LA Gov Edwards faces calls to resign following scandal

Photo credit: AP

A little state news to start your week….

Louisiana’s Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards finds himself embroiled in a scandal following news that broke over the weekend.

Associated Press: Governor knew the circumstances around a deadly arrest, but kept quiet, records show

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat in a deep-red state, was immersed in a difficult reelection campaign when he received a text message from the head of the state police: Troopers had engaged in “a violent, lengthy struggle” with a Black motorist, ending with the man’s death.

Edwards was notified of the circumstances of Ronald Greene’s death within hours of his May 2019 arrest, according to text messages The Associated Press obtained through a public records request. Yet the governor kept quiet as police told a much different story to the victim’s family and in official reports: that Greene died from a crash following a high-speed chase.

For two years, Edwards remained publicly tight-lipped about the contradictory accounts and possible cover-up until the AP obtained and published long-withheld body-camera footage showing what really happened: white troopers jolting Greene with stun guns, punching him in the face and dragging him by his ankle shackles as he pleaded for mercy and wailed, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!”

The governor has rebuffed repeated interview requests and his spokesperson would not say what steps, if any, Edwards took in the immediate aftermath of Greene’s death.

The victim’s mother has called for Edwards to resign from office.

KNOE Exclusive: Ronald Greene’s mother calls on Gov. Edwards to resign/face criminal charges