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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 2 OctOber 2020
AP: Trooper's mic records talk of beating, choking Black man

By JIM MUSTIAN colleague. "We finally got Greene's arrest would be he was not wearing a seat
Associated Press him in handcuffs when a made public at the conclu- belt in the crash. State Po-
In graphic, matter-of-fact third man got there, and sion of the state and feder- lice later acknowledged
chatter picked up on his the son of a b----- was still al investigations. there was a "struggle" with
body-camera mic, a Louisi- fighting him, was still wres- Hollingsworth, who was troopers who were trying to
ana State trooper implicat- tling with him trying to hold white, was the only one arrest him.
ed in the death of a Black him down," he said. "He was of six troopers placed on Greene's family has a filed
man can be heard talking spitting blood everywhere leave last month following a federal wrongful-death
of beating and choking and all of a sudden he just an administrative investiga- suit alleging troopers "bru-
him before "all of a sudden went limp." tion that State Police did talized" him, shocked him
he just went limp." "It is shocking that this evi- not open until late August. three times with a stun
"I beat the ever-living f--- dence has been withheld He died in a single-car crash gun and left him "beaten,
out of him," the trooper for over a year," said Lee last week hours after he bloodied and in cardiac
said in a 27-second audio Merritt, an attorney for learned he was being fired arrest."
clip obtained by The Asso- Greene's family. He called for his role in the Greene Last month, they disputed
ciated Press. on state officials to imme- case. Even after the troop- the car crash narrative by
It is the most direct evi- diately release the full foot- er's death, the State Police releasing graphic photos
dence to emerge yet in the age. have refused to comment of Greene's body that ap-
death last year of Ronald Eugene Collins, president of on Hollingsworth's use of peared to show deep bruis-
Greene, which troopers This undated photo provided the Baton Rouge branch of force or say which policies es on his face and cuts on
initially blamed on injuries by his family in September the NAACP, called Holling- he was accused of violat- his scalp, as well as photos
from a car crash at the 2020 shows Ronald Greene. sworth's remarks "disgusting ing in Greene's arrest. The of the SUV he was driving
end of a chase. The long- Associated Press and morally bankrupt" and agency declined to com- showing it with only minor
simmering case has now tified because the case re- said the recording raised ment due to ongoing inves- damage.
become the subject of a mains under investigation. new questions about the tigations. Greene, a barber who had
federal civil rights investiga- Its veracity was confirmed actions of other law en- Initially, Greene's family was lived for years in central
tion and growing calls for by two law enforcement forcement officials familiar told that the 49-year-old Florida, was not known to
authorities to release the officials familiar with the with Greene's death. died from injuries suffered in be wanted on any charges
full body-cam video. case who spoke on con- "How far did this coverup a crash into a "shrub/tree" at the time of the police
Master Trooper Chris Hol- dition of anonymity. State go?" Collins asked in an at the end of a long car chase. He had a crimi-
lingsworth, who died last Police did not dispute the interview. "We are deeply chase near Monroe that nal record in Florida that
week in a single-car crash, tape's authenticity. saddened in the actions of began over an unspecified included arrests ranging
is heard recounting the "Choked him and every- State Police and call on the traffic violation. from theft to drug posses-
May 2019 arrest of Greene thing else trying to get governor to take swift and A State Police crash report sion. Court records show he
in rural north Louisiana on him under control," Hol- aggressive action." obtained by AP omits any served more than a year
audio provided to the AP lingsworth is heard saying, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a reference to troopers using in prison following a 2015
through an intermediary apparently in his part of a Democrat, told reporters force — or even arresting conviction for burglary and
who asked not to be iden- phone conversation with a last week that footage of Greene — but notes that grand theft.q

Ex-UAW president pleads guilty in embezzlement scheme

in June. he wondered if money was member paying dues," Wil-
"As I have often said, the being misused but that he liams said.
hard-working men and was assured by Jones that With about 400,000 mem-
women of the UAW de- "everything was above bers, the Detroit-based
serve so much better," said board." UAW is best known for rep-
Steven D'Antuono, head of "I made the deliberate resenting workers at Fiat
the FBI in Detroit. and conscious decision Chrysler, General Motors
Williams, who joined the not to press the matter. ... and Ford Motor.
union as a welder in Rock I could have investigated The union said Williams has
Island, Illinois, in 1977, rose the source of these funds or repaid $55,000 in inappro-
to become secretary-trea- directed my staff to do so," priate travel expenses. Sep-
surer and then president Williams said, appearing in arately, the UAW is selling a
from 2014 until he retired in court by video conference lakefront house built for him
2018. from California. "I was with- at a union conference cen-
Williams, 67, was accused in my power and it was my ter in northern Michigan.
of conspiring with others to duty as a UAW officer to do Williams put "self-interest
In a Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, file photo, then-United Auto
Workers president Dennis Williams speaks during a roundtable cover up the source of cash so. But I deliberately looked above that of our members
with reporters in Detroit. for boozy meals, premium away." and this union," the UAW
Associated Press cigars, golf and lodging in More than $53,000 in said Wednesday.
Palm Springs, California. union money was used to Eleven union officials and a
By ED WHITE fancy meals but "deliber- The union's Region 5 lead- rent a villa for Williams for late official's spouse have
Associated Press ately looked away" and ership, which was based monthslong stays in 2015- pleaded guilty since 2017,
DETROIT (AP) — The for- enjoyed the bounty.Dennis in Missouri and headed by 18, according to a court although not all the crimes
mer president of the Unit- Williams is the latest senior Jones, would hold week- filing. were connected. The first
ed Auto Workers pleaded leader at the UAW to plead long retreats in Palm Springs He faces a likely prison sen- wave of convictions, which
guilty Wednesday to an guilty in the government's and invite Williams along. tence of 18 to 24 months. included some Fiat Chrysler
embezzlement scheme, investigation of corruption He said he stayed beyond "I want to close by apolo- employees, involved taking
saying he suspected that in the union's upper ranks. "what my union business re- gizing to this court, to my money from a Fiat Chrys-
union dues were being His successor as president, quired." family and to each and ler-UAW training center in
used for golf, lodging and Gary Jones, pleaded guilty Williams told a judge that every hard-working UAW Detroit.q