Monroe, Louisiana is 1,133 miles away from Annapolis, Maryland. Still, we cannot watch the body worn camera footage the Associated Press recently released of the death of Ronald Greene, a Black man, and not empathize with our neighbors in Louisiana.
Collectively, the Anne Arundel Chapter of the NAACP, the Caucus of African American Leaders, United Black Clergy, Alderwoman Shelia Finlayson, and various Black Leaders of the Community vehemently reject the use of deadly force by law enforcement surrounding the death of Ronald Greene.
We condemn the actions of their supervisors and each member of law enforcement who did not prioritize Greene’s life and the investigation of his brutal death.
In the video of a May 10, 2019, unspecified traffic violation stop, Louisiana State Troopers can be seen on body worn camera footage stunning, punching and dragging Greene as he apologized for leading them on a high-speed chase. He told the white troopers, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!”
Even after the troopers had Greene under control, some of them continued their brutal beating and needless profane verbal abuse of Greene. The recording shows excessive, unnecessary use of force that Maryland legislators rejected this past session.
The Maryland General Assembly passed laws that will come into effect in 2021 and 2022 that restrict police use of force and require expediency in the dissemination and transparency of law enforcement records.
Del. Sandy Bartlett represents District 32 in the Maryland House of Delegates and wrote this on behalf of herself and The Anne Arundel Chapter of the NAACP, the Caucus of African American Leaders, United Black Clergy, Alderwoman Shelia Finlayson and other Black community. She lives in Maryland City.
