The mother of Ronald Greene, a Louisiana man who died while in police custody as he pleaded for his life during a 2019 traffic stop, is speaking out to condemn the newly released bodycam footage capturing the moments prior to her son’s death.
According to Mona Hardin, her son’s deadly encounter with law enforcement can be described in one word: “evil.” On Saturday, May 22, 2021, Hardin appeared on CNN where she sounded off about the footage she viewed.
“What I did see was him, he was behind the steering wheel and the film footage was from the passenger door looking in, and he was attacked from thereon,” she said. “What I saw was that he was not meant to leave alive. He was going to be killed.”
The short clip, released by The Associated Press, captured the 49-year-old pleading with Louisiana state troopers as he said, “I’m sorry!” and “I’m scared!” Greene’s words came after he reportedly failed to come to a stop for a traffic violation. During the stop, police fired a Taser at Greene as he sat in his car. At one point, he was also punched in the face by a state trooper. After the physical altercation, he was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. When medics arrived at the scene of the traffic stop, they found Greene unresponsive.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Lee Merritt, the attorney representing Greene’s family, described the fatal incident as “a malicious attack on the side of the road on a fully surrendered man.”
