Cop Who Exposed Murder is Suspended, but Cops Who Covered it Up Stay on the Job

Ronald Greene's family and the general public were all given a sad but completely false narrative about this 49-year-old Louisiana man's last moments alive. Greene died on May 10, 2019, when his vehicle collided with a "tree/shrub" just outside Monroe. However, we now know that everything they were told was a lie after the release of body camera footage that portrayed a completely different image. Greene was not killed in the accident, and the department attempted to cover it up. We are aware of this cover-up in part because of a courageous policeman who discovered it and could no longer remain quiet. This policeman is Louisiana State Trooper Carl Cavalier — and as a result of blowing the whistle, he is now being punished while the policemen involved in the cover-up continue to work. Cavalier says he learned of Greene's death last year when a colleague informed him about the terrible body camera video proving Greene did not die in the vehicle accident as police first stated.

Cavalier recently spoke with 4WWL about an investigator who was familiar with the case and who also saw the footage early on before anybody else and was commenting about how horrific the video was.

Cavalier began investigating the video after hearing about it, and what he discovered was terrible.

“I suppose that came as a shock to me, as a degree of disappointment from which I'm still recuperating. The fact that these individuals are deliberately attempting to cover up a murder,” he said.

As the PBWW website stated at the time, everyone outside the inner circle of troopers covering it up was in the dark about Greene's death. Greene's family had been pleading for the footage's release for two years until it was eventually released in May, revealing exactly how big a cover-up it was. Greene was reportedly targeted for a traffic check that night for an undisclosed infraction. Greene totaled his vehicle before he could pull over. When we examine the pictures of the vehicle provided by the family last year, it seems to have been involved in a small fender accident. Nonetheless, the Louisiana State Troopers said that Greene perished in the collision. Troopers made no mention of using force — or even of detaining Greene — in the State Police accident report acquired by the AP, but did note that he was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision.

“We were informed he died of head injuries sustained during a high-speed pursuit after colliding with a tree,” Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, told the AP. “The vehicle sustained no significant damage.”

As the leaked video demonstrates, Greene was alive and well after the accident, and Associated Press records confirm what occurred that night. He spent the last minutes of his life apologizing to the police for not stopping quickly enough – while they strangled, punched, tasered, and stomped him to death.

“It could happen to anybody, a member of my family or your family. Cavalier said, "All I want is for the right thing to be done." And he is correct. Within less than three weeks of Greene's murder, the same department almost killed a guy with a flashlight.

Aaron Larry Bowman had not committed a crime on that tragic night in May 2019 and was merely suspected of "improper lane use" before being battered almost to death. Bowman made no effort to escape or fight arrest, but he was dragged from his vehicle and assaulted to the point of hospitalization, while the police involved hushed it up.

Cavalier informed 4WWL that he was aware of Bowman's video and many other instances of police misconduct.

“There were still videos that hadn't been published, you know, movies that were still being kept under wraps,” Cavalier said.

While the majority of Cavalier's coworkers — including those directly engaged in Greene's murder — opted to conceal the crime, Cavalier said that he could no longer stay quiet and chose to come out.

Cavalier violated department protocol in June by conducting an interview on Greene's death. He was promptly issued a warning notice. Cavalier then went on the radio and was suspended on August 2 for denouncing the troopers' "toxic fraternity," stating, "I'm not sure whether I should call it a brotherhood, but it's a poisonous brotherhood bleeding blue."

As Lt. John Clary, a 31-year veteran, remains unpunished despite numerous allegations that he lied about the body camera video of Greene's death, Cavalier believes his career may be gone for speaking the truth.

“I have no idea what will happen to me,” he said, “but I can presume that they will find a method to terminate me.”

“There are murderers, and there are individuals who are OK with killers being on the job,” he said. And it includes those who are complicit in the cover-up.”