipartisan grilling that included accusations of racism and gross negligence by the state’s premier law enforcement agency.
The hearing became heated at times as lawmakers expressed incredulity and frustration in Reeves’ demurrals and refusal to condemn the white troopers captured on body camera video punching, stunning and dragging Greene during his fatal arrest on a rural roadside in northeast Louisiana.
Lawmakers alternatively described his disengagement as “unacceptable” and “suspicious” and promised to continue digging into the case.
But Reeves was unbowed, insisting he will one day face God with a clear conscience: “I can tell you right now that I will not have to account for participating in a cover-up of the death of Mr. Ronald Greene.”
Reeves, who stepped down in late 2020 amid criticism over his handling of the Greene case, acknowledged characterizing the arrest as “awful but lawful” and persisted in saying a car crash likely contributed to Greene’s death, waving off a revised autopsy commissioned by the FBI that rejected that theory.
He also revealed he kept a journal with contemporaneous notes even after retiring as superintendent but would not commit to providing them to the special committee investigating the state’s handling of Greene’s death. “My journal is my personal business,” he said, “and I’m not here to discuss it.”
The eight-member panel was convened last month after The Associated Press reported that Reeves texted Edwards hours after the fact that troopers arresting Greene had engaged in a “violent, lengthy struggle.”
On Tuesday, Reeves recalled having a follow-up conversation with Edwards about Greene’s death — concerning the initial coroner’s findings — but said the two did not discuss the case “in any depth” until late 2020, when word of Greene’s mistreatment and a federal civil rights investigation surfaced in media accounts.
Kevin Reeves, head of the Louisiana State Police at the time of the violent 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, testified before a legislative panel that has opened an “all-levels” probe into the Black motorist’s death, saying his conscience is clear that he didn’t participate in a cover-up.
