Ronald Greene’s family demanding justice after seeing body cam video

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - The mother of a Black man who died while in police custody is talking for the first time after watching bodycam video of her son’s arrest.

In May of 2019, Louisiana State Police say Ronald Greene died in a crash after a chase with troopers. The family members who watched the bodycam video were shocked by what they saw happen after the crash.

In an exclusive ABC News interview, Ronald Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, and the family’s attorney Lee Merrit expressed that they are feeling desperate for justice.

Ronald Greene’s mother, attorney, and his sister Denelle Hardin viewed the bodycam footage on Wednesday.

Merrit says the video shows the cars came to a stop and Greene peacefully surrendering with his hands up. Merrit said that Greene repeatedly yelled that he was sorry and that he was scared. He says the video shows that troopers tased him and dragged him out of the car within a matter of seconds.

Once Greene was out of the car, he was forced on the ground and immediately put in a chokehold by Trooper Chris Hollingsworth. Merrit said the following beating, stomping, and choking went on for four minutes. Afterward, Greene was placed in handcuffs and continued to be beaten and choked until the officers stopped to wash Greene’s blood off of their hands, Merrit said.

Merrit says the whole time the officers were laughing and mocking Greene.

Greene’s mother says she can’t find peace even after watching the entire video "It’s horrific. I can’t close my eyes and not see my son. And what they did to him... I find it hard to sleep. It’s been almost a year and a half it was hard before it’s even harder now. It’s unbelievable that this has gone this long... But I can see why it hasn’t been revealed because it’s another story here. It’s horrendous what happened to my son. "

The video is now the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.

One of those officers involved in Ronald Greene’s death was Trooper Chris Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth died after a single-car crash last month after learning he was going to be being fired for his role in the incident.

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